I’ve had editors and a couple of pre-publication reviewers ask recently how much of my upcoming novel represents me or me and my husband. It’s a popular question, and I think some of it stems from when I had almost a thousand blog posts written about my life in general—not that I’m quite that hugely […]
A Genuinely Heartfelt Christmas Comedy, My Way!
It may surprise some of you to discover I used to write comedy. Now, I know what you’re saying…”Surely not! Not after making us cry and scream with the last three books you wrote!” But, it’s true. And I’ll eventually get around to writing comedy again. It’s a genre I’m quite fond of, and I […]
Author Pride: Fickle But Necessary
One of my good friends, J.P. Barnaby, wrote a week or so ago about being proud of what you write. I think about when I published the first version of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to My Sexual Orientation and, really, what a risk it was for any publisher to take a chance […]
A Perspective on Plagiarism
I still can’t spell the damn word correctly. One thing for sure, nobody will ever plagiarize the word plagiarism because it takes too much effort. Now, this has been talked about to death recently, and yet for as much as folks are talking about it, it doesn’t seem to be sinking in with some people. […]
It’s All In The Details
If I can avoid doing research when writing a book, I will. But I can’t, so I try to make it as painless as possible. It isn’t. I’d hate to think of what would happen if I ever came up with an incredible plot that took place hundreds of years ago. Either I’d update the […]
Dr. Plagiarizer or: How I Learned To Stop Stealing Other People’s Work
I was in a Creative Writing class back in college and had the displeasure to sit next to someone I wasn’t overly fond of. He was a bit on the obnoxious side of the fence, and eager to make a name for himself. We ended up getting paired together for an in-class project and I […]
How To Rant & Sabotage Yourself To The Amusement Of Others
Sitting around with friends and having a little bitch session can be fun and a wonderful way to get crap off your chest. I imagine accountants complaining “OMG! Did you hear the number my boss threw out on the fly? Did he even look at it before he said it? I don’t think he even […]
The Intimacy of Flame Retardant Clothing
I’ve been feeling the urge over the past year to instill some depth into my work and admit that I’m searching for a little more depth in life. Why the change? Probably because life is changing so drastically around me. Well, around us. It was easy as a child to not give a rip about […]
Take The D Out Of Davis…And…Well, You Get A Car Rental Company
I’ve had conversations about music with authors over the years and, typically, we either love listening to it while we write or we’re completely incapable of it because it just distracts us. I happen to be one who LOVES listening to music when I write because I can always find something to help set the […]
Dear Author, Here’s What You Need To Do To Please Us…
Two author friends received an e-mail this past week from a reader who explained to them that their sales were down because their latest novels dealt with ‘depressing’ subjects. One story referenced WWII and the other having to do with health care. Obviously, the polite thing we’re taught to do is, if we respond at […]
