I had an editor who felt that trilogies were the perfect size for readers. There was enough time to become involved in the lives of the characters without the relationship between book and reader becoming a bit loopy. She believed readers wandered off if the interconnected story lines went on and on too long. What…
“Creativity is a tribal experience.” Julia Cameron You want to write. You do write. You spend hours writing . . . but you don’t seem to move forward. You don’t know if what you write is good. One moment you think you are brilliant, and in the next, untalented. And then there this whole business side to…
Have you noticed how many romances deal with siblings of the same sex? And how, when the siblings are all sisters things can be . . . complicated? Or perhaps it is just me. I come from a family where all the children were female. My sisters and I treated our father very well and were close…
This is a proud mama post combined with some there-are-no-coincidences post. My son Andrew is an artist whose work celebrates nature. He creates pieces that honor mountains, skies, capstone, insects and animals, plus pieces celebrating various states. He even throws in a flower every once in awhile. www.naturaltribute.com Now for the story: During the pandemic, Andrew ended…
Here is a hard lesson I had to learn: there are tougher things to being an author than getting the book published. I believed that once I had published my first book, all would be known to me. I could trust I had arrived. I had met the hardest, and biggest, hurdle and my course…
I have not been blogging. HIS LESSONS ON LOVE released the end of January. But it was not a “normal” release. All eformats of the book hit the virtual shelves but the paper copies were delayed about a week and a half. However, all is good. My readers are with me, and new readers will find me. I’ve been in this…
Every six months or so, I go on retreat with a few writers. We choose someplace quiet, near water if possible, and always when it is a good time of the year to sit outside. The stated goal is to put as many words into the story as possible, but so far, that hasn’t happened. Instead, what…
The last gentleman of the Logical Men’s Society is about to meet his match. I adore the Earl of Marsden aka Mars. The man is confused. He thinks he understands the world, except he is clueless. Life is not about one’s vices. Love alone gives it meaning. It is time for Miss Clarissa Taylor to set him straight,…
I’m taking a beginning art course. I am not much of an artist and this is definitely moving me out of my comfort zone. The other night in class, we were asked to draw a still life. It was of a Styrofoam ball and crumpled paper. The idea was that we cover the drawing pad…
And, no, I am not going to say “character, character, character,” although character is one of them. Compelling characters—people we feel we must understand—can send a mediocre plot into the stratosphere. A fascinating character, one with depth and true complexities, can drive me into a story and I’ll never let go until the last word….