Cleaning a Kitchen Drawer Near You… The Manic Writer

I may need an intervention. Remember how I mentioned going to a writers’ conference a couple of weeks ago? Ever since, I’ve had this slightly manic energy humming through my veins. Sleeping light, brain whizzing, tapping my fingers on whatever is handy when the remainder of my body is at rest. (I know, rude, but it’s only in my own home, and at least I have basic rhythm. Though The Infanta by The Decemberists does sometimes hang me up.) This energy has persisted despite unrelenting snotty weather, days so cool I’ve sat at my keyboard with my hood up like Read more…

The Procrastinating Writer’s Friday Five List Comes to a February Near You…

I could really use a business manager. A bunch of other things too (a masseuse, a chef, a self-cleaning dog bed or three, etc.), but lately a business manager is near the top of list. Well, maybe not a business manager per se, just a businessey-type person who—unlike my husband—doesn’t have another job. Admin type things keep catching up with me and piling on, burying me like wet sand. For example, I have a writers conference coming up in less than a month. In theory, I’m excited about it, but I haven’t had time to devote single neuron to preparing. Read more…

Wake Up from Your Turkey Nap–the Next Sydney Brennan Book is Here! (Almost…)

I don’t know about y’all (we had proper cornbread yesterday, so I’m allowed to drop a y’all), but I’m hiding at home right now. Black Friday (the shopping orgy the day after Thanksgiving, for the non-Americans or those who just woke up from 1960) frightens me. The only thing that might entice me to a retail establishment is the need to buy milk for my coffee, and even that probably won’t do it. Which is saying a lot, because Coffee is Life. I’ll keep this brief, in case you did leave the house at some point today or you’re clicking Read more…

Book Editing Brain Teasers

I hadn’t intended to do a Blog Post today, but honestly this little snippet got unwieldy for Facebook, so I thought I’d paste it here instead… I’ve been using my Kobo Reader to edit a rough draft of the latest Sydney Brennan book (Newsletter folks, watch your Inbox for the cover reveal this weekend!). I love my ereader and it is so easy on my eyes and my brain… yes, there is an impending but… BUT holy frijoles they need to work on the touch technology! (I’m not singling out Kobo–this is true of every ereader I’ve tried.) Highlighting bits Read more…

Guess Who I’ve Been Writing About… Getting Reacquainted with my Protagonist, Sydney Brennan

Yes, the blog post is late today (unless you live in Hawaii like me), but for good reason. Not just because I ran off this morning to get my hair cut—that’s not a good reason for you (although you’d think it was if you had to stare at the random high humidity curl in my bangs every morning). Nope, the good reason it’s late is that instead of staying up last night into the wee hours writing my blog post, I stayed up last night into the wee-ish hours (the hours when you most have to go to the bathroom?) Read more…