A craft-focused, spoiler-free review of My Friends by Fredrik Backman, exploring complex friendships, poetic simplicity in language, and what writers can learn from emotionally driven storytelling.

A craft-focused, spoiler-free review of Two Brothers by Ben Elton, exploring how ordinary lives slide into extremism, how history unfolds gradually, and what writers can learn from stories that feel dangerously relevant today.

A craft-focused review of The Emperor of Portugallia by Selma Lagerlöf, exploring emotional storytelling, folklore influences, compassionate characters, and how simple language can create a powerful literary impact.

A spoiler-free, craft-focused review of The Distant Echo by Val McDermid, exploring character-driven crime fiction, the long shadow of suspicion, realistic police investigations, and how shifting timelines deepen psychological tension.

A spoiler-free book review of Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, examining how the novel portrays the Nigerian Civil War through deeply human characters. This craft-focused analysis explores nonlinear storytelling, political complexity, narrative restraint, and what writers can learn from ambitious historical fiction.

A spoiler-free, craft-focused review of Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, exploring restraint, emotional distance, genre expectations—and why I admired it more than I loved it.

A craft-focused, spoiler-free review of This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page, exploring writing about grief without simplification, emotionally consistent endings, and the role books play within stories.

A spoiler-free, craft-focused review of Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy, examining narrative complexity, character relationships, and the use of nature to explore climate change and moral tension.

A spoiler-free, craft-focused review of The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, examining immersion, poetic language, and how rich—but imperfect—storytelling choices shape the reading experience.

A spoiler-free, craft-focused review of The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, exploring storytelling without a single villain, writing about truth with the intent of teaching the reader a lesson, and what writers can learn from it.

A spoiler-free, craft-focused review of The Second Chance Convenience Store by Kim Ho-Yeon, exploring slow storytelling, healing fiction, and what writers can learn from it.

I recommend The Correspondent by Virginia Evans to people all the time. To readers because it’s an amazing story. To writers, because it is a masterclass in form, on how to do multiple points of view, and on how to leave out some answers without disappointing the reader.

Writing a novel isn’t hard because we lack ideas. It’s hard because we lack systems.

Between work, family, and that mysterious ability of laundry to multiply overnight, writing can feel like something you’ll get to “someday.” But someday never comes — unless you make it.

That’s where setting yourself up for success comes in. Not by writing harder, but by writing smarter.

Announcement: Need a book coach - I can help. In January 2025, I got my certification as a book coach in fiction from Author Accelerator. Read more about why I chose this path.

Why I Write. There are so many reasons! It's a complex cocktail of creativity, legacy, impact, storytelling passion, word-love, and the desire to entertain.