Cover Art trumps everything

October 24, 2011

I intended to fill this space with a lengthy discussion on irresponsibility and if a writer needs to be irresponsible from time-to-time so they can have the adventures that make for good fiction. I would evoke Hemingway and the Fitzgeralds, talk about dangerous hobbies and drug use, finally bringing it all around to a very [...]

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The best of fall TV: BBC’s Bedlam

October 10, 2011

Fall is my favorite season for a lot of reasons: the weather, the leaves, and the excuse to decorate with skulls (current skull count: 9, current pumpkin count: 14, both seem to grow every day) and, of course, new fall tv shows. Hollywood embraced fantasy and horror this year, bringing shows that appeal to people [...]

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Clutter

September 30, 2011

I tend to move often, which is to say more than most military families but less than your average hobo. (Probably, trustworthy hobo movement statistics are hard to find these days.) For a while, every July found me knee deep in packing paper and boxes. One of the benefits of all that moving is a [...]

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Beta-Reading and Back Cover Blurbs

September 19, 2011

The cold came from no where. I avoid contact with sick people. I wash my hands several times a day, especially after I get off the train. (Nothing will ever convince me they aren’t Petri dishes.) I eat healthy most of the time, I work out, and I always carry and use hand sanitizer. Still [...]

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My Writing Year — I’m a little lost

September 14, 2011

I’m in an odd place writing-wise. I’ve returned my manuscript revisions to my editor. I don’t know when she’ll get back to me, two weeks? Two months? If there’s anything my journey to publication has taught me it’s that publishing moves at its own pace. Even if I did know exactly the day and the [...]

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DragonCon Report

September 6, 2011

Panels: My panel, Brigands and Buccaneers: Myth and Reality of Pirates, went well. We had a variety of authors and pirate fans giving some great different perspectives. Ann Crispin, author of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Price of Freedom, led the group on a discussion that covered pirates from sweet Disney to bloody historic. When [...]

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Dystopian DC — My Earthquake Experience

August 30, 2011

The shaking felt gentle, like someone grabbing my chair. Until the rumbling came I didn’t think earthquake. When I did my mind quickly passed my flimsy desk and decided on the stairwell as a safe place to be. When I got there a wave of people swirled around me. There was no way to avoid [...]

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The timeline so far…

August 22, 2011

Ever been curious about the path to publication? Here’s mine (at least so far): September 2007: Waking up in a very swish room at the Walt Disney World Contemporary Resort, a scene came to me: Elisabeth Hicks, war veteran and detective, at a party with a beautiful woman (who looked a bit like this) who [...]

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A Sense of History

August 9, 2011

I’m just back from a weekend visiting the elders of my family, the people who refused to escape to Florida when they got the chance, who instead endured the Northern winters with a stoic pragmatism. We celebrated an 88th birthday and talked about the past. It took me only a few hours to notice their [...]

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Avoiding Scams at DragonCon (or any other Convention)

August 2, 2011

Writing scams are many and varied. No one does a better job of covering them than the amazing Writer Beware blog.  If you’re writing you need to read their blog on a regular basis. It will protect you and your work. But what about your pocket money? What about the money you’re hoping to blow [...]

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