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Launching LITTLE MILESTONES Today, my newest novel…
*** Okay, my friends, today, my newest novel, LITTLE MILESTONES is official and is on the market through Amazon (coming in days to Barnes & Noble). While this is not a true sequel to Inn Significant, it does tap into those characters as they become a part of Little Milestones and the lives of Olivia and Nan. The new book is set in beautiful St. Michaels, Maryland, and as you may have surmised, I have a slight obsession with the Eastern Shore. There are also some scenes in Annapolis because I love my home state so much. * I think of all the books I’ve written, this one has made…
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Update on My (currently unnamed) WIP
On Friday night, I reached over 71,000 words on my #WIP (work in progress). I can’t even begin to tell you how much I love the direction change I made with this story back in December. Now, the novel has glue and a backbone and characters I wish were my friends. I still have a way to go, but it makes me so happy to sit down and write when I’m writing about places I love and I can live vicariously through my characters. I took this lovely photo back in September in Oxford when, in the name of research, I spent time in both #oxfordmd and #stmichaelsmd. I can’t…
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My Third Novel, Inn Significant, Is Now Available !!!
B I G N E W S T O D A Y ! ! ! INN SIGNIFICANT IS NOW AVAILABLE ! *** A few weeks ago I likened birthing a novel to birthing a baby, except without the physical pain and need for drugs. I still think it’s true. I’m happy to report that my third novel, Inn Significant, is now available via Amazon and Barnes & Noble in both paperback and for the e-readers. As those of us who are independent authors know, this is when the marketing work begins, and it ain’t easy. Plus, it requires me to do something that I’m not used to doing, and that’s…
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A Really Short Story Told in Text Messages—Friday Fiction
Leaving She picked up the cellphone. The text message simply said, “Very clever.” It was his response to the previous text she had sent which stated, “It took me all this time to lose my mind…what on earth made you think I would want a piece of yours?” She could picture him standing there holding his phone looking at her words and smiling. She liked the image of him doing that. The funny thing was, she didn’t feel very clever in general. In fact, she felt quite inept, singularly stupid, and deliriously daft. She had only known him for a few weeks. What was she thinking? How could she have…
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Friday Fiction – The Beginning of a Love Story
* * * This week’s prompt asked us to begin with one simple sentence, which was this: The old house, with its wildly overgrown garden, was silent, secretive. Clearly, the weather on the East Coast this week influenced this story. Featured among the paragraphs are falling leaves, browning hydrangeas, and a good breeze. While it’s a little warmer here today than it is in the story, I was inspired mostly by the scenery and then by a love story. I wanted to give the first line of the prompt, with its use of the word “secretive” some clout; I wanted this to feel a bit secretive, haunting, and sad. So,…
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Stories I Left Out of Baseball Girl
* * * The book’s been out for over two months now. The typical questions I get are as follows: 1) How true is this story? 2) Did you marry a reporter? 3) Did you date a ballplayer? 4) Did all these things happen to you? People are always fascinated by writers and where they get their ideas. Even friends with whom I’m close are probably wondering if aspects of the book are true and what I’ve held back from them. (Nothing…well, maybe…) What is more interesting, as the person who wrote the story, is how many stories I left out of the book (of course to protect the innocent).…
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“Baseball Girl” Is Now Available
* * * After almost three years in the making, my new novel entitled Baseball Girl, is now available for purchase on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The follow-up novel to Beneath the Mimosa Tree is another contemporary romance that uses baseball as a backdrop. The story revolves around Francesca Milli, whose father passes away when she’s a freshman in college and nineteen years old; she is devastated and copes with his death by securing a job working for the Bay City Blackbirds, a big-league team, as she attempts to carry on their traditions and mutual love for the game of baseball. The residual effect of loving and losing her…
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BTMT Receives 5-Star Review from Readers Favorite
Well, it’s time for me to share my badge of honor. BENEATH THE MIMOSA TREE received a 5-Star review from Readers Favorite. There’s the little badge to the left. Additionally, BTMT received a Finalist award for Contemporary Fiction in the Readers Favorite Annual Contest. I’m honored. On September 1, winners for each category will be announced. At that time we’ll find out whether my novel will receive a Gold, Silver, Bronze, Honorable Mention, or Finalist award. (I feel as if I’m in the Olympics with these awards)! No matter where I place, I still feel like a winner. I’m honored to have been selected as a top five book in…
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The Top 10 Things You Won’t Find in “Beneath the Mimosa Tree” and 8 Reasons Why Your Mother Will Like It
*** No, you certainly won’t. You certainly won’t find any of these things in my novel, counting down from number 10 to number one. Here you go… 10. Postapocalyptic survival fights (Who would dare now?) 9. Controversial issues (Jodi Picoult corners the fiction market with these topics.) 8. Good and bad witches (I’m obsessed, but the best have already tackled them.) 7. Anything about a Diet (I’m Italian and like to eat…and my characters do eat). 6. Anthropomorphism of any kind…no talking rabbits, pigs, spiders, bears, or any other animal to which you’d give feelings and emotions (Though I did kill a rather large spider on my…
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The Reviews Are Rolling In & An Excerpt From The Book. What People Are Saying About “Beneath the Mimosa Tree.”
Dear Readers, Well, it’s been two weeks today since I let it go out into the world. So now what are people saying about my debut novel entitled “Beneath the Mimosa Tree?” I thought I’d let these lovely comments do all the talking, but before I do, I wanted to share an excerpt from the novel just to stir your interest if it hasn’t already been stirred. Then, enjoy reading what people are saying. We independent authors can use all the support we can get to spread the word about our work. For those of you who have liked the book, thanks for your kind recommendations to others. I can’t…
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Kissing My Characters Goodbye: One Last Hurrah
*** Yesterday afternoon, I took some time to connect one last time with my novel. By the end of the day today, it should be ready to ship off to the woman who will format it for the Kindle. I’m ready to let go of it, but I needed to have one last moment with these characters who have been a steady part of my life for two years now. While I won’t get into all the steps that have been necessary to get the novel to its completed state, I will tell you that it feels a little bit like birth and death simultaneously. These characters have been an…
