Do You Want Horror in Your Fiction, or Is Life Scary Enough?
It starts innocently enough. A little movement around the edge of the sink, maybe an impromptu gathering under your sponge? In a few hours, you go back and look. Hunh. Are you sure they were actually there? Maybe they’re just not active in the afternoon. Or perhaps you’re a little sleep-deprived thanks to a late-night allergy attack and have eyes full of floaters (you know, those little buggers that make you look back and forth, back and forth, and maybe swat if no one’s looking, trying to decide if you’re crazy or a bug-infested Pigpen). But the signs mount. You’re Read more…
A Sneak Peek at the New Sydney Brennan Book, and a Quick Dive into the World of Dialect
The latest Sydney Brennan, River Bound, is well on its way to hitting your hands and ereaders before Christmas. The manuscript is in its third and final copy edit pass, with my editor and I currently engaged in a profanity hyphenation debate (smart-ass or smartass, with both of us arguing both sides). And I haven’t forgotten you Luddites (I say that lovingly, having spent last weekend moving heavily laden bookshelves)—the paperback cover is on order. I mentioned before that I’m not setting a solid release date. This time of year, there’s a bit of spinning-the-wheel quality to when non-Preorder books Read more…
Postcards from Dead Hollow Land
I think I mentioned last post that I’d be doing some traveling. I am now in No Internet Land–my cell phone won’t even pick up my email. Well, not now at this precise moment. We’ve made a coffee shop pilgrimage (to another state) for “emergency wifi.” While I’m here, I thought I’d share some pretty pictures. Yesterday, we were fortunate to have a chilly but beautiful day for a train excursion in West Virginia. That’s right–we’re in Dead Hollow land! And I’m taking notes for Book Three of the trilogy. The train traveled through The Trough, a narrow space between Read more…
Return of the Lunatic (Post-It) Fringe: More Writer’s Notes to Self
A few nights ago, we were heading to bed when my husband said, “I like your laptop.” Yeah, seemed like a non sequitur to me, too. Then he added, “It’s like you smashed something in there, and all the ideas are squishing out.” Ahh… Not a total non sequitur after all. He’d just evicted the cat from our dog Fritz’s crate (Ninja loves Fritz’s new bed, and the pit bull is too much of a wuss to kick him out), and the crate is directly behind my desk where rests my frilly laptop. I’ve previously confessed my love of/unhealthy addiction Read more…
Magpie Moments: Charlie Brown—More Than Just a Comic Character
I’m thrilled to share that Founder, Book Two of the Appalachian Dead Hollow Trilogy is alive—mwah-ha-hah! It is a crime thriller with a touch of the supernatural, so I figured mwah-ha-hah! fits. Or just, yay! Whichever. 😊 You can read a Preview and find purchase links here. Remember, this is a true trilogy, not just a series, so do not read Book Two without first reading Book One, Prodigal. Which seems like a perfect segue… I haven’t done any Magpie Moments posts in a while (bits about real-life moments I snatched up and tucked into my fiction), and I thought Read more…
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