L.M. White Author

 The internet is full of writing advice. Occasionally helpful but often contradictory, this advice can be difficult to navigate, especially as an emerging author. What works for one author may or may not work for another. Writing is an individual journey.  As a result of my unique journey, here is the writing advice I choose to ignore. 1. Look at the kind of books that are selling in your genre and write that. Ugh. I hate this advice. Nothing stoppers creativity like being told to be like everyone else. As a dystopian writer in 2023, I am fully aware that the age of dystopia (i.e. the Hunger Games and Divergent era) is long over. Perhaps I would have been better off writing a contemporary YA romance or a fairytale retelling--after all, that is what's lining the shelves at Barnes and Noble.  But I couldn't. I didn't have the burning desire to recreate Cinderella or write about a teenager's love triangle. But I did have a burning desire to tell  Barin's story  and...

  The ATLAS Project  was never meant to be a post-apocalyptic commentary on inequality and classism. At its onset, it was just three unique storylines: a boy that gets jumped in an alley, a teenage mother, and a utopian society.  I was definitely a pantser over a plotter then. I wrote the first pages of The ATLAS Project on my phone while sitting in a car waiting for a family member to get out of the bathroom at Taco Bell (No, seriously!). I had time to kill, so I began Barin's story.  I had no plan beyond a boy and his bullies. I was reading The Outsiders with my eighth-grade students at the time, and I was as inspired by Ponyboy then as I had been in my youth.  A few months later, I considered writing about a teenage mother's hardships and difficult circumstances.  So I wrote Kristy's story.  I read  The Giver with my seventh-grade students, and we delved into the importance of originality, differences, and choices. The Giver Quartet still tops...

In May 2023, my debut novel The ATLAS Project  will be published by Future House Publishing.  If this is a dream, don't pinch me. I never want to wake up.  So what is The ATLAS Project and who should read it? This novel is young adult science fiction, but I like to call it "accessible" science fiction--it's science fiction for those who don't like science fiction. And unlike other YA books on the shelves that contain content that may not be suitable for all readers, this novel is very family-friendly.  But that doesn't mean this book is boring or vanilla. There's no compromise on realistic characters, page-turning plot, or seemingly impossible odds.  In the coming months, I will be posting the full summary, cover art, and other information about the book.  For now, enjoy this teaser:  A utopian city in the Texas desert promises a life of luxury and ease. Far more concerning is what happens to those left outside its walls.

 Writing a novel is like painting a canvas. You start with a blank page and through your own skill and imagination something must take form. Like a painter's brushstrokes, the way you string words together will create something new, something beautiful, something important.  But how on earth do you go from a blank word processor to a full-length novel? Some say that you should read books you love, study grammar, and learn the manners and techniques required to hone your technique.  I disagree.  There's a time and place to learn the correct location of a comma, and it is NOT when you're staring at a blank screen. There's always time to enjoy a new story or return to one of your favorites, but do this because you want to, not because you think your swashbuckling pirate story is going to somehow emulate the imagery of Herman Melville if you read  Moby Dick. So what do I suggest? Just write.  Write the story that burns beneath your skin. Tell the experiences ha...