Pesky Characters

Last week, as I mentioned in this blog, I started a new novella, one for a Valentine collection to be published in January. I plunged in and wrote a few scenes but bogged down by Friday. I. Could. Not. Write. Saturday morning I realized why. I hardly know the hero and heroine. When I don’t […]

Buzzing!

How did I get so busy? I’ve been going in circles the past two weeks, so much so that I didn’t even get to this blog post last Monday. First of all, writing writing writing. “Music in the Night”, a novella for the Dragonblade collection, Dukes All Night Long, is finished! I typed THE END […]

A Writer’s Brain

In order to produce a good story, your author needs to climb into the story, if she can. Focus and imagination are required. With luck, she’ll be as involved with the characters as you are when you read a good one and lose track of the world around her. Alas that is not always (sometimes […]

Heading Down a Rocky Road

Staring at my lovely pink planner I’m a bit overwhelmed. Just a bit. I can do this. I leave on Saturday for a week away with my Grandson—more on that later this week. There is a long list of things I need to do before I depart. There are also church commitments, family commitments, and […]

Details Details

Working in historical fiction is so much fun. You can trip over all sorts of unexpected details. In “Charred Hope” my story for Love’s Perilous Road, I wrote that the innkeeper served my hero pancakes. One of the beta readers asked, “Did they call them pancakes?” Yes they did! I had the same question and […]

Moving Along

The sun is so bright today I would almost think it was spring if more ice and snow weren’t forecasted for later this week. I am more or less on schedule for this month! I finished my promo tour for Snowed by the Wallflower on Friday–weary and suspecting at least some readers were tired of […]

More Coffee, Please

Such a week I had—many visits to visit the readers of my fellow authors, much to post, posts to friends’ blogs, prizes to award, chatting to be done. All of this was in celebration of Snowed by the Wallflower which danced into the world last Tuesday. Yea and hurray! It feels good to have a […]

Running too Fast

Too much, too fast! I didn’t expect baby steps to lead to zooming quite so fast. The big issue is all the promotion needed for a new book. There is no point in writing them, if no one reads them, right? I’ve been on three web blogs and more Facebook groups that I care to […]

The White Stuff

I hit a bump in the road last week, Greg’s one year death anniversary. It was a speed bump for sure, but I was productive. In real life I cleaned out kitchen cupboards, packed up my old dishes for the Greendrop folks, and bought a new set. The old China wasn’t microwave safe. Here at […]

Inching Back—But First, Coffee!

I’m still weary and numb from my annus horribilis, but like the rest of the natural world, there are sprouts and buds of life occurring. Yesterday I went with the family to my favorite nearby spot: Cape May! We had an absolutely joyful time pedaling along the Revolutionary Rail trail in a four person car. […]