Historical and Contemporary Romance Author
People debate the wisdom of including excerpts of other books at the end of a book the reader has purchased. While some readers say they like them, others feel they are “advertisements” and don’t like having “paid” for a book that includes that extra content. It’s especially bothersome, it seems, when the excerpts “pad” the apparent length of the story…
I figured I should probably write out this story, not only because it will save me the trouble of explaining to multiple people who’ve followed the saga on Twitter and Facebook, but in tiny increments, exactly what happened, but also because it might help someone else out there who has a similar type of event. As you know if you…
I love starting a new manuscript. It’s a bit like opening up the chocolate box of your ideas and characters and figuring out what’s inside. Yesterday, after a few weeks of dithering and thinking, I wrote the first few paragraphs of Hot Under the Collar. The opening is always a big hurdle for me to overcome whenever I’m starting a…
A lot of websites have gone “dark” today to protest SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act). SOPA is not currently law, but it is pending legislation in the House. A competing but similar vision, PIPA (Protect IP Act) is pending in the Senate. Now, I can’t honestly say I completely understand what is in either piece of legislation or what the actual effect…
When the reality TV craze began with shows like Survivor and American Idol, et al., I barely noticed. I just wasn’t interested. If I wanted to watch a competition, I was more than happy to stick to sports–football and baseball specifically (I’ve never cared for basketball or hockey) with a binge every two years on the Olympics. That, however, was…
If you’ve missed the recent spate of self-published (as well as a few traditionally published YA) authors imploding over negative reviews, consider yourself lucky and don’t bother trying to find out who went postal where. It’s just like every previous author-reviewer drama in memory and you won’t learn anything new, only that even those who know history seem doomed to…
If you’ve known me for a while, then you know I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions. I figure anything that’s good enough to resolve to do in a new year is good enough to resolve to do before that year gets here. But in this case, I’m making a slight exception. And this isn’t so much a resolution as it…
According to my website stats, 85 lovely people stopped by my blog between Christmas Eve and the morning of Boxing Day to download a copy of THE LESSON PLAN. Thank you all for taking some time away from your families to come and visit me. I hope you all enjoy the book and are having a wonderful holiday season. And…
I have one last Lords of Lancashire cover and cover copy to reveal. And since the novella is set during the Christmas season of 1804, it seems as good a time as any to do so :). A Matter of Indiscretion With his facility for languages and gift for diplomacy, Thomas Pearce is perfectly suited for his recent position in…
If all goes according to plan, we’ll be getting our Christmas tree this afternoon. As usual, however, my kids have been pestering me to get one for three weeks solid, despite the fact that every year, we are always among the last of our friends and neighbors to get one. Despite the fact that I’ve told them repeatedly that I…