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Cruising Along to a Book Launch
Years ago, I went on a Caribbean Cruise with my mother. It was a wonderful chance for us just to get away together and enjoy one another’s company. Of course, it was also a fun vacation, relaxing and rejuvenating trip, too. Now, as all of us do in airports and malls, I love to people […]
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Cultivating Inspirational Happenstance
Continuing my author’s journey of nourishing seeds of inspiration, I’ll share the second person who cultivated my interest in suspense and the protective services industry: My neighbor. When I was nine, we moved to a new home. My neighbor was a busy working professional, his wife was unfortunately bedridden, and their children lived out of…
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Sneak Peek: Mistaken Identity
As you know, this is the first book in the series currently being shopped to publishers by my literary agent. I was thrilled when she called to let me know that she wanted to represent my book. Of course, I was also over the moon when she shared that this first book in my SAT…
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Setting Writing Goals
Every author has a differing and uniquely personal approach to writing. But authors share one process in common—setting and achieving word count goals. Your writing goals are everything. It’s how you get the ideas out of your head and on to the page. But it’s not just about word count. Writing goals include pages completed,…
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The Books That Started It All
You know those books you remember fondly. The ones that you may read repeatedly, or that you remember from your youth. The books which inspired you to become a reader, a writer, a librarian, a publisher, an agent, or an author? Yeah, those. We all have them. For me, several books inspired me to become…
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Plotter or Pantser? What About Quilter?
Authors love to chat about whether they’re a plotter or pantser. It’s an enlightening topic that pulls back the curtain to see how novels make the journey from idea to bookshelf. Do you start your book by plotting out the scenes? Once you have a solid outline from opening image, through the various acts and…
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I Did It My Way!
Cue up the popular song by Frank Sinatra and you’ll know what I’m talking about. All kidding aside, I broke the rules and did it my way. Really, I did. When I was first published as an author, it was in an entirely different genre. Cool and exciting. I learned a lot since then and…