Wednesday Wisdom for Writers and Those Who Love Them

"No passion in the world is equal to the passion to alter someone else's draft." —H.G. Wells


It's all better with friends.

FLAME GAME Cover Reveal

I'm excited about this cover and hope it resonates with readers.

It's all better with friends.

Wednesday Wisdom for Writers and Those Who Love Them

"Writing is a struggle against silence." — Carlos Fuentes


It's all better with friends.

Wednesday Wisdom for Writers and Those Who Love Them

"Any reviewer who expresses rage and loathing for a novel is preposterous. He or she is like a person who has put on full armor and attacked a hot fudge sundae." —Kurt Vonnegut



There are so many more important things.





It's all better with friends.

Left Coast Crime

I'm getting ready to leave for Left Coast Crime Wednesday morning.

A few years ago, March of 2011, at my first LCC, I didn't have a book out. I didn't have any chops. That's where I got to know and feel the support from other writers, an editor, and a librarian. We came together and formed a blog called Crime Fiction Collective.

That conference changed my life.

And why did I go in the first place? LJ Sellers emailed me to see if I might be interested in being her roommate. Hello? Are you kidding me? I hadn't regsitered but that one email spurred me to action.

I now have three books available and those books have been well received. As of this afternoon my fourth book has been sent to my editor. It's possible I might have arrived here another way, but the fact remains I'm here because of LCC and one woman.

Through Left Coast Crime I've been encouraged to step out in faith. I've found other writers who give me a sounding board because we're in it together, and I've found readers who I've loved being able to connect with. All of you have become my friends. It's worth going to the conference every year just to see you again.

If you're in Portland, look me up. I'd love to meet you.


It's all better with friends.

Wednesday Wisdom for Writers and Those Who Love Them

"Some things are hard to write about. After something happens to you, you go to write it down, and either you over dramatize it, or underplay it, exaggerate the wrong parts or ignore the important ones. At any rate, you never write it quite the way you want to." —Sylvia Plath


Donald Maass reminds us that if it's not written on the page, it doesn't exist. That's important to remember when we're trying to recreate what's in our heads so that others can see what we see.

Sylvia Plath, I think, is talking about emotions. The piece between an event and a reaction. With both fiction and poetry, there are a lot of ways to get those onto the page, and right or wrong, perfectly done or not, the thing with emotions is that they're going to resonate with someone.



It's all better with friends.

Arson Dogs

Here's a cool video from Victoria Stilwell about arson dogs.

The cover for FLAME GAME is getting close! This is so exciting!









It's all better with friends.