Posts Tagged ‘The Lies We Told’
Secret Lives Makes a Comeback
The year was 1989 and I was about to be published for the first time. I was at the notoriously exciting Washington Romance Writers conference in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia where I gave a workshop on Innovative Characterization Techniques, something I still teach, albeit with modifications. Back then, I identified myself as a psychotherapist and…
Read MoreWhirlwind at the BEA
I’ve spent the past two days in New York at the Book Expo, meeting the booksellers and librarians who sell (and read) my books. The BEA is absolutely wild, filled with your favorite authors giving away signed copies of their books by the boxload. It’s a wonderful way to alert booksellers to the books that are…
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 New Author Photo
I couldn’t put it off any longer. It’s been two years (at least) since my last photo shoot, so John and I headed to his studio for an hour of torture. . . er, fun. The new photo will be up on my site in a few weeks and on the cover of my June…
Read MoreGreetings from Topsail Island
When I decided to set Before the Storm and Secrets She Left Behind on Topsail Island, I never dreamed how important this place would become to me. From my very first research trip, though, I knew I’d discovered something special. It reminded me of my childhood at the Jersey Shore and of my early adulthood…
Read MoreMy Worst Cover Ever
I will say very quickly, before any of my readers totally freak out, this is not a new cover for one of my books. Not even a recent cover. But my last post led to a discussion on book covers and author input, so I thought I’d use this truly scary example as a jumping…
Read MoreSneak Peek at the Cover of The Lies We Told
The cover for The Lies We Told, which I just completed and which will be published June 2010. I love it, but the hair color of the sisters doesn’t match the story exactly. How much would that bother you as readers? If I view the image as more representational than literal,…
Read MoreCrazy About Writing
Years ago, my then-husband and I were driving through the countryside in a pouring rain. I was working on my second novel back then, and was utterly entranced with the process. As we drove through the downpour, I noticed a group of cows huddled together under a tree, and my heart broke for them. “I feel…
Read MoreHook, Line and Linker
During my twenty-eight years of writing, I’ve heard plenty of advice from other authors. One tidbit stands out: tighten the relationship between characters. I know exactly where (in Albert Zuckerman’s Writing the Blockbuster Novel) and when (1995, as I wrote Reflection) I read this suggestion. It’s stayed with me all these years and I draw…
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