I was recently asked to describe my writing process for novels and series. Hm. That’s a hard one. Every book has been different. Every series is different. This isn’t a post about how you should write your books and your series. This is about what I’ve done so far and how it has worked, as well as what I’m going to try to do next. The Short Version: Erdemen Honor evolved as a standalone, then a sequel, then a third book in the series. Each is a complete, self-contained story that builds on the previous books. A Long-Forgotten Song was a series from […]
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My lovely fan Courtney has made more fantastic fan art! Check out this adorable Niall from A Long-Forgotten Song series (Things Unseen and The Dragon’s Tongue so far): She’s also done some cosplay! See it here and here If you’re inspired by my characters, please share your art! I’d love to see it.
Bear with me. This is a post about me being dense and finally realizing what to do about it. It’s also a post about money and about stress and about “finding balance” (whatever that means) and about blessing others. And letting myself be blessed. And not feeling like I have to constantly prove something to the world. Confession: I am always stressed. I have a wonderful life. I am a stay-at-home mom to two brilliant, adorable, sweet, well-behaved children. I have a husband who is the love of my life, selfless and brilliant and a total hottie. I have wonderful friends […]
I’m excited to announce that The King’s Sword is one of the bonus books in an Indie Fantasy Storybundle! This is a great opportunity to get some fantastic books and discover new authors. Blair MacGregor, the curator, wrote up a blog post and I’ll just let her take it away! *** THE INDIE FANTASY BUNDLE Curated by Blair MacGregor A couple years ago, StoryBundle included my first novel in the Indie Fantasy Bundle. This time, StoryBundle offered me the opportunity to curate a bundle of my own, and I jumped to accept. I couldn’t pass up the chance to share […]
Here’s a bit of what I’ve been reading recently: Cruxim – Karin Cox – I got this free on Amazon; I’m not sure if it’s permafree or just a temporary sale. I wasn’t sure what to expect – I don’t read a lot of paranormal fantasy, but I did like that the cover didn’t scream cheesy vampire romance. it’s a particularly lovely cover, I think, especially for having the overdone man-with-wings as the main figure. It’s ranked on Amazon as a gothic romance, and there was romance, but there was plenty of other action too. I thought of it more as […]
Val of Silk Screen Views was kind enough to interview me in conjunction with a review of The King’s Sword. His Royal Highness Hakan Ithel was also gracious enough to appear for an interview! Thank you, Val, for the review and interviews, and thank you to Silk Screen Views for hosting us.
I just read this fantastic article by Kristine Kathryn Rusch on A Career vs. Publication. If you’re an author, a wanna be author, a just-for-fun writer, or have ever thought about writing, go read it. You might have noticed that the publishing world is changing pretty quickly these days. Among other upheavals, indie publishing has become not just an option, but a good option. As writing blogs, conventions, and advice proliferate, both online and in the real world, there is a lot of advice out there. Have you ever tried to parse through that advice to find what will work […]
Some of you know that I’m a martial artist. I’ve been training in martial arts for over 19 years as of this writing. I started in taekwondo when I was 12 and earned my first black belt in the now-defunct International Taekwondo Council (ITC). I trained for about two years in a Japanese Karate Association (JKA) Shotokan karate school before heading to college at 17, where I trained for a year in judo. When I transferred colleges, I ended up in a Chidokwan karate (basically Shotokan + escrima sticks + street-style self-defense) university club, where I trained for two years […]
Most writers deal with writer’s block at some point in their career. It can be incredibly discouraging, and it doesn’t always result from a lack of “inspiration” or discipline. Without dealing with the root causes, writer’s block can continue to be a problem. In my experience, writer’s block is a result of either fear or confusion. Fear (NOTE: I drafted this post quite a while ago and then I watched this video. Watch it! It’s less than five minutes long. Apparently, we’re on the same wavelength.) Fear of looking stupid. Fear of imperfection. Fear of emotions you don’t want to explore. Fear […]
There’s been some ongoing kerfuffle across the internet about spec work, with one website mentioned that I’m actually familiar with, 99designs.com. A lot of good arguments have been made on both sides of the issue. Spec work definitely has its dangers and downsides. But having used 99designs, I wanted to let you know some of the arguments on both sides, and why I don’t think spec work is always a bad or immoral thing. What is spec work or “work on spec”? Spec work or work on spec is when a designer or artist of any type submits finished or […]