Story Weekend: Music
Sunday night is the Grammy Awards and American Idol is gearing up and I have music on my mind. I thought it would make a good topic for Story Weekend, so here we go. You may interpret the theme any way you like. If you’re new to Story Weekend, here’s how it works: I pick…
Read MoreWe Need a Few Good Movie Stars
One of my Facebook friends, Stephanie, asked me what actors I’d like to see play my characters in the movie versions of my books. I hasten to add there are no movie versions planned at the moment, but we can fantasize, can’t we? I’d love to know who you think should play some of the…
Read MoreMy Favorite Reads of 2011
Each year, I like to share my favorite reads from the last 12 months. As I looked over the books I read in 2011, two things stood out to me: 1) much of my recent reading has been nonfiction as I research the time and place of my work-in-progress, and 2) I started quite a…
Read MoreStory Weekend: Hair
I can’t believe we haven’t had hair as a Story Weekend topic yet. (Isn’t this a stunner of a photograph? That’s me, in my dreams). Whether “hair” makes you think of childhood perms, fright wigs, your grandma’s snow-white bun or the broadway musical, tell us about it! If you’re new to Story Weekend, here’s how…
Read MoreBacklist on Fire! (and a Contest)
As you probably know, last year I published five of my out-of-print books as e-books. Well, today I checked my records to see if it was worth the time and effort. Uh. . . YES! You bought over 50,000 of them in 2011! I’m staggered by that number, especially since I never thought those books…
Read MoreDo You Read the Last Page First?
A friend called the other day. I hadn’t spoken to him in a couple of months and I knew he and his family were going through some difficult times. He wanted to catch me up, telling me “so much has happened since I talked to you last.” (I really did receive this call, but I’m…
Read MoreStory Weekend: Rebellion
This week’s theme popped into my mind out of nowhere and I look forward to seeing what that word conjures up for you. I’m not going to start it off with my own story this week so as not to influence anyone. Instead, I’ll let you take this in whatever direction you like. If you’re…
Read MoreLet's Have a Worry-Free Week
All right, I will settle for a semi-worry-free week. I spend too much time worrying about things. One of my main worries is always the book I’m working on. Will I meet my deadline? Will it please my readers? Will the reviews be good? Will it make any bestseller lists? Etcetera, etcetera. I was thinking…
Read MoreStory Weekend: Random Acts of Kindness
This weekend’s theme: Random Acts of Kindness. It’s a great topic, suggested by one of my Facebook friends. Write whatever true little (and I do mean little!) story pops into your mind. Something you did. Something someone else did for you. Something you witnessed. I can’t wait to read what you come up with. If…
Read MoreRecipe Reviews Crack Me Up
Even though I have a cupboard full of cookbooks, I often end up turning to the Internet when I want to make dinner. I go to one of the recipe sites, plug in what I have on hand, such as “chicken” “mushrooms” and “basil”, and track down a recipe that sounds good. I print it…
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