Blog Archives

It’s Graphic, It’s Novel … a Window Opens

9/29/2014

It’s a law of nature: Once you’re set free of the shackles that bind you to a miserable daily routine, good things start to happen for you.

One of the good things that happened for me early last year was an invitation from my friend Chip Mann to work with him and his brother Dan a few hours a week to help them make their dream a reality. They too had broken some shackles by forming their own company, KID DOMINO, and were well on their way to something good — launching Issue 1 of their multi-part graphic novel series, Forgotten City.

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Find Your Great Escape And Zen Happens

9/22/2014

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Who wouldn’t agree that a great writing escape is anywhere that frees your mind and the creative juices? Conventional wisdom dictates that such a place must be breathtakingly beautiful — if not cradled in the bosom of Mother Nature, then situated at the foot of some architectural wonder.

Such elements are part of the ideal great escape for many writers, especially those who contend that pinning thoughts to paper (or computer screen) is a lonely job requiring solitude and serenity, without distractions or outside pressures. When it’s just you, your thoughts, and your writing tools, Zen happens. … Or does it?

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From RIF'd & Miffed to Published Author

9/15/2014

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When your employer decides to RIF* your job, what are you going do?

Cry? Rant? Mope? Slump into depression? Get even?

I can’t tell you what to do, but I can tell you what I did. … I forged a new path and followed it to places I only dreamed were real.

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Story Inspired by Real-Life Tragedy

9/8/2014

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While my forthcoming novel is classified a cozy mystery, there is nothing cozy about the real-life tragedies on which the mystery part is inspired — the heat stroke deaths of high school athletes.

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Author Panic 101 ! What if My Book Sucks?

9/1/2014

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Life was good. For the first time in months, I had no book-related deadline worries. It was mid-August, and eight days had passed since I’d completed the second read-through of the final draft of Dust Bunnies & Dead Bodies and returned it to Rebecca, my editor at PageSpring Publishing. For a few bliss-filled days after that, I operated as if my part in this project was done. I had written the book, made all of Rebecca’s requested rewrites, proofread the manuscript from beginning to end four times, and sent it back to her to publish. It was out of my hands. Yay, I thought, from now until my book debuts in mid-October, I’ll just bask in the afterglow.

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