Family ~ the Third Week

Continuing my analysis of the families of the characters in my books, we come to the Haydens. This is a very different bunch than the others I’ve written about. They are wealthier, more powerful, better connected, and—dare I admit it—less happy. If have read any of my books you’ll have met the Marquess of Glenaire—later […]

Let the Party Begin!

The Unexpected Wife will finally be released in the wild (er, published) on Wednesday. At least the Kindle format will be; print may lag a little, but it should be available soon. Join in the celebration! How you ask? Let me tell you: Order a copy! Or if you are a Kindle Unlimited member beginning […]

The Long Wait

Time hangs heavy when you wait. Nothing about The Unexpected Wife has gone quickly, and this last part seems to drag forever. I am not convinced that independently publishing goes any faster than publishing through a small press, but in that case, the author is in control of the entire process. The Unexpected Wife is […]

A Long Road Home

Last night I drank a well-traveled bottle of water sourced, supposedly, from a spring in the French alps, imported into Hong Kong and carried back to Philadelphia with me. Like Beloved and I, it traveled a long way. In the past three weeks we have traveled through three countries (five if you count home and […]

When is the Book a Book?

On Saturday just after 3 PM, I typed THE END—another book finished! Or was it? It rather begs the question, when is the work finished?  A book is most certainly not finished when the author types “THE END.” First of all, let me explain that I’m what writers call a pantser, someone who writes by […]

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 […]

A Few Good Words

I’ve always said I can go for weeks on a few good words. My muse feeds on it. Tell me you like my book, and I’ll hustle to write another one. That said, I may get months of forward energy from this particular review. The March issue of InD’Tale magazine published a review for The […]