Yearly Archives: 2015

Full-Contact Leaf-Blowing

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Sore today. Took a fall while leaf-blowing on the back patio yesterday. My foot slid out of my nurse’s clog, (yes I know, not outside yard-working shoes, but hey, they’re insanely comfortable) and I bent my ankle over, then fell, landing on my opposite knee, and both hands on the patio stones. The leaf blower landed in the pond. My knee, my foot/ankle, both wrists and even my left shoulder joint (a recurring issue) were screwed. (It’s funny, how something like that happens so fast, you sort of wake up on the ground and have to use your memory to … Continue reading →

No Such Thing?

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It has been said that being a writer is like playing god. You have the power to make anything happen. Writing about witches and magic and newly created myth is even headier stuff. And a whole hell of a lot of fun. But it was also a great deal of challenge, to keep track of all the history, fictional and otherwise. In all my books, I do my best to stick close to the truth. The same is true for a book about witches. I didn’t want to fall prey to the usual tropes found in books about magical beings. … Continue reading →

Fiction as World View

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I have had some criticism from a few readers who were disappointed when I introduced new characters and locations and plots in my series fiction, and allowed the main characters to have a slightly smaller role to make room; apparently these readers wanted the same story again, the same characters, the same sex scenes, the same dynamics, the same formulaic challenges, the same everything. Essentially, they wanted to read about characters who lived in a vacuum, and never had any interaction with others, nor any natural progression. This mindset is not only elitist, fearful, and unrealistic, but within fiction, stale, … Continue reading →

Ravens: New Momentum:
New Harbor Witches series

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Am working on New Harbor Witches: Ravens. Perhaps my favorite part of writing a novel, is when the story starts to gel and pick up momentum and then suddenly all the hidden connections reveal themselves, or else I dig them out and find that seemingly random, disparate things are suddenly related. I can always tell when I come across those, as I blurt out, “Oh, that’s perfect!” This is usually followed by a happy dance that inevitably spills my coffee on the front of my shirt. Yesterday, I did about 6 hours of #NovelLogistics, creativity and brainstorming with my awesome … Continue reading →

Verbal Chinese Water Torture

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“Great Literature” is a generally agreed-upon concept–but according to *whom*, really? By its very nature, it is also a subjective concept. A great deal of literature most commonly defined as shining touchstones, to me are little more that dull or even irritating. Take the notorious opening lines from A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was … Continue reading →

Is This How it Starts?

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Supine, in the bed for that nap I’m supposed to honor every day now, I was struck by an epiphany… What if my life has been lived? What if I’m now going to settle into that twilight of routine and isness? What if the main dish has been served, and all that’s left is the dessert and the check? It’s not as if I feel I need new adventures or challenges. I WANT things to slow down. In fact, I could not withstand more of what I’ve already endured. But the really sobering aspect still remains. I lived most of … Continue reading →

Singing, Snoring & Joy

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Something happened to me. I was applying formatting to print file for one of my books, feeling the dessicated adrenal supplement coursing through my veins, and i was singing along to Shawn Colvin on “Get out of this house”, formatting, and feeling pretty damn good…and then i just started crying…not from sadness. It was a sensation I hadn’t felt in such a long time…one I can only describe as the elusive feeling of pure JOY. It made me want to perform again, write songs again. Buy a guitar to use until i could get mine from storage…I could barely sing … Continue reading →

ADRIFT (poem)

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Tossed, blown off course by the storm, My skin pink from previous sunlight, I stand on the deck and imagine she is there waiting for me to reach shore If I can just glimpse her in the distance like a soothing port of call I know I’ll find my way. But when the sail lies flaccid and I am adrift in the water, I think I can hear the gurgling below, Seeping in, Weighing me down. My vessel riding low in the lapping waves. And bailing water, I ache for the succor of her embrace, The softness of her lips … Continue reading →