Blog
-
Rebecca’s advice to writers – giving it to us straight
Thank you, Rebecca T. Dickson, for reminding me (and other writers) that writing is not all shiny and the writing life is not easy, but if you love it, you will endure. Rebecca’s post is from 2013, but the points she makes still hit home. I really had to laugh at these 3 because I am guilty!…
-
4 day break!
Happy Thanksgiving! (almost) What’s on the menu for my 4 day break? 1) Turkey and trimmings with my daughter and her husband in Kansas City. 2) I will skip the Black Friday events. I shop when I need something, not because of sales. The mad frenzy doesn’t invigorate me. And I’m not a browser. I…
-
and the elevator door closes…
Writer Matthew Harffy is ahead of me. On his blog, Bernicia Chronicles, he writes that he’s completed revisions on his Dark Ages novel and has sent it out out for another round of beta readers. His decision to do a ‘pitch’ at a conference inspired me to start thinking about how I might pitch Battle…
-
what are you reading meme…
Sit back.Enjoy a cup of tea.And read… Open up the book you are currently reading. Go to chapter 9 (because it’s September, the 9th month) and write down the first and last sentences of the opening paragraph. Tell us the book title and the author. No chapter 9? Pick a random paragraph in the book!…
-
Reading & research round-up
HISTORICAL RESEARCHEvery week I discover another article or book to add to my research on the Middle Ages. Elizabeth Chadwick’s blog posts at Living the History are fantastic. She covers a wide range of medieval topics including money, bedchambers, food, William Marshal, and sexual sins! (I wrote a mini-review of her book, The Greatest Knight,…
-
Vacation planning & blog highlights
It’s a great time to be thinking about summer. July, vacation, beaches. Doesn’t that sound grand? Forget about the 3 feet of snow in the northeast. Ignore the winds blowing on this cool winter day in Kansas. I’m returning to one of my favorite places: St. Ives, Cornwall. And I get to explore it with…
-
things that come in the mail…
The time to squee is now. 🙂 The proof of my book arrived in the mail! I did a quick check of it today and handed it over to friend Mary B. She’ll do a read-through to see if, during the adventure <insert major sarcasm here> of CreateSpace formatting, I created any typos, caused ellipses…
-
Thursday Walks…
Most of us are still struggling to get through cold, snow, and flooding rains washing away roads (a nod to my friend Jaime in Kentucky – stay safe). So let’s walk through the flowers in this garden near Palm Springs, California, and dream of spring and warmer weather. BLOG HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK This will…