It’s hard to read articles about the best careers and “jobs in demand” and not take practical considerations to heart. Oh, sure, they’re smart and focused, and this is not necessarily advice they’re willing to hear. Sometimes I wish I could take them by the shoulders and give them a shake-a gentle one-and tell them to stop being so practical. They’re eighteen, nineteen years old and they’re just starting out they have, in a very real way, their whole lives in front of them. When I’m not writing, I’m teaching-that’s my other life. Right now I’m trying to remember to slow down when I can and come up for air. I sat down a few days ago and realized that my calendar was full, and that life was crazy and good. I’m also finishing my teaching semester at the University of California, Merced, and chugging away on the first draft of my next novel. These days, I’m gearing up for the publication of my third novel The Drowning Girls (MIRA, April 2016), which is about a family that grasps at a chance for a better life and sees things begin to go horribly wrong. My own term for this is “family drama.” I write about the ways that humans get tangled up in situations or secrets and then try to untangle themselves. Sometimes my books are filed under “mystery” or “thriller,” but when I’m writing, I’m thinking about the people involved-usually families at a point of crisis.
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