I Made My Own Roommates

Last week I embarked on a new stage of parenthood: The Parent of the Adult. Ya’ll. He’s 18. And since I had my four children like an oldie Batman Comic Boom! Bang! Bop! Bazinga! it will not be long before I am the mother of four adults. The first indications that I had grown an adult were small. He bought his own clothes. Took a road trip across the country. Did things I was not privy to. Told…

View On WordPress

How to Not be a Writer.

Writers are scoundrels known to play life by their own rules. They leave the monarchy for a healthier life and respectfully draw boundaries as they admit their own faults while they discuss how decisions made by others made them feel. Think of how much danger even working with a ghost writer causes! They open cans of worms. Stand up against injustices. Share honest humanity to connect and help…

View On WordPress

His Sidewalk

Hey, you! First of all, I have to apologize. With a title of His Sidewalk, it’s super easy to jump right into a romance novel. I mean, it’s got everything you could want. A hint of a meeting on a sidewalk with him, whoever he might be. Maybe he’s jogging nearly naked on a hot, summer day, and he happens to trip and fall right in front of you and of course you’ll have to help him to your home…

View On WordPress

A New Chapter

After four years of retail, I am home for a short time. There are things to do. The children need me. My books need my attention. The house. Oh, the house. Raise your hand if you are the energizer bunny of the household. You’re still welcome at my table if you are not. But I have got to tell you, my household has a list of projects WAY past due. The last two years I have essentially been doing 4…

View On WordPress

Jack and Jill (part one)

“I’m going to help clear the way.” She straightened immediately, twisting around to look for the source of the voice. He was already shoveling snow, merrily humming an unfamiliar tune.  “Name’s Jack,” he said as his eyes lifted to meet hers. “That must mean you are Jill.” He chuckled, and a smile lit up his face already reddened by clearing his own driveway and sidewalk, no doubt.  “Yes, I’m…

View On WordPress

Under the Moon

Once I hit the end of October, I’ll have worked the overnight shift for two years. It doesn’t seem like it’s been two years, as time is a little foggy when you work the oddball shift. At times it feels like it’s been one very long dream. Maybe it has been. Maybe it’s been its own book, with each shift being a chapter half full of sweat, tears, and frustration and half full of laughter,…

View On WordPress

Stories from my Sickbed: Listen to your Guts

Let’s rewind now. It’s December when I start having pain in my lower intestinal area and am having problems eating. I don’t feel well, but it’s not something I’m paying attention to because it’s the retail end of year holiday season, and I am busy. Stress from certain things has been higher. So I figured it was an adult tummy ache. But it doesn’t go away. It’s there all the time, and I’ve got a…

View On WordPress

Stories from my Sickbed: Undercover Genes

As I leaned over my hospital puke bag, vomiting primarily liquids because I hadn’t been able to eat consistently for lotsa weeks, I didn’t question it at all. As far as I knew, after surgery people puked their guts out over and over and sometimes required multiple medicines to ease the purge. So I was a little surprised when I was informed that I do not take anesthesia well. But I brushed it…

View On WordPress

Stories from my Sickbed: Hooker Panties

Wear clean underwear in case you get in an accident. It’s common advice. The problem with it is that you can start off with clean underwear all you want, but the day is long and there is life to be lived. Plus, seriously, if you are in an accident, there’s a chance they ain’t gonna be clean anymore. So unless you have a spare in your pocket or purse, there’s little chance for it actually…

View On WordPress

Stories from my Sickbed: An Introduction

Last week about this time I was taking my first shower in days, and did it feel amazing. I like showers and baths, and my love for them has grown through the years. Epsom salt. Baking Soda. Bubbles. There’s just something renewing about them; it has turned into part of my health routine. Then there’s the extras. Candles. Pizza. Wine. I have seriously sat in an epsom salt bath with eucalyptus at…

View On WordPress

Graceful Rest

One of the most important lessons I have had to learn over the last few years is to embrace a graceful rest rather than a guilt full rest. It took me a long time to recognize that I needed it, and it’s really only been in the last several months that I have. Thanks, TikTok. Just point out all the truths of life. The reality of trauma is that once you finally finally get to a safe space, your body…

View On WordPress

Human Imagination Wins

Awhile back I saw some fantastic fun on the internet in the form of character pictures that other authors obtained from AI apps. So of course. I tried it. My results were quite memorable for all the wrong reasons. Today I’m going to share the snaps I took of the results. I suppose I only have myself to blame for these, but it does call attention to the marvel of the human brain. Yes, for making…

View On WordPress

New Chapters

This time of year I think of two things. One, the memory of finishing the first draft of Phoenix Incandescent minutes before the strike of midnight. There’s not been a feeling like that since, though I suspect finishing the series will have an impact. Speaking of, I also think of what my plans are for the new year. I’m not your typical new beginnings person at the start of a fresh year, mainly…

View On WordPress

Deeply

I feel things. Deeply. Which means that now or then I trip and fall into a pool of devastation. And like the trooper I am, I like to swim around in it for a day or two. You might ask, “Hey, why don’t you…swim out?” I do. Pools of devastation are rather large. So when I say that I swam around in it for a day or two I mean that swam against the waves of emotion until the pool finally settled enough…

View On WordPress

How Shall I Mourn?

How Shall I Mourn?

I’m taking an incredibly long time to write Wicked Atonement, and I have deleted so many scenes from it because they just didn’t feel right. I’ve written and rewritten. I’ve gone months without writing, and then tried again. I have gone from taking up a part time job as a cashier that somehow rolled into full time and added responsibilities with job titles and plenty without. I have succeeded a…

View On WordPress

Under Active Senses

Last week we chatted about making fast work of drafts, so I thought this week we could talk in depth about one of the types of drafts you can write after the 1st. And, yes, if it helps, you can organize levels of drafts to get your book from the 1st to the Final. One type of draft that I learned to do while writing my 2nd book was the Draft of the Senses. I know. FAHNcy. My husband was the one…

View On WordPress

Plot Vomit

Yesterday I wrote -7 words. While that might sound depressing (and unreal), it’s actually quite common in later drafts of a novel. Having a negative or small word count at the end of the day is reflective of the revising and editing stages. It happens when a writer is cleaning out words, paragraphs, scenes, and sometimes chapters from the book. A small word count also means that you are adding in…

View On WordPress