Jennifer Griffith
Jennifer Griffith is the author of four published novels: three inspirational novels, and "Big in Japan," the story of an accidental sumo wrestler. She is a wife, a mother of five, a cold cereal addict, and a moderately bad housekeeper.
The Sign of a Wasted Life
My friend has a plaque in her kitchen: “A clean house is a sign of a wasted life.” Is there a corollary that says a dirty house is a sign of an unwasted life? I’m not sure. All I know is that I’ve now proven to myself indisputably that a clean house and concentrated writing […]
Too Many Exclamation Points !!!
So, the edits are finally done and sent off to the publisher. Yeah! Now I can go see The Avengers as a celebration! It’s weird what a read-through can turn up. I’m really glad they sent me this round of edits. The thing that jumped out at me on this the 75th read-through–exclamation points. Lots […]
Books as the Enemy
Lately I’ve had a couple of conversations with friends and acquaintances about books, but not in a good way. These women echoed themes I’ve heard over the years–that some people have an adversarial relationship with books. Last night, for instance, I was talking to a woman when I dropped off my girls at their activity. […]
Final (?) Edits
My publisher sent me the latest round of edits for Big in Japan–and there’s hope this will be the last. I’m poring over the lines, looking for typos and flubs, and I can start to feel the energy of this-book-is-really-going-to-be-in-print! The MS is 322 pages in Word, and I’m on page 133 of this read-through, […]
Meridian Article Posted
Just felt glad to have my article posted in Meridian, an online magazine. It’s my third article for them this year, and it’s pretty exciting. My cool friend Erin McBride has been helping funnel my work onto that site, and I really appreciate her. She’s quite the amazing girl–so accomplished and so well-spoken. Her political […]
Tweaking the Villain
This morning I was outside and watched nature’s comedy hour as two small birds plagued a huge, black bird. Wherever the bigger bird flew, they dogged it, swooping after the black bird, and when it finally landed on a telephone pole, they divebombed it and pecked its head before it finally snapped at them and drove […]
Bug Ingestion & Other Healthy Habits for Writers
This morning marks the first scorpion of the spring. Indoor scorpion, that is. Ugh. This came after my morning run when I was zipping along the rural road smelling the fresh mown hay and accidentally ingested a little bug. Delicious. However, the chance to smell the cut alfalfa was worth it. I’d eat two bugs […]
Story Map! (Biting my Thumbnails Instead of the Bellagio)
So, I finally got my scene outline finished for my current novel. I was having a hard time keeping track of it, so I finally got a big piece of paper and wrote in little blurbs a thumbnail of each scene. Next I’m going to draw a line that takes me through them in order […]
Three Things I Learned from a NYT Bestselling Author
Chris Stewart is many things–most famously a New York Times Bestselling author. But he’s also a candidate for U.S. Congress, a world-record setting pilot, the owner of an environmental consulting firm, and a husband and father. But, lucky for me, he’s also my uncle. I’m aware of how fortunate I am to have such a […]
“Writers Unite to Fight Cancer” Writing Contest Opens! Check it Out!
A writing friend of mine has started this fantastic group to help raise funds for cancer research. She’s involving lots of authors and writers, and they’ve started a writing contest this year. It’s legit. Sharpen your pencils and enter! This is a great cause, and a win will look fabulous on a query letter. Go […]
