The Solution for Troublesome Timelines? Driving Epiphanies and Cheap Therapy
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, Read more…
Affirmation from an Unlikely Source: Meeting my Character in Las Vegas
I know, I know. No blog post last week. Let the beatings begin. But I had a good excuse, I swear. I was off island in a hotel with truly horrendous Wi-Fi in… Wait for it… LAS VEGAS, BABY! Sin City! City of Lost Wages! Glitter Gulch! (I think that last one is just downtown, but I love the alliteration.) You get the idea. Okay, admittedly the crappy Wi-Fi didn’t matter so far as writing a blog post goes because I never had a free moment. In fact, I never got more than four hours of sleep in a night and usually Read more…
Giveaway Winner and Where Things Stand, Including the Slightest Smidge of Sydney Brennan Tease
Congratulations to T.F. from California, the winner of the Sydney Brennan Investigations mug from last blog post’s Giveaway! If you entered and didn’t win, better luck next time. And there will be a next time. I’ll be giving away more Syd and Dead Hollow goodies over the coming months, some just to my Reader Group (that’s a plug to sign up for my monthly newsletter), but others will be for everyone so watch this space. I’ll also be gathering those designs into a little Swag Shop, so if you can’t wait to win something or know you [Eeyore voice] never win Read more…
This Audiobook is Rated R (Because I Feel Naked)
Last month, I shared a couple of lessons I’d learned in my initial foray into audiobooks. The TLDR version (that’s too long, didn’t read for those of you who actually do read) is first, that an audiobook really is a different book, not just a different format. Think emu versus elephant rather than panther versus cougar. And second, I didn’t grok how individual a reading experience is until listening to my own story performed as an audiobook. You could read over my shoulder, and we’d each still be having a different adventure. Being a writer, essentially thinking your stories are Read more…
When You Can’t Blame the Cat (Or the Weather) After All—Shiny Object Syndrome
I planned my blog post yesterday, but got caught up in writing writing instead (things are getting real in Dead Hollow) and left it until this morning to draft. Except today I’m a little frazzled because—you guessed it—we had intense thunderstorms and a trembling, medicated Rhodesian ridgeback (plus a totally chill cat) in our bed last night. I was going to write about how I can’t get anything done because of the trouble-inciting Ninja Kitty. Except today, it struck me that the weather is the root of my problem. When we moved to Hawaii a dozen years ago, thunderstorms were Read more…
^