Carrie Anne Noble, Author

Hello, reader friends! It's been about a month since the release of Gretchen and the Bear , and I'm so pleased that people are enjoying the tale of Gretchen and Arthur!  Here's something I never really knew before I was published: the making of a book is a journey down an uncharted road. You start alone, but like a Hobbit on the way to Mordor, you pick up companions along the way--people without whom you'd never make it to the Land of Published Book (which is not anything like Mordor, fortunately, because all that fire wouldn't be good for the paper or the e-reader).  You are joined and encouraged by critique partners first, if you're blessed to have them. Next, your trusty first readers come along to offer help, guidance, and suggestions. The next part of the trip can be thorny and long, as you seek a publisher, but if you succeed in the quest, a skillful editor or two will saddle up alongside you for the next leg of the journey. You'll have to endure prick...

I live in the country. There are birds.   Don't get me wrong. I love birds. They're amazing little creatures. However, every morning at 4:45, a single bird starts singing outside my window.   4:45 a.m .   The sun hasn't even begun to come up. It's still dark. I'm trying to sleep, for goodness sake!   But he sings. After a while, another bird answers him. As dawn sneaks up, more birds join the birdy choir. By the time the sky is well lit, tweets and whistles fill the air.   This morning (shortly after Bird 1 began tweeting), I thought about What It Means. This one bird's song. So here are my deep thoughts (these are rare occurrences, so pay attention!).   Bird 1 sings alone. He sits in a dark tree and no one is listening to his song. He sings anyway. He makes music because he likes to, because it's what he was meant to do . If he had to sing alone all day, he would.   But then the other birds hear him. They open thei...