Posts Tagged ‘Before the Storm’
Bookclub Bonding
I had such a treat this evening. I received an email a while back from a woman named Jodi who invited me to visit her bookclub. All the women in her club work at a preschool in Cary, NC, but they spend a weekend together on Topsail Island each year. It so happened they’re on…
Read MoreKnow When to Fold 'Em
Whoa, this is what I look like after a few weeks of working ’round the clock. Tired. John snapped this pic of me at Starbucks this morning while I was writing. He said “Give me a big smile!” and I thought I was. I think I’m fried! It’s always this way in the month before…
Read MoreSometimes Change is Good
If you had a chance to change something you created a decade ago, would you take it? I have that opportunity as some of my older books are being reissued, and since I’ve been asked if the reissued books are identical to the originals, I thought I’d talk about that here. The truth is, it varies from book to…
Read MoreI Honestly Don't Know How I Wrote that First Book!
I’m not talking about how hard it was to come up with the idea; that had been rolling around in my mind since I was twelve. I’m not talking about the challenge of structuring the story; I made it simple and told it in chronological order. I’m not talking about creating believable characters; I’d known…
Read MorePre-Release Peek at The Lies We Told Video!
I know I should wait until The Lies We Told is available before sharing the video with the world, but I love it so much I can’t wait! I’ll tuck it away after this blog post and bring it back when the book is released, but I thought you might enjoy hearing how John and…
Read MoreSam-I-Am
Is your name Sam? Probably not. Neither is mine. Neither are six of the seven major characters in my work-in-progress, The Midwife’s Confession. But last night, my Word program suddenly decided that if the name Sam was good enough for the guy who really is named Sam in the story, well then, it’s good enough for…
Read MoreMy Newest Fan
This is Maddie. Short for Madison. Madison belongs to Angie, the receptionist at my rheumatologist’s office. Angie likes my books, but she had no idea that Maddie shared her ‘taste’. Maddie’s a speed eater, devouring The Bay at Midnight in one sitting, just like my most faithful readers. Angie asked me to sign what remains of…
Read MoreWriter's Block: the Tough Love Approach
Writers spend hours and hours talking about writer’s block and in my opinion, there’s no greater waste of time. Workshops at conferences are devoted to the topic, and writing magazines often run articles offering tips on coping with that paralytic state. For those of you who are readers instead of writers, writer’s block is a panic-inducing feeling that you can’t…
Read MoreShelf Paper Sunday
Well, Sunday is usually one of the days I update my blog, but this evening I have no time. You can see what I’m doing here: cleaning out my newly refaced cabinets at our Topsail Island condo, as well as many other household-y tasks. We just have two days here because snow, a rarity on the North…
Read MoreThirty Years Ago. . .
About thirty years ago, I was published for the first time. Not a novel, but an op-ed piece in the Los Angeles Times. I was working as a hospital social worker at the time, and after a particularly moving encounter with a family in the ER, I took a break and wrote this fictionalized account…
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