Courage and Criticism and Creativity: Some Thoughts
My kids were watching Ratatouille a few days ago, and I caught the very end where Anton Ego, the food critic, gives his monologue reviewing the restaurant. A portion of it struck me, especially in light of what happened with a friend of mine today, a creative–though not a writer–as she received some stinging criticism […]
The Perils of Self-Publishing
TLDR: If you are one of those early readers who got an uncorrected copy of Wills & Trust with the glitches in chapter one and near the end, you can go into your Kindle account and download the more updated file. Risk versus reward. They say the higher the risk, the greater the chance of […]
Ramblings About Time Management
This will ramble. Fair warning. I recently did a major overhaul of my time commitments so as to have more freedom to write and to take care of my family. I ended up bowing out of several community commitments that had given me a lot of joy over the years, but that could no longer […]
The Story Behind the Legally in Love Series
When I married my husband, he was still in law school at Georgetown U in Washington, D.C. Then he worked for the U.S. Congress before we moved to Arizona where he hung out a shingle and worked as a lawyer for a while before running for judge. So basically, he made the laws, defended people […]
Hot & Ready (to review)
Meanwhile, here in sunny, sunny, sunny Arizona, the sun is trying to kill us. So is lightning. A lightning strike 20 days ago has burned about something like 70 square miles on the mountain that dominates our valley’s landscape, our one respite from the annual blast oven of summer that runs from April through early November. It stinks. […]
Coming Soon: Cover Reveal for Book 4 (and a Side Bonus)
Book 4 of the Legally in Love Series is nearly nearly nearly done! Final editing passes and a few book-launch prep details remain. I’m getting so excited. Along with that, books 1-3 are getting facelifts, too. I’m working with my designer on them this week–and possibly a Book 5, if we can get the right […]
Branding Rant: YOU Are Your Brand
There’s been a lot of talk about “branding.” Branding. We all know that certain companies offer a certain type of product. For instance, in the fast food world we can expect one known quantity from, say, McDonald’s, which would be different from something we’d buy from Subway most of the time. Sometimes we want a […]
Workshop Excitement
I’m so excited about this. My friend CJ Anaya and I are heading to the hot, hot desert (okay, we already live in one, but this one is even hotter) for a workshop in Phoenix to learn from one of the greats–Dave Wolverton, the mind behind mystorydoctor.com. I’ve read his books, watched his vlogs, taken […]
Legally in Love Series Writing Process Revealed
I have always thought it was odd when people have asked me about my writing process. I guess in my head the answer is along the lines of, “Well, I sit down in a comfy spot with my laptop, minimize distractions, and then type whatever comes into my head, which is (I always hope) a […]
Paradise Paradigm Shift
After over a year of what I might term “relentless stress,” we took a family vacation. As a mom, I wouldn’t say I look forward to a family vacation most of the time because they usually entail doing all the stuff you have to do at home but without the conveniences of home–taking care of […]
