I’ve been following Catherine Ryan Howard’s blog for some years. It’s almost been like watching her “grow up” right in front of me—from a sweet, sassy, opinionated self-taught self-publisher to a woman who’s gone back to college and finally attained her dream of being traditionally published.

The blog—indeed, the whole website—has changed (not in a bad way!) to reflect this growth. And I’ve really enjoyed reading about her experiences as the book has been released.

This week she’s discussed that age-old problem: how do you tell someone who thinks he or she knows better that you really just made it all up? Or maybe not. I loved this bit:

Not all of it is fiction. Some of it is thinly disguised fact. Because while I don’t abide by the advice that you should write what you know, I wholeheartedly believe that you should, as much as possible, use what you know. In Distress Signals, Adam is a struggling writer surrounded by people who think he should get a proper job. (Ahem.) This was easier for me than, say, making him a biochemist …

Writers, you’ll enjoy this. Have a great weekend!

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