Happy Wednesday Everyone, I promise, even if I don't update this blog every day, I'm not really gone. I'm in the midst of finalizing edits, also I have the demands of my daily life. But, I promise, I'm not completely absent. I'm doing my best to stick around and keep posting regularly, but if I seem a little silent, those are the reasons. Meanwhile, what's going on with all of you? Have A Winning Wednesday!

Happy Tuesday All, Today, it's my honor to introduce to you author William Simon.  He generously agreed to do an email interview with me. I hope you'll be sure to check out his story in Suspense Magazine , entitled Perception . It's really excellent, and I honestly didn't know if the character was a good guy or a bad guy until the end of the story. So be sure to go check it out, but first join me in getting to know a little bit about   William Simon: Me: What was the inspiration behind your story, Perception , which appeared in Suspense Magazine ? William :  There was no one real thing that triggered the idea, but it started after a conversation with someone about how the common perception of behavioral analysis is different from the reality. It's not psychic visions, it's not "getting inside" someone's mind, it's slow, patient, methodical work. Me: Are all your stories supsense/thrillers? William: Pretty much, yes. Sometimes, ...

Happy Monday Everybody! I hope you all had a good weekend :-) I had a great weekend. Friday night was the Meet & Greet for those attending the NWHRWA's Lone Star Conference . ( Click to go to the NWHRWA's Website ) In this relaxed atmosphere, I got to first meet Naomi Hackenberg of Elaine P. English PLLC . Naomi was very personable, and really nice. I also got acquainted with one of the Finalists of the Lone Star Contest for the YA Category--which I had been the category chair. It was a delight to meet her and soak up her enthusiasm. Keynote Speaker, Randy Ingermanson , was also at the Meet & Greet, so I got an opportunity to say hello to him. He also seemed very nice and has a good sense of humor :-) Christine Whitthohn was also in attendance. She also seemed very nice. I sat in with a small group and listened to her talk about the business during the Conference and she gave a wonderful talk during lunch. The Conference was incredible. We had door p...

Happy Friday Everyone, I believe Little Lesley Gore (my Dad always called her "Little Lesley Gore") sang that song (the title of this post). Okay, it's not really my party and I'm not planning on crying, but it is my birthday. :-) I love my birthday because it comes in the fall (and pretty much always have had fun on my birthday). Also, I really like the cooler weather, the Holidays coming up, that warm and cozy feeling you get when you snuggle down under the blankets, or when you drink hot chocolate or tea. Or, when I was growing up, when my dad would light a fire in the fire place and we'd watch it crackle and sparks fly up the chimney. My birthday is smack dab in the middle of all those things starting to happen. It's far enough into fall, that I can feel the weather changing down here in the deep South, but it's also early enough that it doesn't collide with the Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays. This weekend is the Lone Star Conference...

Happy Thursday All, Tomorrow is the eve before the Conference (sounds like a Christmas book title, huh?) Which is pretty exciting...although nothing penetrates the haze of sleepiness until the caffeine breaks through and takes affect. Okay, I know not all writers are coffee drinkers, but the majority I've met/know are (on some level). Some of us will admit to not being at our best before that first cup of java hits our system. Sure, we might have 5 ideas jumping around in our heads from some great dream we had or something that's been bugging us (see the Gnat entry from a few days ago for info on that) but things aren't going to fall into place if we're bleary eyed from lack of caffeine. The good news is the story gnat is finally starting to stick around long enough for me to get a picture of what's been poking around in my imagination (whether a good idea or not, it's still something I want to play with and see what happens and see if it is a workable ...

Happy Tuesday Everyone, Before I get started on today's post, author CC Hunter is running a contest. If you go here , you can get info on the contest--the prize is worth checking it all out! (The contest takes a bit of thinking, but it's not hard). All right...now onto today's post: Normally a muse or a character whispers in your ear and suddenly you think, "Aha! Story idea!" But what about those times when you feel something coming, but it won't materialize? I've been editing Surreal and taking a look at two of my other stories, but there's something poking at me. Right on the  fringes of my imagination and other than perhaps character's(s') names, nothing is coming. I can feel it prick at my imagination, but I can't get a lock on the idea. It's like a gnat that flies up at you, you bat at it, then it's gone, then it's back and the whole cycle starts over again. This is not a muse whispering at me, or even a chara...

Happy Monday All, JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis, Dr. Suess, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Shakespeare, Charlotte Bronte (and her sisters)...what do all these names have in common? They're literary giants. Their writing is considered genius and in some cases, even innovative. They paid their dues, and whether in life or in death, their names are recognizable by the majority of humanity. What makes someone a literary genius/giant? Sometimes it's the writing itself. Sometimes the topic. In other cases, the characters or the plot might just give them that edge. It may not be everything in their novels/non-fiction (I know CS Lewis wrote some Non Fiction) that shoot them into stardom, but something about their writing makes us quote them, admire them, study them and read them over and over--generation after generation. None of them are alive to give interviews, to tell us how they did it...we have to rely on other writings, any recorded interviews they did, or any journal...

Happy Thursday Everyone, Some people are looking over Surreal and they've got some great suggestions. I got my hair done yesterday (yes, even authors need a haircut every now and again, as long as our characters are willing to give us a chance to get it done). I'm pretty happy with the outcome of the haircut. I told my hairdresser about Surreal and he was very interested. I also gave him one of my author business cards. (Hey, you never know--he could end up telling one of his customers about my stories one day). Early this morning I finished reading Jane Heller's The Secret Ingredient a chick-lit mixed with suspense...and a little magic (or was that just herb mixture?)  The storyline follows Elizabeth Baskin, a lady who works for a hospitality company that rates high end hotels. The highest rating they can give a hotel is 5 key. A 5-key rating is coveted because it means more business. Unfortunately, Elizabeth's married life isn't so great. 6 years and R...

Happy Tuesday Everybody, First of all, reminder:  Laura Childs' new Scrapbooking Mystery, Fiber & Brimstone comes out TODAY. I reviewed this book yesterday. Check here for details. Now onto the current topic: Earlier today I finished reading Kerrelyn Sparks' new Love At Stake book (released at the end of September), Eat Prey Love centering around her character, Carlos Panterra. For those of you who have been reading the series and don't know the truth about Carlos, I will warn you the following is rampant with spoilers regarding what Carlos truly is (if the title of this post didn't give it away). Carlos is a were-panther in search of a proper female were-panther mate. Since his species is endangered, he feels its his responsibility to find the right woman to help him repopulate and be a mother to his adopted children. What Carlos didn't bargain for was meeting Shanna Draganesti's sister, Caitlyn Whelan. It's love at first sight (or is t...

Happy Monday Everybody, It's October, the fall weather is just coming through (at least here in Texas, anyway) and Laura Childs is releasing a new Scrapbooking Mystery Novel . I just finished reading it today and I think all of you fans of New Orleans, scrapbooking, Halloween, vampires and/or mystery are in for a treat. Carmela Bertrand and her best friend, Ava Gruiex, not only are neighborly shop keepers, but partners in solving the mystery in  Fiber & Brimstone . Carmela owns a scrapbooking store called Memory Mine, while Ava is into all things spiritual and paranormal with her shop, Juju Voodoo Shop. Both businesses are in the famous French Quarter.  If you thought New Orleans was a madhouse during Mardis Gras,  then things definitely heat up with the upcoming Halloween Festivities, amid which Carmela and Ava are the unfortunate finders of a dead body--a man named Brett Fowler.  Fowler was into all...