Super Daisy is Back & Even Super-er
Somewhat of a long story precedes this new release announcement. It goes like this: My very first attempt at self-publishing was in 2013. I’d gotten my rights back to Delicious Conversation (now Chocolate and Conversation), and I designed a crummy cover and put it on Kindle. It shocked me when two months later, I saw […]
Springtime Writing Update
It’s been a great few weeks for writing and reading. I just finished reading a couple of fun books, and I’ve completed two fun YA contemporary fantasies. One should be available (again) soon. It’s Super Daisy, revamped for teens, and the other is a totally new story that was the most fun I’ve had writing […]
What I Wish I’d Known About Writing 20 Years Ago
A facebook friend mentioned she was giving a presentation to a high school class and asked the probing question: what do you wish you’d known about writing when you were in high school. Uh, everything? But here’s what I wrote: If you want to write, the sooner you start to write a lot, the sooner […]
Never Look Back
The mantra that has guided my 2017, as I said before, has been a quote from Brad Bird’s brilliant movie, The Incredibles: “I never look back, darling. It distracts from the now.” Much as it has helped me, it can’t be applied in every situation. Sometimes, we have to look back, in order to go […]
How to Handle Bad Reviews (Video)
Everybody who does anything creative and has the courage to put their work out for public consumption will get a bad review now and then. I talk about how to handle it in this video interview with CJ Anaya. CJ has an amazing array of videos on self-publishing. If you’ve even been interested in trying self-pub, […]
Enduring Art and The Power of Creativity for Happiness
I have a favorite author that I almost never recommend to people because I’m not sure my taste will run the same as other people’s. Anthony Trollope wrote 84 novels in his day, the Victorian era. He was a contemporary of Dickens, and like Dickens, had his work serialized in newspapers, vast sweeping plots, with […]
Why I Write WHAT I Write
I want to share something, and I hope it’s taken in the spirit I intend. There have been days when I’ve been down, or that I’ve thought maybe the genre I write in is not as “important” as other genres. Then last month, I took a writing workshop from Joshua Perkey where I was encouraged to […]
From First Draft to Hitting “Publish”: The Process in 14 Steps
After a newbie author asked a question on a Facebook group, “What’s a beta reader?” I answered, regaling her with my entire draft-to-edit-to-publish process. Lucky her! A lot of people have asked me, what’s your process, and I often tell them about how I get my ideas, or something like that. But the truth is […]
Finishing The WIP
Today I’m telling myself that this, THIS is the day that I’m going to finish the edit of my work in progress, a third installment for the Billionaire Makeover Romance series. It’s been such a fun book to write, and it’s one I’ve had in my head for years, so it’s fun to finally see […]
Why I Spend the Money to Go to Writing Conferences
This week is one of my favorite weeks of the year. For a writer, Conference Week is almost like Christmas. There are friends, laughter, good food, and dress-up events—not to mention all the learning and networking that take place. I try to attend two writing events each year to improve my craft of writing. This […]
