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...