I write to you this month as a fellow reader more than an author. Call me late to the game, but I have finally discovered the joy of audiobooks, even though my friends who only do audiobooks have been on me about this for ages. I usually read hard copy or ebooks, and am not … Continue reading How I Finally Became An Audiobook Listener
Book Update: I met recently with my new publisher, Blydyn Square Books, to kick off the production phase for my next novel, Unraveling Caro Dunn, which is due to be published in January 2027. Things start happening pretty quickly now (or "quickly" by publishing standards, anyway!). The book's interior will be created and formatted, the … Continue reading 2 People Who Inspire Me
People seem to like this image, which had nearly a thousand likes on my TikTok, so I thought I'd share it with you. Buwan, or "Bu" as he's known to his friends, is the somewhat goofy guy in Beautiful & Terrible Things who nonetheless spouts nuggets of wisdom on important issues like coping with depression, … Continue reading Are There Only 2 Kinds of People in the World? / AI Reality Check
A heartfelt thank you to those who downloaded Beautiful & Terrible Things during the 2-day sale to celebrate the book's one-year anniversary! Would you believe that together we vaulted the novel into the #1 slot on Amazon's Romance Literary Fiction list for the day? Traditional romance novels follow a very specific formula that my book … Continue reading New Trailer, and What’s in a Name?
When does a protest become a riot? More important, why does a protect become a riot? I dug deep into that topic before writing my extended protest scene for Beautiful and Terrible Things, to ensure its authenticity. (I have, thankfully, never been at a protest that turned violent.) As I suspected, a number of forces … Continue reading Book Excerpt: Why Does a Protest Become a Riot?
I'm pretty excited to tell you that Beautiful and Terrible Things has won another book award! And this time, it's a first-place win, as opposed to the finalist and honorable mentions received to date. My contemporary novel was named "2024's Best Literary Book of the Year" in the Indies Today Awards. And, hot off the … Continue reading Best Literary Fiction Book of the Year, and Musing on Genre
Here's a little chicken-related food for thought...or should I say "chicken feed".... 🙂 (Thanks to Friendly Farm in Dublin, NH, which displays this sign in their chicken coop.)
I don't usually talk about non-book products here, but this is too good not to share. You know those people who love books so much they would bathe in them if they could? Or maybe they just read in the bathtub? (Guilty.) I recently came across the perfect gift for those people -- actual bars … Continue reading Book Lovers Soaps
Time to get back into Fun Friday Photos! Life is too short not to celebrate and share funny bits. My regular followers know animals are a common theme for me. So today's Fun Friday Photo is animal-themed. I call it the "Animal Gang". I'm guessing that in this animal gang, the llama and the Scotch … Continue reading Fun Friday Photo: Animal Gang
"Losing people" is a fun topic? In this case of this fun Friday photo, yep! Loss is disconcerting at best, tragic at worst. Rarely welcomed. So as a fan of black humor to help us through difficult times, I really enjoyed this meme. Hope you do, too. It comes courtesy of Nature Blows My Mind … Continue reading Fun Friday Photo: Losing People