Category Archives: The Writing Life

Desert Island Necessities (What does an author really need?)

Posted on June 17, 2013 by

Imagine, if you will, that your cruise ship hit an iceberg, encountered a hurricane or wandered into the Bermuda Triangle. You’ve managed to escape unscathed and have landed on a desert island all by your lonesome. Abundant food is everywhere, … Continue reading →

Posted in The Writing Life, Cats Horses and Other Pets, Travel, Books, Writing Craft | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Fake Blood and Shooting After Dark–the Making of a Vampire Flick

Posted on June 3, 2013 by

At this point in my career, I’m a dedicated novelist. I’m sticking to writing and promoting my traditionally published books like the Tankborn Trilogy and the upcoming Janelle Watkins mysteries, as well as my indie published romances. But there was … Continue reading →

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Social Media for the Genre-Conflicted, Part 2

Posted on May 28, 2013 by

In Social Media for the Genre-Conflicted, Part 1, I talked about how I created social media identities for all three of the genres in which I am published–romance, young adult science fiction, and mystery. In part 2, I’ll talk about … Continue reading →

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When Fiction Becomes Future…or Present

Posted on May 23, 2013 by

Science fiction is a funny genre. There are those (like me) who devour it, who sometimes feel there’s something missing in a book that doesn’t include at least a little imagined science. Then there are those who just don’t get … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Cool Science, Old Memories, The Writing Life, Writing Craft | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Social Media for the Genre-Conflicted, Part 1

Posted on May 13, 2013 by

In a previous post, I described how my husband and I designed my new website to encompass all three of the genres I’m published in–science fiction (YA), romance, and mystery. I have a great landing page that directs visitors to … Continue reading →

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New Website! A Solution for the Genre-Conflicted

Posted on May 6, 2013 by

So what do you do to promote yourself when your published work spans three genres (romance, speculative fiction, mystery) and two markets (adult and young adult)? This wasn’t a huge issue when I initially sold my first YA science fiction … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, The Writing Life, Writing Craft | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Horse of a Different Color and How Writing Matures

Posted on April 29, 2013 by

I’m lucky enough to own a beautiful mare named Belle. She’s half-Andalusian and half-Morgan, and a gorgeous gray. She just turned 16 a couple weeks ago. If you don’t know horses, you might not realize that 1) most of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Cats Horses and Other Pets, Strongly Held Beliefs, The Writing Life, Writing Craft | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

10 Must-Do’s for Manuscript Revision

Posted on April 21, 2013 by

A little over a week ago, I turned in Book 3 of the Tankborn trilogy. A few weeks ago in this blog post, I gave tips on how to finish your novel, suggesting among other things to turn off your … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, The Writing Life, Writing Craft | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

OnFireFiction, or Creating a Creative Cooperative

Posted on April 2, 2013 by

In October 2012, I attended the annual conference of Novelists, Inc, one of the alphabet soup of writer’s groups (SCBWI, SFWA, MWA, and SinC) to which I belong. As I mentioned in this blog post, one of the hottest topics … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Conference Wisdom, The Writing Life, Writing Craft | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

A Literary Schlep–4…er…5 Tips on Finishing Your Novel

Posted on March 26, 2013 by

I flew from DC to Northern California today. I bring this up because I was contemplating how odd it is that at 6am this morning (3am PST), I was heading off in my rental car to Dulles Airport, and at … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, The Writing Life, Writing Craft | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments