Category Archives: ENTERTAINMENT

Furiously Happy:
My brain hungered for humor. Was absolutely famished for fun.

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I am very picky about the books I read, and it’s hard to find anything that doesn’t either piss me off or bore me. That might just be a product of having been an Indie Author, honing her craft for 30 years, or maybe it’s just me being too damn critical. But I never had problems in my younger years. Like say, my twenties and before. But then, I didn’t write my first book until I was 26. So maybe it really is that being an author affects my ability to enjoy reading other authors that aren’t top-notch. Garbage in, … Continue reading →

It’s a Brave New World–For Women:
I call it FemFic

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I want a new category on Amazon that more accurately reflects the changes afoot in our ideation of a woman’s place in the world. In order to do this, I feel I have to branch out in my writing and create stories in genres that are typically male-dominated. Women need in a voice in those, too. Thus, I will be adding this new tag to all my books. I call it #FemFic. I hope all of you in the Twitterverse will use it, too–help get it going. IF it can gain traction, i will petition Amazon to include it in … Continue reading →

FALL IN LOVE WITH LESFIC SALE

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I don’t know about you, but it’s hard for me to stay focused on work this time of year. With nighttime falling earlier and the temperature getting chillier, all I want to do is log off the computer and curl up on the couch with a cup of tea, a cozy blanket, my grouchy but lovable cat at my feet, and a book. I need to stock up on books for winter. How about you? Eleven authors (including me) have joined forces to keep you entertained at rock-bottom prices. Below, you’ll find all the goodies on offer. Before I get … Continue reading →

Rocking the Boat

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Don’t say anything. Don’t make a comment. It will make you look bad. That’s the usual advice in the publishing industry when someone posts a caustic review of your book, under the assumption that this is about some type of insecurity on the part of a writer. This is not insecurity. It is frustration, and in this case, it’s also outrage. In fact, historically, authors are expected to keep their mouth shut about these things, but I am a proponent of the adage Silence equals Death. This advice to stay mum strikes me as the same mentality that got that Orange Nightmare in the Oval … Continue reading →

Is it Goodreads or Badreaders?

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I’ve always believed that every ill in our society falls under one or more of three categories: Greed, Ignorance or Zealotry. I was faced with an example of one or more of these while updating my author page on Goodreads. I came across a negative review, quite by accident, of one of my earlier books. Against my better judgment, I read it, and was horrified. The reviewer, obviously, did not like my book, and that’s fine, in and of itself, but this reviewer made statements that were patently false. She claimed the character in my book was “helping a pedophile.” … Continue reading →

Mistress of Mogador by T.T. Thomas

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I have never been a fan of historical romance, perhaps because most of my experience with them has been of the insipid, cheesy variety. Mistress of Mogador is not that. No ridiculous fragile women seeking validation from some musclebound man, poisoned by testosterone; no need to be saved by such a man, and no absurd, quixotic ruminations about love in the vein of puerile cupidity. No, the females of Mistress of Mogador carry the modern I’m-a-Nasty-Woman sensibility, in the most attractive and honorable ways. The characters here are also sufficiently flawed to burst from the page into personhood in the … Continue reading →

Circling Uranus

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Done with final draft of Circling Uranus: Samegenders in Space & Elsewhere. Edit/betaread in the hand of Melissa Walker. My short story turned into a novella, and this might be Episode One, as i have ideas for future installments. The blurb isn’t written yet, but here’s the BEFORE WORDS: (at the moment) This story was inspired by the character, India Bell, of the Rain Falls series. As a ruse, she had supposedly written a science fiction book titled Circling Uranus, and it became a bestseller, much to her chagrin. It reportedly included some form of tentacle sex with an alien. I … Continue reading →

Goodies, Captured Critters & Politics

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Sort of a quick diary entry of our day, with our usual adventures with photography. Allergy shot today (only 28 more to go. LOL) Afterward, we had a joyful visit to Barnes & Noble (a rare treat these days) and got some goodies. Melissa bought me a pen-cup I loved, and we of course bought some books too. Tesla: The Life & Times of an Electric Messiah, Pocket Birds of North America, Speeches That Changed the World, The Total Outdoorsman (read: outdoorswoman–sexist bastards.) and a fabulous journal. On the way home, we saw a fox with an injured paw. Followed … Continue reading →

Day of the Turkeys

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For our first wedding anniversary, Melissa and I went to Onyx cave in Eureka Springs. Heading out, we were, as usual, watching for good pictures, our cameras at the ready, as I steered the Avalanche (whom we lovingly call Ava Lanche, as in French style Launch-SHAY. She is like another one of our pets.) Just down the road on Highway 23, we stopped to take photos of a tree full of turkey vultures. Creepy and wonderful. This was balanced by a precious little bluebird Melissa captured nearby. But not a turkey bluebird. We were starving, but thought we’d just stop … Continue reading →

Nom Nom Nom de Plume

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How delicious. To be someone else. To reinvent oneself. I’m not talking about who you are at your core, but about characteristics that might not be serving you anymore. I’ve done it several times over, and not only with names. As long ago as my early twenties, I began referring to myself and introducing myself to others by another name. Eventually, it led me to legally change it. Psychologically, that was one of the best decisions I ever made for my health. I maintain that the name-change wasn’t running AWAY from something, but running TO. Seeking identity. I wanted to … Continue reading →

Thoughts on The Thief of Time by John Boyles

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I have missed sitting down with a physical book and reading. My recent decision to take a sabbatical and just allow myself to be creative and deadline-free, had me standing in front of my fiction bookshelf, seeking something new. Something enjoyable. As most of you know by now, I have become quite finicky about my fiction reading. I read so much of my own work in pumping out work in the last ten years, that I have had little time to read for pleasure, and when I do, it’s inevitably just before I go to sleep, and by then, my … Continue reading →

Whole Brain Literary Food

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Recently, I posted a inquiry to my readers, about a publishing aspect of my work. All the responses were encouraging and thought-provoking, but one in particular touched upon some deeper themes. Here it is. TO MY READERS–A QUESTION: As authors, we want to please everyone, but that’s just not possible. For instance, on my newest novella, Saturation Point, I have 4 and 5 star reviews and personal messages and emails that tell me how much they enjoyed the introspective nature of this book, and the characters, but on one review, the reviewer was bored because there wasn’t dialogue on every … Continue reading →