Where the Tracks Run Out
I have a decent novel. I’m sure of that. My current draft of The Keep of Ages shapes up and smells like a real book, with the right characters, some surprising twists, and theme concepts that intrigue me. Yet something’s missing. I feel it between the lines, part promise and part absence. I don’t know what I’m looking for, but I know I need to look.
So I’m stepping off the tracks into the wild grass. This is an unnerving place, where the only guide is questions, and they aren’t… Continue reading
Blood and Cookies
Donating blood makes me think of my father, who donated regularly for years. He earned something like the ten gallon badge. That’s a lot of blood. As a girl, I remember getting calls at the house when the Red Cross needed more of his type, O Neg, and he’d head down to the hospital. It seemed like he was a quiet hero, saving babies, and I wanted to be like him.
I received one of those calls this summer myself. I don’t donate regularly, but I’m in the database, and… Continue reading
The Keep of Ages
Last Friday, I sent in another draft of my third novel in the Vault of Dreamers series. It has a clearer shape than it has had before, and I’m starting to think of it by its real title, The Keep of Ages. While my editor reads the draft, I’m resisting the itch to go back and tinker for two reasons: I really need her perceptive feedback before I go further, and I need distance from the manuscript so I can see it with fresh eyes of my own.
It’s… Continue reading
Q. Do You Have Deadlines?
A. Yes. I have one today, actually, and I’m missing it.
My editor Kate Jacobs and I keep in touch regularly about my progress with my drafts, and we mutually agree about when I have one due, based on what stage the book is in and how much revising needs to happen.
For instance, I’m currently working on the 5th draft of Vault 3, and when I began it back in July, I thought I could turn it in by today. I started realizing last weekend, however, that I was… Continue reading
Summer Family Reunion
Log-rolling nieces.
We meet every July on a lake in northern Minnesota to pass the sunscreen and rediscover how we are a family. We played volleyball (10 vs 10), barefoot soccer and Ping Pong, swam, canoed, log-rolled, paddle boarded, water-skied, water-tubed, jigsaw puzzled, ate scrumptiously, read books, wrote in the log, sang around the piano, and played ukulele, guitar, and chess. The kids organized the annual harrumph, which in our family is not an expression of disapproval, but rather a show featuring magic tricks and musical performances. Families took turns… Continue reading
The CT Authors Trail in Columbia
I’m delighted to announce that I’m part of this summer’s Connecticut Authors Trail! This means I’ll be chatting about my writing and related bookish topics tomorrow, Tuesday, August 2nd, starting at 6:30 P.M. at the Saxton B. Little Free Library. When I was part of the CAT once before, I felt like I was having a happy conversation with a bunch of new chums, so I am very much looking forward to it. Do drop in if you’re in the area. Bring a fellow reader or a question… Continue reading
Ari & Milo, my serial novel, is now up on Wattpad! I drew illustrations to go with each chapter, and best of all, it’s free! Because of problematic themes, this novel is for mature readers age 17+.
Book Trailer for Promised