Pursuing Dreams
I thought I’d share with you a little more of my personal side and some of the things going on in my life. So what’s my dream? Well, you might have guessed that it is to make a full time living as an author. Are you surprised that I’m not there yet? 🙂 I’ve got a way’s to go, actually. With a small niche like mine, I need a lot of books available for sale, since no one book is likely to be a break out hit and sell millions of copies! Clearly one of  the steps in pursuit of this dream is to write more books. Lots more books! And I’m enjoying the process of trying out new genres, new formats, new stories. I’m excited to go beyond the self-consciousness of the books about Elizabeth and explore more storytelling. Another...
Read MoreFriday Excerpt: A New Nano
It’s that time of year again! Even though I’m a professional writer and I write nearly every day, I still enjoy doing Nanowrimo. It gives me an excuse to do something challenging or different. In the interest of challenge, I’ve decided to attempt to complete two projects this November. 1) The first is a huge departure for me. I got an idea for an amateur sleuth character (I watch a ton of detective shows, so I’m not surprised that my subconscious decided it wanted to try writing one). What makes this really different is that the character is a female wheelchair user. What can I say? Olive just came to me and she was so delightful that I had to write about her. 2) In the second half of the month I’ll be trying out the serialized...
Read MoreBook Reviews
I’m going to be cutting back on doing the book reviews. Reviewing other people’s books is too often a losing situation for me. I do it because I want you, my readers, to know what to expect when you pick up a new “wounded hero” story. I want to let you know if the depiction of disability is accurate or absurd. I want to help you find out about new books you might like and which you might want to avoid if your standards are anything like mine. However, so many novels with disabled characters do the disability part poorly. From inaccurate to insulting, reading books too often makes me cringe. I want so much to warn you about these books, but then it reflects badly on me. It makes it seem like I’m trying to harm my competition (when...
Read MoreCharacters Acting Up
You know how writers say that their characters take on a life of their own and won’t always do what they say? That rarely happens to me. I build my plots around who the characters are and I usually am able to stick close to an outline. However. I’m having some real issues with one. Stewart’s father, Richard, is impossible to work with. People want to see Stewart and his father reconcile. I know you guys want that! I want it too. I just cannot seem to get Richard to go along with this plan. In (W)hole I gave him the opportunity at Christmas and he just belittled Stewart the way he always does. I wrote a new story with the purpose of getting them to work out their differences and yet in Stewart’s Story, even though Stewart is helping to care...
Read MoreThe Serialization Bandwagon
I’ve been seeing and hearing a lot lately about people writing serial novels and even writing episodic stories imitating the style of a TV show with seasons. I am fascinated with this form. I’m a lover of TV and lately, watching shows like, Leverage and Supernatural, which have amazing characters and strong stories, it makes me want to try it. It’s like a throw back too to the days of Dickens when it was the norm for authors to write in serial form. I had an idea for a serialized story and I’m going to give it a try during National Novel Writing Month this year. (I love NaNo for the opportunity to try new things!) If it works well, I may restructure Parallel Loves (which is currently really not working plot wise) into a serial format. I...
Read MoreProgress Trackers
At proofreaders; available for pre-order
What Is Meant To Be
Second draft
Homework & Homicide (working title)
Second Draft
Book Montage
RFW winner October 7, 2011
