Category Archives: Uncategorized

With the most innocent of intentions, I decided to post an Amazon “click ad” for my novel “The Dangerous Thaw of Etta Capstone.” If you have an ereader, you know the kind of ad I mean. The full screen ad … Continue reading →

Thank you to all my readers, but a special note of appreciation to ‘Barbara,’ who contacted me through my website to say, “…what I enjoyed most was simply the musicality of your words. I hadn’t realized how much I’ve missed … Continue reading →

I’m starting a new book, a new series really, and this is how it works: Start thinking about the story. (All the time.) Research. Make notes. Jot down ideas. Put off starting the book. Research some more. Make timelines. Jot … Continue reading →

In my soon-to-be-released novel Magnificent Farewell you’ll meet a heroine (sort of a heroine. maybe. if you squint when you look at her) who is self-absorbed and unlikely to consider others’ needs above her own. Meg Pritchard has few of the finer … Continue reading →

If you search the Internet for the term Cycle of Abuse, you’ll find over 13 million entries. (yes, I said 13 MILLION) The term as social theory was apparently legitimized in 1979; it even has its very own Wikipedia page. … Continue reading →

I leave The Laramie Series behind with mixed feelings. Lily’s Sister, the first of the six books in the series, came out in 2006 and the final book, Smiling at Heaven, will be out this fall. Right now Smiling is … Continue reading →

It is a lot harder than I expected to write a credible murder mystery (accent on “credible.”) By page 9 in my new book a murder takes place – and I know who did it and why. But since I’d … Continue reading →

The Laramie Series has been for me the quintessential labor of love. Not just loving the finished product – though in varying degrees, depending on the book, I do – but loving the process itself: growing absorption in a story, … Continue reading →

I’ve been writing Query Letters to agents and publishers (think cover letters for employment resumes) for 11 years now, and I still find distilling a story line and characters into 1 page or into 300 words to be – in … Continue reading →

I recently read an older thriller & was reminded why I write historicals. Technology has changed so much that a book written in its contemporary time can become dated pretty fast. The detective hero wasn’t able to contact anyone when … Continue reading →