Happy Tuesday All, Once again, I'm posting the monthly post near the end of the month. But oh well. I was pretty busy during part of the beginning of the month, so I thought I'd wait until after so that I could mention some of it here. I got to hang out with 2 out of 3 of my Girls' Night Out Ladies. These ladies are my besties and I've known them a long time. We had a nice dinner out and then hung out at a coffee/sweet shop until they closed. The last time we'd all been together was in 2019. I'd seen them on and off, but not all of us together. So, that was a wonderful thing to have happen this month. #UnhingedPit -- a pitching event held on X and BlueSky happened. Authors pitch their manuscripts but in unconventional ways. The two ladies who run the event decided to make me their ambassador (it's sort of a funny story--they liked my enthusiasm when it was first developed in 2024, and after a while we got to talking and that was that). It was so much fu...

  Hi Everyone! I've decided to provide a post that was just a whole list of resources and info for authors. I've done this before (I think it was 2017) so yeah, it's time for updating. I've done the legwork of inserting hyperlinks so that all you have to do is click on the links of whatever item you're most interested in. There is a TON of information out there for authors and it can be overwhelming to search and file through websites/social media platforms, so hopefully this post can help take some of the stress out of your search. This is by no means an exhaustive list of resources, it's just some that I know about and some that I've even used. At the very end I provide a basic template for constructing a pitch line for your manuscript (this template has helped me tremendously!) Let's Start With Websites/Resources: Manuscript Academy -- Offers workshops and events for authors in various stages of their careers. Also offers consultations with editors f...

  Happy Monday! It's the last day of June and I can't believe July starts tomorrow. This month felt a bit like a whirlwind, but there were several lovely moments. June 10th marked 59 years that my parents had been married. I didn't get to see them on that day, but I did wish them a happy anniversary. They've been such a special example and inspiration for me. (One of my best friends got married on their anniversary and when I found out I said, "You know, that's my parents' anniversary?" My friend responded: "I KNEW it was a good day to get married!"). Two of my out-of-town siblings came in for a few days on Father's Day weekend and I got to see them, as well as my sibling that lives near my parents. We had a nice weekend celebrating Father's Day. Saturday early evening we were at a Mexican restaurant and then Sunday evening had barbecue at my in-town sibling's house. It was very nice. My father is not only a father, but a grandfat...

  Happy Thursday! I can hardly believe it's the last week of May. It feels a bit like a whirlwind.  On May 8th, Real Life Hero and I celebrated our wedding anniversary. We've been married for over 20 years now. We went out to the Cheesecake Factory and had a lovely dinner (and brought up slices of cheesecake for the offspring). We don't usually spend that much on an dinner out, but it was anniversary, so we splurged. It's funny to think how back when I was getting married I had trouble imagining 20 years down the line and here I am past that. I love my Real Life Hero and he's stuck with me until death (when I hope we go to Heaven). At this time I won't be reporting any news on Sugar & Frost . I don't feel like I have anything I'd like to share about it at this time. (There are still some queries out). I'm still writing and working on several manuscripts. Two of them I think I'll keep just for me unless I change my mind one day. The others, we...

  Happy Thursday All! Yes, I know...normally I would post my monthly blog post earlier, but this time  it's taken me more than one day to write this post. At first, I needed to figure out what I wanted to post about. And then, i t kept feeling like it (the post) wasn't ready. Querying: S ugar & Frost is the "book of my heart" so far. I had the most fun writing it and I totally fell in love with the characters. I really believe in this story. It's just so sweet and fun. Like a warm blanket on a cold day. I got asked by an agent to send some more pages (I had done some not-insignificant editing--after asking this agent if I might revise & resubmit--I don't know what will become of that; and it wasn't a full request, but still, it was nice that the agent wanted more pages). Despite the situation at hand, I did have one agent comment that "the writing is solid". So, that's something. As I said, this story is incredibly special to me an...

  Happy Friday and Happy March! Been busy working on a manuscript of mine and playing with some new ideas for new stories and ideas for existing unfinished manuscripts. No new updates on the querying front to report back on, yet, but hopefully some good news will come! We've now entered the season of Lent. As a Catholic, this season is a time for repentance, prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and reflection. I look at it as a time for not just repenting of sin--but really working on one's relationship with Jesus in a more intense and focused--the word 'intentional' comes to mind--way to make it a part of you rather than just something you do for Lent. Every Christian has their own approach Lent, and since I'm no Theologian, I won't go into much detail here. I do wish everyone a fruitful and prayerful Lent. Not long ago, I got a new laptop computer. My other one is still working but I was having some issues. So I talked to a friend of mine that knows a lot about comput...