A new book has been added to Featured Books today, Death Visits a Bawdy House, Adele Fasick’s recent Charlotte Edgerton Mystery. Featured Books will be a new page on this site to introduce books by authors in my various writing networks. These featured books will include a descriptive blurb and a cover image but are […]
Elementary, My Dear Writer
The Very, Very Basics of Writing Anything There are three fundamental elements of every piece of written work—including film, non-fiction and grocery lists. These three elements must be present or there is no point in proceeding. In non-fiction, the three elements forming the basics of a book are: Idea – the Topic Reason – Information […]
Disappointments Come in Small Doses
Disappointments come at every juncture of our lives. As children we face rejection as players on teams, aren’t invited to a classmate’s birthday party, fail a test or don’t get the grade we wanted on a paper. These are all learning experiences and prepare us for the inevitable rough treatment we will face in the […]
Kindness Matters
My mother seemed always to have an answer for every state of the human condition. A turn of phrase, an adage, an idiom, a quotation that addressed a predicament in which I or my siblings found ourselves. One of these is well-known and the photo here begins as my mother would have, but goes on […]
eBook Sale Ending at Midnight ET
A short reminder that tonight is the last opportunity to buy my ebook titles at the 65% discount rate offered through the month of March. The sale will end tonight at midnight, Eastern Time. The sale includes: Also, my publisher, Amazon is offering my debut novel, Wait a Lonely Lifetime at a discount. […]
Classic, Cozy & Cunning – Repost
That was first published in ClassicandCozyBooks.blogspot.com – the group blog I’ve participated in since February 2014 – two years ago from this coming Wednesday! We’ve all read books set in different countries, regions, time periods with characters from various ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds. The attempt to capture the sound of speech and cultural nuances is […]
When We’re Not Who We Think We Are
As with many Americans, because my family came here as immigrants—as did everyone else in the world to their respective countries however long ago that was—I have an interest in my roots. Over time, roots get buried so deep that digging one up disrupts everything you thought you knew about yourself and who you thought […]
Snakes & Snails & Puppy Dogs’ Tails
We know the counterpart to the title of this blog, starting with sugar but enough is said about the Spice and Nice. About twenty years ago, I learned the counterpoint regarding boys from a book titled, Bringing Up Boys. I have three. Variously known as “the mother of those three” and “so you’re the one […]
Preview: Nights Before: The Novel
On the Night Before Labor Day, a preview of my latest novel: Opening chapter of first story. New Year’s Eve is a time for reflection and change. Jocelyn has more changes coming at her from all directions beginning on a Portland, Maine winter day than she’s faced since her mother’s death. None of it bodes well for […]
After the Contest Is Over
Tonight, one of the most prestigious contests for writers of romantic fiction, The RITA, has just come to its conclusion; the winners have been announced and the prizes have been awarded. With the coming year end too fast approaching (as always), for some of us the time is right to begin planning for 2016 and our […]