Looking Forward

Well, it's that time of year again, where I start looking at what I did this year, and what I want to accomplish next year. I'm working on a series of posts about goals on my personal blog, The Muse, so I'm going to skip that discussion here. But I thought I'd do a brief recap since...

Release Day Celebrating

Okay, I am shang-haiing the blog (yeah, I can't spell that) today. My book is out! Whee!!There's a certain magic about release day, no matter how many titles an author has published. This one holds even more for me. Not only is it coming on a holiday weekend, for the holidays, but...

Farewell

I write for a reason -- it's therapeutic -- and I am a writer, which means I'm typically good with written word, not so much spoken word.And today I need to say goodbye to a cherished friend. Look closely, the horse on the left is the horse on the cover of Waiting For Yes... His...

W00T!! My Book is Out!!

Okay, enough of the exclamation marks. My book, A Perfect Bride for Christmas came out November 12th. It's published through The Wild Rose Press and you can find it on http://www.thewildrosepress.com/a-perfect-bride-for-christmas-p-4310.html or Amazon.com and Borders Books. Check it out.Now that the commercial is over, let me tell you, I'm flying high right now. There may be a time when I fall to earth, but for now, I'll spend a few days soaring....

Jewelann Is Coming To Town

If you put a pause in between Jewelann's name, the title fits "Santa Clause is Coming To Town", incidently.So yes, I'm super duper excited that Heartland Romance Authors and Midwest Romance Writers elected to bring Jewelann Cone, from the Cascade Literary Agency, (my agent) in to...

Starting A New Book

This kinda ties in with what Dyann was saying:There's a certain energy about a new story, and I think this is probably my favorite part of writing. First, the idea takes hold. Then, the plot unfolds (because I'm a plotter.) Then, about a week later, I get to put words down... and for me, there's no better thrill. All that thinking starts to develop. All that imagry comes to life.For the first time in my life, I'm doing NaNoWriMo, and I put off starting...

The Voices in My Head

"I killed Ash today." I picked up one of my fries and popped it into my mouth. "It made me sad but I had no choice. He had to go."Dennis just nodded. "That's too bad. I know how much you liked him."It's not unusual for me to tell my husband about my writing over the evening meal. Tonight it was Mickey D's. The person in the next booth gave me a wide-eyed look before they gathered up the last of their meal and scurried away to dump their trash.What...

First Book I've Ever Set Aside

Now... I'm not going to names, first and foremost. But tonight I set aside the first book that I've ever picked up and started to read. The book was published by a house I usually gobble up everything they put out. The author was new to me. (And if you've watched my posts at Cascade -- no it wasn't one of the two books I mentioned there that I was interested in.)In the first three pages of the story I changed points of view so many times it was...

Revison Horror

I love writing 'The End'. It's a bit sad and I know I'll miss my characters. No, let me rephrase that, I'll miss discovering all the little things about my characters that I didn’t know when I started the journey. Especially their quirks, sense of humor, and the unexpected lines that sometimes pop out of their mouths. It's always a sad goodbye. Think of Joan Wilder in ‘Romancing the Stone’.That is until I realize I'm headed for, as one of my friends...

Twitchy Fingers

Well, for the first time in probably the last two years, I'm confronted with the reality that... I'm not writing right now. And I have twitchy, itchy fingers. I finished up my last project, affectionately known as The Monster, a couple weeks ago. Decided then that it was time to catch up on some much-needed house-keeping writing wise. So I caught up on some blogs that I follow, touched base with a few authors I don't talk to nearly enough, and...

Amen to That!

I originally intended this to be a comment to Claire Ashgrove's blog on the business end of writing. As I wrote, I realized it had turned into a blog.The first thing most people say to me when they find out I'm a published author is, "Oh, how fun. It must be nice to stay home all day and play." It's clear they've never tried to tell a story, work with goal, motivation, and conflict-- to create a riveting tale that will make an agent sit up and take...

Learning To Be An Author

Shew!I used to have this perception that being an author wasn't, necessarily, work. Writing is fun -- erego not a job. WRONG.I figured this out somewhat after my first book saw publication and the world of, dum-dum-dum promotions became part of my life. So, website up, blogs somewhat active, presence scattered, newsletter out... Added that into my schedule.Kids, it only gets worse!This week, I had a deadline that I was in a rush to meet because...

Pushing Boundaries

In working with this new project, I've had to change up some of my habits and break some routines so my "boundaries" wouldn't be the same. One of the things that I've altered is, I've started listening to music while I'm writing. Not anything I'm a crazy fan about (like good classical, or sweeping orchestral because that totally distracts me.) Pop music actually. Which is great for a drive, but not normally part of my writing formula.Anyway,...

Stumbling Into the 21st Century

What do critique partners, blogging, and putting on my 'big girl panties' have in common?I've been dragged, kicking and screaming, into the the 21st century. I'm one of those people who are computer illiterate. No, that's wrong. I know just enough to be dangerous. Until now, I've refused to see my computer as something more than a glorified typewriter.Besides, my husband is the IT officer at his office-- he'd do all that 'stuff' for me. Why should...

Reviews, Reviews!

I'm sharing two reviews that I received this month:Both reviews were conducted by Marissa at Sizzling Hot Books.The first is for Seduction's Stakes, my Contemporary romance centered around a passionate race for the Triple Crown.FOUR STARS"Seduction's Stakes is full of unforgettable...

Writing Is Like Chess

Stolen from the Cascade Literary Agency BlogOccasionally while doing the total mundane (such as brushing my teeth) a few gems of wisdom pop into my head. Well, maybe not wisdom. But I like to think they are. Tonight while working through the next scene in my current work in progress, it occured to me to pull off what I'm striving for, I have to move each player very carefully.Like chess. And thus the thought took root.For anyone who writes with secondary...