Last blog post, I confessed that I have no future in professional landscaping. Well, I have a confession of a different sort today.I know — all writers with blogs know — that our readers don’t care how we write. Much like a gemstone or a perfect meal, you/we (because writers are also readers) don’t want to hear about the millions of years of pressure, the raw ingredients (especially if they’re eggs), or the hours of staring at the screen. We just want the dazzling results on our finger, our plate, or our #TBR (To Be Read list). And yet, blog posts about writing keep sneaking through, in the guise of story updates or sharing research or funny anecdotes. Wily buggers, aren’t they? Maybe. But I have another theory, which I’ll share at … [Read more...] about The Solution for Troublesome Timelines? Driving Epiphanies, and Cheap Therapy
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Raking is Hard, and Other Grief Confessions
Thank you to everyone for the warm wishes on the passing of poor Fritz. It’s an experience many of us have shared, so the Humans get hugs (virtual or otherwise), but we tend to forget about the effects on the rest of the pack. I’m certain animals have their own grieving processes. Ninja Kitty has been ridiculously affectionate, always wanting love, but is beginning to transition back toward his default state of obnoxiousness.Travis and Fred seem more subdued generally, especially Fred. Of course, it’s easy to project our own feelings onto our pets, so I try not to read too much into Fred’s sighs. I have, however, noticed one alarming and unfortunately objectively verifiable behavior change, one so dark, I hesitate to share it here. But … [Read more...] about Raking is Hard, and Other Grief Confessions
Checking In, After Checking Out
I missed the blog post last week—for reasons I’ll share below—and I’ve been mostly off email and social media lately, so I wanted to at least do a quick check-in today.How is everybody? Between the ridiculous cold in the United States and the ridiculous heat in Australia, I’m guessing a decent number of responses would be, “Fairly shitty, but thanks for asking.” Or at least, fairly uncomfortable.I can’t complain about comfort. Here in East Hawaii, we’ve had nothing extraordinary temperature- or precipitation-wise (although we could use some rain as our roads and catchment tanks are feeling parched). But we have been doing our small part to keep up the “extreme weather” theme that seems to be sweeping the globe, and spent several recent … [Read more...] about Checking In, After Checking Out
Ring in the New Year with a Freshly Filled E-reader!
I mentioned last week that I’ve been swamped by a bunch of behind-the-scenes stuff.Pssstt… guess who’ll be featured by BookBub tomorrow. 😳Scary cool, huh? Cross your fingers that I have a good run. And if you have not yet picked up the first Sydney Brennan Mystery Back to Lazarus for free, do so now because I will be making it a paid (albeit modestly so) book soon after the BookBub runs. I’ll share more on that and some other changes in a future blog post. But today, I have something fun!Speaking of free things, let me spin you a scenario… you’re a little cash-poor at the moment thanks to the holidays. And yes, you’ve got unread books on your e-reader, but it’s a New Year! Which means you’re jonesing for something new, … [Read more...] about Ring in the New Year with a Freshly Filled E-reader!
The Magical Power of Words, Holiday Edition
I’m swamped by a bunch of behind-the-scenes stuff now, so I’m going to keep this blog post short and sweet. And I’ll be back again next Friday with a bonus post you don’t want to miss. Mwah-ha-hah!Without being too precious about it (although I did say sweet), reading and writing—the conjuring and sharing of worlds that otherwise wouldn’t exist—have always felt magical to me. Of course I’m not alone. If you’re looking for a satisfying way to pass as much time as you’re willing to spare, just google quotes about the magical power of words. I’ll limit myself to one that caught my eye in my Twitter feed earlier this week and has lodged in my mind: from Neil Gaiman’s lovely The Ocean at the End of the Lane, “I lived in books more than I … [Read more...] about The Magical Power of Words, Holiday Edition
