Caspar the Mighty Hunter Writers rarely agree on things. Each of us have our own process, our own genre, our own career goals. Some of us use 'said' every time and avoid -ly adverbs like the plague. Others lovingly sprinkle those adverbs in, as well as words like 'replied' or 'responded'. One thing I've noticed … Continue reading Tackling the dread blurb and synopsis

Part of a poem etched into rocks on the path to the Falls of Foyers, Upper Foyers, Scotland On Friday, June 18th, I finished the first draft of 'Shield & Scepter'. It wrapped up about 5k words shorter than 'Scales & Stingers', but that doesn't bother me. It's with my beta readers now, and the … Continue reading A trilogy it will be

Tree on the grounds of Carberry Manor, Scotland It's done. 'Shield and Scepter' is now with my beta readers. The first draft is complete. I finished this morning, well ahead of the July deadline I gave myself before surgery. I'm hopeful I'll get notes back from at least some of them before my fingers are … Continue reading Is the story over now?

Train station - Perth, Scotland Eeep! I have a college graduate for a daughter!!!! This week's been a busy one, and it's not done yet. Our oldest graduated from college on the 12th. She'll stay in town through July, then move back home to begin her job search. We'll have a full month when both … Continue reading Progress!!!!

Sidhe Viewpoint, Scotland So, I have a surgery date! Trigger fingers (both of them) will be dealt with on July 16th. My goal is to have the first draft of 'Shield & Scepter' done and to my betas before then. I have anywhere from 3-4 chapters or 20k words to get where the story is … Continue reading Surgery date, and a goal to hit

Castle MacDuff, East Wymyss, Scotland Something strange happened yesterday. My husband and I stopped by a farmer's market. It was outdoors, in a beautifully wooded park. We had time to kill before we got haircuts, so we figured why not. Before we got out of the car, we both put our masks on. I'd put … Continue reading A step forward?

The original Murder Hobos, drawn by Ed Brabant. If there's one thing the last year taught me, it's that the small things matter more than I realized. We haven't played D&D as a group for about 2 months now. Possibly 3. My mind's a little fuzzy this morning as to when the last session actually … Continue reading The little things matter

Well, drat. Honestly, I'm saying far worse in my head. The trigger finger on my LEFT hand is now showing all signs of being inflamed, and is poised to start misfiring. Again. The steroid shot I was given in October has worn off or something similar. Both fingers have been irritated enough over the last … Continue reading Well, drat

Thistles growing near Clava Cairns, Scotland. Good morning! Last week was a strange one. A lot of stress, emotionally charged, points in time. As you know, if you've been reading my blog for a while, I've had someone who I believed was stalking me. They were someone I knew for decades who would not give … Continue reading Rejections, denials, and renewals

For the last week or two, I've been stuck. I needed to have a fist fight, one that was a long time coming between these two characters. I knew how it'd end, and what comes next because of the fight. But I was having a hard time figuring out how to get that first punch … Continue reading Unsolicited Writing Advice & Why You Need to Resist Giving It.