Family ~ the Fourth One

Goodness! It is Monday afternoon and, yes, I’ve had a few cups of coffee already. Lately i’m running as fast as I can to keep up with myself.  In the past month I went to the Historical Romance Retreat, did a lightning trip to Ohio, and hosted family here. In and around that I’ve keep […]

Here Again, Gone Again

While I managed to get all the “must do” items from last week in on time, while catching up on being back, I failed completely to make progress on The Next Book, deepen my understanding of world events 1838-40 (I did say Next Book), or finish the draft for the Valentine anthology. SIGH. I did […]

Pollen and the Fog of Spring

How can something invisible make me so miserable?  I spent much of the weekend languishing in the recliner. I watched four lengthy documentaries and two feature films and also read three books. Why? Pollen people. When my breathing shuts down I get lethargic and wander around in a brain fog. It’s hard to write when […]

Weather, Atmosphere, and Storytelling

Lately, I’m obsessing on the weather. Winter has been unrelenting and the swings have been dramatic—rather like a well-plotted novel, but much less satisfying. Saturday night we ate out on our patio, enjoying a dead perfect evening—not too hot, not too cold, no bugs, bright sun—knowing full well such evenings are rare. It was 80 […]

Five Tips and Real Life

Recently John Le Carré gave CBS’s Sixty Minutes five tips for novel writers. You can find them here. One was easy: “Keep a travel journal.” Some were lessons I learned the hard way: “Make the verb to the work,” and “Start your story as late as possible. One is giving me fits. “Start writing at […]

4 Things To Do After You Type The End

First draft writing can be a long agony. Once you reach that tender, soul-satisfying conclusion, wipe away a tear, and type The End, you take a deep sigh, certain the story is right. You ask, “Now what?” The temptation is to either a) send it off now because, of course, it is perfect OR b) […]

Five Reasons I Hate Monday

Well, who doesn’t? You would think someone who is retired would not distinguish between weekends and, well, Monday.  As it turns out, old habits die hard, and, well the rest of the word still works weekdays. While there may have been some easing, Monday is still Monday. Why do I hate it?   Plans and […]