Writing

Yes! This is me! It made me laugh out loud. Who shows up unannounced?  

I’ve been in the mood to search introvert memes. This is one of my favorites. It’s not that I don’t like people. I simply adore my people. Other people… not so much [...]

Looking for young adult books with a bit of a political edge? I found a nifty little list to upgrade your to-read list. And the best part? THE SECRET SIDE OF EMPTY is on it! Love the fact that [...]

I’ve somehow managed to be one of the few humans who likes to read but had not yet read anything by Augusten Burroughs. The author of Running with Scissors, a memoir that spent three years [...]

Far be it from me to step into a kitchen with the intention of actually preparing any food. I mean, eventually I wind up doing it, but it usually involves applying heat in varying degrees and [...]

Writing inspiration. Too often, it’s hard to come by. The well runs dry, the work doesn’t come out the way we want it to and, if we’re at the stage where we’re trying to [...]

I’m back from New Orleans, sugarplums, although I kind of wish I wasn’t. Every time I go I’m reminded of what an amazing city it is. I definitely need to go back for a longer [...]

If there is one place to feel alive in this world, it’s New Orleans. Here, because it’s too awesome to keep to myself, is a quick video I caught when I was just randomly walking on [...]

I am an avowed grammar and spelling geek. I will rework a sentence in my mind until I iron away a dangling participle. I will correct myself via text or IM if I accidentally use the wrong version [...]

Bookmarks have left on light wings (or… postal trucks) to places as far and wide as Bangladesh and Chile, as well as all over the U.S. I’ve heard from several readers that [...]

Tired, and can’t think of much to write, but wanted to leave you with this beautiful picture I took tonight. When the sky looks like this, what can be wrong in life?

I have long had a love affair with all things British. I got up in the wee hours to watch Princess Diana’s wedding and, decades later, her son’s. I’ve read their histories and [...]

I have new bookmarks for THE SECRET SIDE OF EMPTY and I’d love to send you a signed copy. Send me an email at maria (at) mariaeandreu (dot) com with your snail mail address and I’ll [...]

When a momma deer decides your yard is safe enough to leave her little one while she goes to do her momma deer work, somehow that makes life a little brighter. Open to name suggestions. UPDATE: [...]

Fabulous weekend in which I glowed in the dark on Saturday and then on Sunday got to hang out in a super-secret underground NYC location which has been abandoned for over 70 years (this last was [...]

I am restless. After running errands, I go to Barnes and Noble with my free summer Friday (still madly in love with these 4-day workweeks), and come back with a stack of books and magazines. [...]

It has been brought to my attention that I post entirely too many cat pictures on Instagram. It’s not that I’m a crazy cat lady, I promise. I don’t even particularly like my [...]

The first wish came on the 13th, from a writing friend in New Zealand, a place in the world where it was already my birthday. The next followed from an old New York friend, now in Japan, also a [...]

Last night I watched Hillary Clinton become the first woman to be the presumptive nominee of a major political party. I can’t say I’ve been her most ardent supporter – I passed [...]

Do you ever scan your social media profiles and find that your friends have posted articles that are hazardous to your health? More often than not, I come across advice that is mildly annoying [...]

Honey bunches, it’s been a mad scramble, and I’ve had a TON of help from my many writing friends, but I can now finally report that my first draft of my new novel is done! Honestly, [...]

Yvonne and Alison and I are actually doing TWO Barnes and Nobles events on June 12th, not just one. Besides the one I told you about before, in Clifton, there’s another in the Woodland Park [...]

Not long ago, I read a book called The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. I wasn’t a huge fan, actually – the protagonist got on my nerves – but one thing about it did catch my [...]

Some mothers remind their kids to take a sweater or eat their vegetables. Some mothers email their kids links to articles about lack of reproductive rights for women in Central America. You can [...]

Saturday I rounded up some of my favorite people and saw a performance of Romeo and Juliet in honor of my homeboy William Shakespeare’s 452nd birthday (also, coincidentally, the 400th [...]

I am not one to mourn celebrity deaths. Still, Prince’s passing yesterday really affected me. It was a mix of loss of my youth, the death of someone who seemed so vital, and the mourning of [...]

It is such a wonderful day today, full of sun and promise and things bursting from the ground. I don’t want to be biased, but spring in my neck of the woods could be the best thing ever. [...]

Having a book out in the world is really the gift that keeps on giving. A friend recently flagged for me the fact that THE SECRET SIDE OF EMPTY is listed as a book to read if you consider [...]

It was some time this spring that I realized I had to let go. I’m not sure how I feel about it. I power through life. I have fought the desolation of the human condition by doing. By [...]

As a writer, I sort of pride myself on being a loner. They’ve even created a handy new term for it since I first realized how much I liked solitude as a teen, one that sounds less pathological [...]