Get ready for an epic disaster tale! I just finished writing a novella featuring my favorite protagonist, the handsome scientist Emerson Crandall. It, of course, includes his clever daughter, Courtney and the adventurous woman he adores (from afar), Maddie. Writing up to 3,000 words a day, I hammered out this disaster-packed story quickly and easily, […]
Mysteries on the Brink
Hooray! I finished the first draft of the second book in my two-part mystery series. (Okay, that sounds like a complicated bunch of numbers– first draft, second book, two-part. Sorry! I’m thinking it’s not great to confuse the reader with my opening line!) I completed the first of the two several months ago and sent […]
Onto Book 2! And Your First Look at the Back Cover Description!
It’s a rare feeling to have confidence in your creation. When I write, I oscillate between ecstasy and despair. Sometimes I write hard, on a roll, the words burbling out, and I think, “Readers will love this!” But then I have a tough day and think, “I’ll just have worms for dinner.” That’s why getting […]
Those Bad Boys
It’s no good. I just can’t love writing a book without putting a creepy bad guy in it. “Bill Sikes and Bullseye”, an illustration by Fred Barnard As I worked my way through the draft of my latest novel, a mystery, something seemed to be missing. So, I reworked the protagonist, turning her into a […]
Playing Town
Harriet The Spy. That’s who I’m thinking about this week. It’s because I credit Harriet, the petulant lead character in a 1964 book by Louise Fitzhugh, with fueling my desire to become a novelist. If you haven’t read it, you must. But the reason I felt like Harriet this week is because she, an 11-year-old, […]
Creating a Killer
Martin Pulga is a psychopath who, at 28, is the prime age to start a career as a serial killer. The average age of serial killers was one of many data points I amassed while developing this key character for my latest novel, For Sissy. My aim was to create a villain who is believable […]
Procrastinating, er, Plotting
With For Sissy now available for readers, I’m now plotting my next book. I should say “books,” because my next work will be a series — a mystery series. I’m a planner, not a pantser, so I outline. My outlines are never proscriptive, but I do rely on them to get me to the last […]
Cover Struggles of an Indy
After leaning that my video advertisement for For Sissy was too violent for Facebook, I made some quick changes so that the ad showed only the book cover, and not my embellishments of a bloody knife, et al. In hindsight, I could see why FB wouldn’t want to show the implied violence of my original […]
Who’s in Your Book?
Friends sometimes ask if anyone they know is in The Crandall Haunting. The answer is no. No actual person I know is in the book, and since many of the characters are pretty creepy, that’s probably a good thing. Of course, innumerable real life observations and experiences have morphed their way between the pages, and […]
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