Remember the dial-up days? To access the Internet, you’d stretch a phone cord from your computer modem to your phone jack, then listen to that egregious screech-and-gurgle for several minutes before the connection finally cleared. Then you’d sit there looking at your old Yahoo! Classic inbox, waiting a full minute for every new email to […]
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Feb, 2016 How to Be Healthy (Even if You Live at a Desk)
February 9, 2016 by 27 Comments
In Cecil B. DeMille’s The Greatest Show on Earth, Jimmy Stewart’s Buttons the Clown character says, “Every man kills the thing he loves.” I have this rather morbid theory that it works the other way around too: the thing we love often ends up killing us. Mostly, I think this is simply because “love” is usually […]
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Nov, 2015 What Inspired Storming? 14 Things
November 17, 2015 by 28 Comments
You’d think as long as I’ve been at this writing thing, the twisty-turny process of inspiration would be old hat by now. But nope. I’m everlastingly fascinated by all the varied pieces that serendipitously combine to finally create a book. I’m often asked, “Where do you come up with your ideas?” Honestly, it’s awesome question. […]
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Nov, 2015 The Big Secret I’ve Never Shared Online Before
November 3, 2015 by 77 Comments
Hah. I knew that headline would make you look twice. 😀 Now before I pay off with the punchline, let me explain. Around here, November means two things: 1. It means sayonara to even the last dribs of warm weather. 2. And it means my birthday (which I always say like Otis Campbell). These two things […]
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Oct, 2015 Your Questions Answered: What Is the Hardest Part of a Book to Write?
October 13, 2015 by 43 Comments
When I started this little adventure of blogging on a more personal level here on my “author” site (versus my for-writers site Helping Writers Become Authors), I asked all of you what you’d like me to write about. A ton of you were awesome enough to flood in suggestions (saving me brainstorming time–yay!). Today’s is […]
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Sep, 2015 [Poll] Help Me Choose the Best Book Cover for Storming!
September 29, 2015 by 158 Comments
It’s book cover time! This is always one of my favorite parts of any book launch. Book covers are so visual and fun, and, especially if you’re the author, it’s a blast getting to see some of your imagination brought to life by someone else‘s imagination. This year, I’m going to cheat just a little […]
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Sep, 2015 Countdown to a Published Book: One Year in the Life of an Indie Author
September 22, 2015 by 8 Comments
What does it look like behind the scenes for an indie author on a countdown to a published book? Well, like this, of course: Okay, so I’m lying a little. Or actually a lottle. It’s more like this: As we inch to within less than three months of the release of my next novel Storming, I thought I’d […]
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Sep, 2015 Where Do Story Ideas Come From? Circus Clowns–and Other Crazy Places
September 15, 2015 by 21 Comments
Where do story ideas come from? It’s one of those questions that pop up often, and it’s one of those questions that makes my eyes glaze over almost as much as an algebraic equation. Uhhh, they come from … poof! … from the air! Seriously, whenever I’m trying to figure out the answer to this question, […]
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Sep, 2015 All the Super-Important Stuff on This Writer’s Desk
September 1, 2015 by 63 Comments
Everybody knows it: a writer’s stuff is really important–especially all the stuff on a writer’s desk. A few weeks ago, after I posted a pic of my work-laden desk in my Helping Writers Become Authors e-letter, my critique partner Linda Yezak suggested I do a post about all my super-important desk junk. She sent me a link […]
