Per request, here’s an update on my works-in-progress. Some great news, first of all, on the trade publication of THE SECRET LIFE OF CEECEE WILKES. CEECEE will be out in trade paperback right after Christmas, which is good news, but the great news is that Levy Home Entertainment, one of the largest book distributors in the country, has selected…

I have my new desktop set up with a gorgeous big flat screen monitor. It’s yummy! The computer guru is at work trying to recover my lost data and maybe tomorrow or the next day I’ll know where that stands. Sigh. Meanwhile, I have a question for you. For the past six or so years,…

Argh. I’m participating in a monthly “write a book in a week” event, which doesn’t literally mean you write a book in a week, but rather write as many pages as you can and report your progress to the online group each day. My goal was 50 pages for the week. I sat at my computer…

My brother Rob‘s latest novel, SUCH A KILLING CRIME, was just translated into Italian and he emailed my sibs and myself a computer translation of the first paragraph to see how it looked. Well, those of you who have used the internet translation programs know they are imperfect, and his first paragraph was pretty funny. I…

I’m being facetious. A romance writing acquaintance, Brenda Hiatt, gathered information on the advances and royalties paid to romance writers she surveyed over the past seven years. If you’re curious, click here. It’s quite an eye opener. With a very few exceptions, it’s clear that these women (and men) write for the love of writing! It’s…

I can’t count how many of you have asked me about the dedication in my book, KISS RIVER, over the years. The dedication reads “For Haseena and the other waiting children.” You wanted to know who Haseena was. I told you that she was a little girl in India whom my writer friend Sharon and her husband…

Well, my dogsitter Brenda had yet another BAY AT MIDNIGHT surprise for me. She noted that one of the characters in the book drives a white beetle convertible. So, since she happened to have one lying around her house (her husband reburbishes cars), she came over to take me for a spin. That’s Brenda in the…

Here are the scenes for my Work-in-Progress, spread out on my dining room table. Three main characters each have a point of view (the white, purple and blue cards). The hot pink cards are scenes from the point of view of a fourth, less significant, character. The green cards represent a first person account of the…

My dogsitter was up in New Jersey and took a side trip to see my old family bungalow, the setting in THE BAY AT MIDNIGHT. She was sweet enough to take pictures for me. As my sister said when I emailed her the pictures: “it makes me both happy and sad.” The bungalow and canal…

I’m going to miss my favorite TV shows as much as the next person, but I support the writers’ strike. Why? Because I’m a writer and the same issues that affect screenwriters also affect–or will in the near future–all writers. If you’re interested in understanding what the screenwriters are fighting for, this simple YouTube video…