I attended a book signing event in Springfield, Illinois last Saturday. It was one of my most successful, despite frigid conditions outside. I even sold out of two of my titles for the first time. It's a good problem for me to have, but I apologize to those readers who missed out on signed copies. It helps that I now have a complete series to sell, rather than a couple of books and a promise that this unknown author is gonna finish this series, honest. I also cannot understat

After publishing three novels, I'm comfortable with the format. I prefer the shorter end of the word count range, between 70,000 and 80,000 words. I think this permits a complex plot to evolve and characters to develop without intimidating the reader. The hardest part is often writing the 150-200 word blurb to attract those readers in the first place! Earlier this year, I was invited to contribute to a pair of short story anthologies. Dark Fairytales for the Unloved promised

My work in progress, a new novel called Truesilver which I will discuss more in future posts, is set in a world parallel to ours. This led me to consider which details of our own world should be familiar and which might have developed differently. I don't believe it's sufficient to simply rearrange the geography and imagine new event histories. The world should feel distinct from ours, yet not so much that we struggle to relate to it. Readers of my early drafts found my trea

When I began my author journey, those to whom I looked for advice suggested I focus on a subset of the many social media platforms out there to promote myself and my books. That advice made sense. Trying to engage everywhere with content designed for each platform is a massive amount of work. I decided to focus my attention on Facebook, the only platform I already used to any significant extent, and then had to choose between Instagram and TikTok. I'd never seen the appeal of

When I paused this blog back in September 2023, Tethers of the Present was the better part of a year away. Getting local bookstores to stock paper copies had mixed results. Ditto contests, even though I once won a prize. I told myself marketing would be less challenging once I had more than one book to sell and focused on developing my social media author brand. My success, as I've noted before, was limited. A local indie author friend of mine recommended I sign up as an att

Right, then. After kick-starting my blog last week, it's time to write about one of the many topics I have buzzing around by brain. I think it's only fair to start with what brought me here to begin with: my debut series, Of Imprint & Erasure . When I left off two years ago, I'd written most of the second book, Tethers of the Present . I struggled with the pressure of delivering a sequel, of moving the story forward, of developing existing characters while introducing new one

It's been a little over two years since I last posted. I began this blog with good intentions, but it foundered within a year. Why? And why am I now determined to resume regular posts? As a new author, especially an indie author, I was faced with the daunting task of not only writing my stories but marketing them too. Few of us have the time, desire, and aptitude to maintain a comprehensive blitz of all marketing channels. I knew that. I tried blogging. I tried to post on Fac

Two days ago, I received an email telling me that "Imprints of the Past" had won the Gold Medal for Paranormal Fiction at the 2023 Global...

I've gotten out of the habit of regular blog posts. I tell myself that's mostly because very few people read them, and that my time would...

Writing, especially writing a novel or other longer work, is an uneven process. There are days where you cannot type fast enough and fear...

And in whatever way works for you. I was browsing my Facebook writing groups yesterday and saw a post in which someone had harvested a...

I struggled to find an evocative title for this post. As with much of writing, it went through a series of drafts, and I often re-wrote...

As a new author, at least someone who only just published their first book, I don't presume the authority to dole out writing advice....

I was roughly halfway through the first draft of Imprints of the Past before I conceived of a satisfying backstory for the fantastical,...

A standard disclaimer in many works of fiction assures the reader that the book's characters and plot are not substantially based on real...

Those of you who follow my Facebook author page (link in top right corner of this page) know that each Sunday I post my word count for...

One of the authors I follow on Facebook posted this quote from Neil Gaiman today, regarding first drafts: "Write down everything that...

Launch Day was busy. That evening's Launch Party was a fantastic way to celebrate what I had finally done after so long, publishing a...

I have to keep repeating it. Even after all the preparation to last Thursday's official release of my debut novel, I still pinch myself....

I almost phrased this blog title as a question, because it is one I have been wrestling with all week. I am at that point in Book 2 where...