Author Archives: virginiazimmerman

          It’s been one month since the wonderful launch event for The Rosemary Spell, held December 4th at my local Barnes & Noble. I’m so grateful to all the people who came–there was standing room only! … Continue reading →

A book is a magical thing conjured when the imagination of the author meets the imagination of the reader. For The Rosemary Spell, the magic begins today–December 1, 2015, the official release day. Advanced review copies have been available for a few months, … Continue reading →

In the hours and days after the terrible terrorist attacks in Paris, many people on various social media platforms circulated the comforting words offered for times like these by Fred Rogers: ““When I was a boy and I would see … Continue reading →

I wrote a post years ago about receiving a big box of books. Collected by a dear friend and signed by the authors, this box was a gift of words and strength. Yesterday, I came home to find a similarly … Continue reading →

When I was in college and started doing serious writing, which always means doing serious revising, I devised a slate of symbols to indicate spots where text should be inserted. Most of us use the asterisk for this purpose. However, … Continue reading →

This post is the first in a series devoted to the various things that are essential to my life as a writer. These things range from teaching to tea, and today’s topic is my critique group. Some critique groups have … Continue reading →

I wrote recently about my favorite exercise for crafting character–100 Declarative Sentences. If I don’t say so myself, I was rather eloquent about the magic that happens when I’ve made 70 or 80 statements about a person. However, today I hang … Continue reading →

  I spent the past week at the Wildacres Retreat in the mountains of western North Carolina enjoying the wonderful gift of a writing residency. I had my own beautiful cabin where I spent hours every day writing on the screened … Continue reading →

Neil Gaiman converted me to the religion of the hand-written journal. For about a year-and-a-half, I’ve been carrying around a leather-bound book in which I write by hand. Writing in this way is slower than typing. Writing slowly gives my ideas more time … Continue reading →

In 1995, UNESCO organized a yearly celebration of reading, naming April 23rd World Book Day. The date is appropriate, in part, because it is the date of Shakespeare’s death, but it was also chosen because of the long-standing tradition of exchanging books … Continue reading →