Blog
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New year, new website, and The New book
Welcome 2023! Real life sent me on a wild ride in 2022. I sold my house in Kansas, which I’d been in since 2000, and moved to what I’ll call a ‘family compound’ in Louisiana at the end of July. The inspector’s report left us working with contractors for months – new septic system, upgraded…
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Revisiting Swords of the King – an excerpt & more…
I know new readers rightly want to start with the first book in any series, but how about a short excerpt from Book III? No spoilers to speak of – no explanation needed. This is the opening of Chapter 9. Take a peek… MARCH 1196John’s camp, Normandy The River Seine sparkled. It snaked around the…
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Too graphic? Second guessing the words you write
One of the ideas behind publishing the anthology Betrayal was to introduce readers to authors they may know little about. Twelve stories – 12 authors – multiple time periods. A tasty treat, right? Sample the works, find a new author to read. My contribution to the anthology is “A Knight’s Tale.” This prequel to Men…
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Book recs and mini interviews; and Writing, then & now
Book recommendations & mini interviews Last month, I reviewed R.W.W. Greene‘s The Light Years – highly recommended. I had asked Rob where he got the initial idea for the book. His response: The short version is the shower. I’d just gotten home from a sci-fi convention, and I had a lot of thoughts whirling in…
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At the starting block (again)
In an earlier blog post, I mentioned I put aside work on my Robin Hood novel in May. But I have good news for fans of my medieval historical fiction. I dove back into the rough draft of Rogue in early August. The manuscript was sitting at just over 45,000 words (about 180 pages). I…
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Dispatches from the home coffee shop
Greetings from my writing cave or, Life’s curveballs I retired in January and expected to be home more. But like many of you, I hadn’t anticipated I would have to stay home. Interesting times, eh? I miss the coffee shop. I miss seeing the regulars – the baristas, former colleagues and friends – and I…
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Updates from the Coffee Shop
My Writing Journey I wish I could say I spend a lot of time on the weekends with this view. I do miss St. Ives in Cornwall and the fabulous cream tea at the Tate St. Ives. I’ll be back in the UK in September, but, sadly, won’t have time to get to St. Ives. My…