Why am I drawn to writing adventures and even apocalyptic fiction featuring female protagonists? I see women as so much more than just sexual beings. Indeed, a case could be made that viewing the fairer sex in that framing can make them a victim of the patriarchy. The obvious examples of this can be found plentiful in our modern world, and most of us are familiar with them. But it goes much deeper. For instance, when I (rather ironically) look for images of women for my apocalyptic or adventure book covers, I am faced with a slew of demeaning, reductive, …Continue reading →
Accountability must be returned to our institutions, leaders, and citizenry. Without accountability, we end up where we are right now. Mass death, injustice, economic devastation, pervasive corruption, sedition, insurrection, treason, and, if it continues, the fall of our Republic. Accountability, then, should be a thing. Journalists. Police Officers. State representatives. Military. Mayors. Governors. Congress-members. Government Staffers. Cabinet Members. Vice Presidents and Presidents. For this post, I am focused on journalists and media. Please, Media, it’s time to STOP candy-coating. Time to show reality. SHOW images of COVID realities. SHOW THE FUCKING BODY BAGS, SHOW THE FRIDGE TRUCKS with the …Continue reading →
My wife belongs to several writing and reading groups on Facebook (as do I, of course) and she engages with many of them. She is constantly sharing with me the idiotic stuff some writers do and say. Recently, there was a conversation on one group where an author was selling a 90 page book for $18, and my wife, Melissa, pointed out that this was a ridiculous price. The author balked, and said that Melissa cared more about the price per page than the quality of the writing. My wife responded: Melissa Walker : here’s what it’s about to me…Let’s …Continue reading →
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 →
I fear I must be a special needs child…er…adult… After my military injuries, I was told I’d never walk again. I went from a wheelchair to a scooter, to forearm crutches. Now, I’m walking just fine…except when I’m not. It took years to get myself back on my feet. Now, I have certain limitations that I have always tried to address with clever ergonomic solutions–physical, and otherwise. Ergonomics is not just about efficiency, it’s about comfort. While I always streamline and arrange my workspace to address ease of use, I also must be comfortable, physically. Problem is, my spine doesn’t …Continue reading →
Shame on me. I haven’t posted a blog in a long time. SO much going on with us lately. Dealing with sudden health issues happening all at once, burned out, exhausted, feeling ill all the time, I was certainly not inspired to write. So I decided to take a 6-month sabbatical. It turned into 8 months when I found out in the middle of it I needed major surgery. So, I had to face my #2 biggest fear, (surgery) and I’ve been recovering from a full abdominal hysterectomy, and after almost 8 weeks, I’m still having some issues, which I …Continue reading →
Today I had a revelation. I had forgotten to address a very big problem that had recently applied elsewhere. One I had addressed already in the obvious places, but overlooked for a while. I switched almost all of my Pinterest boards to secret. At first, I was horrified to think I was going to have to delete them all and start over, or cancel my account to prevent a looming disaster. Only recently did Pinterest offer a solution to the legal quagmire they so blithely pied-piper’d us into. By now, you’ve probably guessed I’m referring to copyright infringement. Thankfully, Pinterest …Continue reading →
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 →
Message in a bottle… After almost two years of struggle with the vicissitudes of Indie writing and publishing, I have, I believe, come up with a solution to all that has been vexing me, and keeping me from reaching the goals I have been working so hard to achieve, and all that has annihilated the joy to be found in the journey. With the new lease on life I got after my return from New Zealand, I have been focused mostly on getting my health back, but also in increasing and maintaining the momentum in my career, which I didn’t …Continue reading →
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 →
A commenter on one of the sites I market to, objected to my promotions, (and I responded as forthrightly as I could)>. COMMENTER: I am seeing “Attachment Unavailable This attachment may have been removed or the perso who shared it may not have permission to share it with you” on both is post and the immediately preceeding two previous by Kelli Jae Baeil. Thefirst post by Kelli Jae Baeil, smells like drive-by marketing. -Three- posts following that promo post, each of which consists entirely of “Attachment Unavailable” makes it look even more like drive-by exploitation. I wrote the rant below …Continue reading →
Tropes, in one definition, are “devices and conventions that a writer can reasonably rely on as being present in the audience members’ minds and expectations.” There are many types, but one, in the subcategory of devices, we see quite frequently in crime shows on TV or in mystery books. There is a crime, and an investigation, and the first suspect is never the true suspect. That also gets into the Red Herring territory. For myself, I have always tried not to rely on tropes, simply because I don’t ever want the reader to easily predict what will happen. But I …Continue reading →
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 →
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 →
Thank you for your interest in my work. Please enjoy this free download. (click the cover image) Giving it Away: Spoilers as Both Noun & Accusation (Why Book Reviews Matter & How to Write a Proper One) Ironically, in response to one review on this essay, I feel I must point out that this is a FREE essay, not a novel; it does not pretend to elucidate completely the subject at hand; it’s about 10 pages on the topic. I am too busy writing full-length novels to give it more time than that, and yes, I do advertise my other …Continue reading →
