novels of suspense, romance and intrigue
I'm currently reading a mystery about authors by arguably one of the most well-known novelists in the world, J.K. Rowling, writing as Robert Galbraith. I'm finding Rowling's commentary about the publishing industry, about writers and writing, an interesting subtext to the story, given her unique perspective in that regard. One fictional author is successful and… Continue reading What Makes a Book Good?
These are slow times in my marketing and writing, as I work through editing a manuscript and feel less than inspired to think of ways to publicize my work on social media or to set up new deals or promotions. Both inwardly (creatively) and outwardly (outreach to readers), I'm in a down cycle. Editing always… Continue reading The Slow Slogging Days
Toward the end of 2019, I got really productive and finished two first drafts, which was gratifying, and then started editing them, which is painstaking, and began to think about marketing, which is downright painful. And now here I am, writing a post to remind myself why this part needs to happen. After I came… Continue reading Inspiration vs. Motivation
I think you could safely call it a slump. It's a nice descriptive word, slump. It sounds like what it is. Lately I've been somewhat underwhelmed with myself as an author, besieged by doubts. Who did I think I was, that I could really do this? At some point someone will catch onto the fact… Continue reading The Downsides of Writing: Underwhelm and Self-Doubt
Last night I was invited to give a talk about writing to a women's group, which was an honor and a pleasure. I so appreciate the attention and interest of those 25 women, who asked such intelligent questions and so generously celebrated my accomplishments. Following is the text of what I shared about myself. I’m… Continue reading Defining Who You Are as a Writer
The competitive publishing market highlights both benefits and challenges of traditional publishing versus self-publishing. While agents and publishers offer resources for success, many authors remain unpublished or face contract termination. Self-publishing is now affordable, allows for creative freedom, and provides full ownership of work and royalties, empowering authors to define their own success.
Many people express a desire to write a book, but are hindered by doubts and excuses. The only obstacle to writing is not doing it. Writing can be both challenging and fulfilling, regardless of external measures of success.
One of the craziest things about being published is that total strangers out there in the world are actually reading your books—and on top of that, forming opinions about them! This is very surreal. As someone just starting out in this whole published writer thing, it's a new experience for me. I've been surprised to find… Continue reading The Review Ride
I just sent the first draft of book 9 to my editor for her first read (yay!), and while I know it's going to need a lot of work in the editing process, including a title, I can safely say that for the moment it's DONE. (I need it to be done, otherwise I keep… Continue reading Coming Soon: Paperback Edition of Book 1!
Now available on Amazon Kindle and in paperback. Why would the disappearance of a British man in Paris have anything to do with Megan Hofflin? Find out in the seventh book in the Strangers on This Road series, The Missing Tourist. Just when Megan thought she was settled into her new life, everything fell apart…… Continue reading Book 7, The Missing Tourist
Available on Amazon Kindle The Night Ferry is the sixth installment in the Siding Sideways series and one of the author's personal favorites. This suspenseful adventure is now available on Kindle. A vacation in Europe is the start of a dangerous adventure… When Megan Hofflin steps aboard the night ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki, she… Continue reading Book 6, The Night Ferry
The fifth installment in the Strangers on This Road series, Death on the Menu, is now available on Kindle and in paperback. If you met Molly in book two, you won't want to miss her adventures with murder and dating in L.A. It began with the bloody body of a man in the storeroom. Who… Continue reading Book 5, Death on the Menu
I was against self-publishing for quite some time. It just wasn't for me, no way, nohow, mainly because of the following two stumbling blocks: I felt bombarded with stories (from NPR, agency sites, advice from other authors) about how the publishing industry looks down on self-publishing. It wasn't the right way to do it. Self-publishing… Continue reading Why I Self-publish
The fourth book in the series, The Heartbroken Brides, is available on Amazon Kindle. Two women—Maria Concepción Argüello, the 1806 Presidio commandante's daughter, and Carol Kinnear, present-day victim of a car accident... Sometimes history repeats itself—with deadly results. Lainey Parker and her fiancé, Aiden Kinnear, plan a long weekend in San Francisco in order to wind… Continue reading Book 4, The Heartbroken Brides
As I'm rereading my series for the first time in more than a year, I'm reminded of how amazingly FUN it was to write these books. The researching online - on Wikipedia and Google Earth, and, of course, Interpol's website; the pulling together of plots; the characters who would randomly pop up out of nowhere,… Continue reading The Fun of It All
As August 1 approaches, the next landmark date for my baby publishing project, I'm taking stock of where I am in this whole process. I've written seven completed books to date in the series, recently published the first book on Amazon Kindle, and just this week created a website and Facebook fan page and joined… Continue reading Making Progress
