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Little Milestones Receives 5-Star Review from Readers’ Favorite
*** One of the things I won’t ever do on my blog is to pretend that being an independent author is at all glamorous. It’s not. It takes tireless work, both on the creating/writing/editing side, as well as on the marketing/public relations/promotions side. It can be an exhausting adventure—and it is most definitely an adventure every single time—but you have to know this going into the endeavor. And never expect too much. That said, you can imagine my surprise this morning, when I was already feeling down about where my next piece of writing is headed, to see the 5-star review for Little Milestones, a novel a published in October…
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The Beginning of a New Novel…or Not. What I’m Working On????
* The truth is, after reading my post headline, I’m not actually sure what I’m working on. I’m not sure at all. Ever since completing and now trying to promote Little Milestones, there’s been little happening in my writing world. January was spent getting ready for the spring semester as I’m teaching a course I haven’t taught in a while, so I’ve needed to spend a lot of time preparing for my classes. One night, however, the idea of these four characters popped into my head, and the idea of a book starting and ending in a bar took hold. I’m not sure AT ALL what is going to happen…
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Let Us Take You to St. Michaels – the setting of my new novel, LITTLE MILESTONES, with a video tour
CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO One of the things I had on my “to do list” with Little Milestones, is to take you on a guided tour of the places and settings that inspired the writing of my novel, Little Milestones. I was patiently waiting for the perfect Saturday to go and shoot the footage, and that day came with blue skies, fall foliage, and a friend by my side to make it fun. Little Milestones is available on Amazon.com and BN.com. It’s a story of moving on, love, friendship, family, and forgiveness. It’s a light novel that takes you from Labor Day weekend through Christmas, and it’s set in this gorgeous…
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Launching Little Milestones AND NaNoWriMo in one Evening on Campus
It’s been an unbelievably busy and exciting week! Launching LITTLE MILESTONES has been a thrill! I am so happy it’s available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and I’m doubly thrilled to be launching #NaNoWriMo this Tuesday on campus. It’s our third year of promoting writing on campus and getting students thinking about writing their own stories, be it fiction, nonfiction, or memoir. Students can also think about creating their stories on Wattpad or via a blog. When I was the age of my students, I would sit in class and dream of publishing something one day. At that time, you had to find an agent or publisher, or you…
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Well, it’s been a while…
I just opened up my blog to check the date of my last blog posting. It was almost a month ago on September 3. I’ve been a little MIA on this platform, something I’ve dedicated myself to since 2011 by making the commitment to posting a minimum of once a week. For the last several weeks, I’ve broken that promise to myself. Believe me when I say my absence was not intentional, it’s just that I didn’t know what to say or what to write about over the course of the last month. I’ve been preoccupied with the deaths of people we cared for, along with getting back into the…
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A Little Teaser for My Upcoming Novel: Little Milestones
*** Well, I’m officially getting excited! As I posted a few weeks ago, I finally decided upon the name of my fourth novel, LITTLE MILESTONES, and I have a first draft of the cover. When it gets to this point, it begins to feel as if things are coming together. I’m sharing the first cover design I’m considering. As I plan for a September release, LITTLE MILESTONES is a book that focuses on friendships among women with a little dash of romance thrown in, because as most of you loyal readers know, I’m a sucker for a good romance. I’ll also be taking you back with me to the Eastern…
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#NaNoWriMo Tribe: Proud of Us as the Finish Line Approaches
I know this doesn’t mean a lot to many people, but for the few of us who adore telling stories, I’m very proud of you. I wouldn’t be much good to anyone as a writing cheerleader if I didn’t actually participate in National Novel Writing Month and help encourage others to do the same. Haven’t you ever done something just for the love and sheer joy of it? While I’m still 7,000 words short of my goal, with tired eyes and a lot of coffee, I’ll continue until the bitter end…along with thousands and thousands of others of us who are all doing the same. Bonding with other writers…
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My Newest Writing Project
People always ask me what I’m working on next, so I thought I’d get this out of the way. It’s a common question I field often. It may disappoint some folks, but it’s not the sequel to Inn Significant, though I still play with that manuscript a little. Instead, there’s a short story in my latest release, The Postcard and Other Short Stories & Poetry, that I fell in love with and that wouldn’t leave me alone, kind of like a pesky fly that won’t go away. After publishing that book this summer, the characters in that story–Life with Nan–sort of came to life in my imagination–and then more characters…
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Setting #Goals – The First Step in Turning the Invisible to the Visible
I use a lot of prompts in my writing classes. Today’s in-class writing prompt was this: Write about a goal you are trying to achieve. This can be a personal goal, an educational goal, or a professional goal. No more than 350 words. I decided to write along with my class this morning, as I am going to try something new this time. Feel free to join in the fun and write or blog along with us. Here’s my prompt. *** Over the last few months, I’ve decided that after self-publishing four independent works of fiction, I am going to write a fifth novel that I will attempt to send…
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Kicking Off National Novel Writing Month with an Exercise for You
W e l c o m e ! If you haven’t stopped by and visited my blog before, I’m so glad to see you here. I’m a professor, author, and blogger, and I have a passion for all things writing. Today is exciting, because on my campus, the Library and I have teamed up to launch National Novel Writing Month, with a kick-off today at 2 p.m. in the School of Business Library. We’ll be getting you ready to write at our event entitled STEVENSON WRITE NOW. I’ve written three novels that I’ve self-published, mostly because I like to have a hand in every aspect of the process. I publish…
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Every One of My Books Has Killed Me a Little More
*** You see the title there, and maybe that’s why you clicked over to see what’s going on here. If you did, please know I didn’t say that quote. It was said by the famous late writer, Norman Mailer. “Every one of my books has killed me a little more, ” he said. I didn’t know the man. I’m not on par with him as a writer. I am not as prolific a writer as he was. And I certainly don’t earn my primary income as a writer as he did. And yet, I can totally understand what he said. As some of you who follow my blog…
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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…
