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5 Reasons Why Writers Should Own a Dog

5 Reasons Why Writers Should Own a Dog

Everywhere I look these days I see memes and articles about how writers worship cats. I mean, I get it. They’re low maintenance. They poop in a box. They’re full of intrigue and mystery. And kittens are adorable.

But I contend that every writer needs a dog. Why? Well…

  1. They make you move

Dogs DON’T poop in a box. They need to go outside to run, to stretch, and to pee on everything they can…

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How to Write a Book - Tips From an Indie Author

How to Write a Book – Tips From an Indie Author

You’ve tossed the idea around. You’re well-read, articulate, creative. Sometimes, randomly, you’ll be struck with a flash of brilliance and say to yourself, “Someone should write about this.” And one day soon after that you decide that YOU should be the one to write about that.

There are a couple things to know before you start. The first one is that anyone can write a book. Just check the…

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I've Been a Bit Lazy...

I’ve Been a Bit Lazy…

About updating my blog this summer. In fact, I’ve been a bit lazy about quite a few things this summer. Getting out of bed on time, for starters. Folding laundry… Okay. Technically that’s just a given all year.

Let’s see, what else? For a while I was lazy with my writing as well. I had the sequel to Awaken An Angelblocked out, but absolutely no ability to write it. That’s actually incredibly…

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Freebie Book Weekend

I’ve been absent from my blog for a while, because life kinda took precedence for a while. Buuuuuut…

Let me make it up to everyone. My new book, Awaken An Angel, is FREE on Amazon from May 26-28! What’s better than a free book?

Click Here to find it on Amazon!

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I Heard a John Cougar Mellencamp Song This Morning and it Made Me Think of You

I Heard a John Cougar Mellencamp Song This Morning and it Made Me Think of You #memories #nostalgic #childhood #oldfriends

It’s not often that I think of my childhood.

Although I didn’t grow up in an abusive household, I did grow up in a confused one, and as I’ve gotten older most of it has faded blissfully into the distant past. Sometimes bits and pieces come to me at random moments. The sight of a public pool, for instance, will remind me of the time my mother dove into the diving area of the pool while forbidden…

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Book Review Tuesday: Air Awakens by Elise Kova

Book Review Tuesday: Air Awakens by Elise Kova #amreading #bookreview #bookstoread

Well, less an actual book review and more a series review. “A library girl with a secret. A dark and fiery prince. When he Awakens her elemental magic, there’s no turning back.” Vhalla is a young apprentice librarian in the Solaris Empire. She loves her books, reads endlessly, and has no interest whatsoever in magic. Aldrik, the Crown Prince, is dark and enigmatic, and a powerful sorcerer. When…

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Book Review Tuesday: Air Awakens by Elise Kova

Book Review Tuesday: Air Awakens by Elise Kova

Well, less an actual book review and more a series review. “A library girl with a secret. A dark and fiery prince. When he Awakens her elemental magic, there’s no turning back.” Vhalla is a young apprentice librarian in the Solaris Empire. She loves her books, reads endlessly, and has no interest whatsoever in magic. Aldrik, the Crown Prince, is dark and enigmatic, and a powerful sorcerer. When…

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Meet Riley, the Anxiety-Filled Dachshund

Meet Riley, the Anxiety-Filled Dachshund

This IS my happy face. Meet Riley. He is nearly six years old, loves all types of birds as long as they are fully cooked, and considers himself the primary reason for my existence. He is an equal opportunity barker, staunchly defends me from garbage cans, and absolutely refuses to have anything to do with rain. He’s been sick for a day now, and I think I could handle it better if he’d at least…

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Top Ten: Books

I’m beginning a series of blog posts dedicated to a top ten of whatever the hell I want. I’m going to kick it off with my top ten books, for obvious reasons. Don’t think that all these top tens will be, you know, normal. I fully intend to do a top ten of anything that dances through my crazy, ADD mind. But books… I mean, if you followed this blog from my Amazon author page, or realize I’m an…

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Writer's Block and Codeine

Writer’s Block and Codeine

At times I feel as though writing is an uphill battle. I’ll be sitting at my computer, writing away, and then I’ll hit a block. Or I’ll get a phone call, and once I go back to typing my groove is gone, taken away by the confirmation call from my dentist, making sure that yes, indeed, I’ll be there tomorrow for my appointment. Or, worse yet, I’ll get everything organized, open up my files, and…

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Vacation and Stuff

We spent a week in Florida recently, a pleasant change from the rainy/windy/snowy Midwest. I loved watching the seasons change during our drive south – we stopped for the night, after twelve hours of driving, in Atlanta. We were fully immersed in spring, and the women squealed gleefully and broke out their sandals. I mean, come on – this was the very thing I’ve been waiting for since my last…

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Panel Vans and Pornstaches

Panel Vans and Pornstaches

On Saturday my daughter drove home to see us for a bit, and we decided to go out to eat at a nearby Chinese buffet. We’ve been there many times. The food is always decent, the service good, and my son once puked in their bathroom and they STILL let us come back. (It wasn’t the food prep, guys, it was the fact that he ate a shit ton of General Tso’s chicken, then chased it with pineapple slices,…

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Dear Creepy-Looking Flonase,

I met you a year ago. I know, I know. My friends and family had already become acquainted with you, yet I was the holdout. I suppose I thought you and I would clash, that we just wouldn’t mesh. I was wrong. I feel foolish now. Sometimes I see you, and I wonder how much different my life would have been had I opened up and let you into my life sooner. But why should I dwell in the past, when I…

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The Ever Important Playlist

The Ever Important Playlist

I love music. I listen to nearly everything, and I usually start a playlist for each new book I write. I’ll hear something on my satellite radio stations (I live in an area where the offerings are limited) and immediately add it to a note in the book file. Usually I’ll listen to a mix of the radio and my playlist while I’m typing. I use it to help me think, to generate ideas… and to drown out…

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A New Cover and Other Stuff

A New Cover and Other Stuff

I was looking at the cover of Awaken An Angel the other day, and I decided that the cover needed a change. Since the book is self-published, I have the ability to either completely strike out on a cover or hit a home run. I also have the ability to update it as I see fit. Do you guys have any idea how many talented artists there are? And do you realize how many of them willingly make their work…

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My Song List

I can’t work in silence. Well, I suppose I could. The problem is that when the house is quiet my dachshunds can hear everything that happens outside. My house is not what one would call well insulated. I live in a fairly rural area, and the radio station offerings are scarce. The stations that come in the clearest are country stations. And take a guess at what my least favorite type of music is?…

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This Should Be Fun, Right?

Back in the day when the Internet Gods had just gifted us with Ceiling Cat and I was big into MySpace, I had a blog. I’d post on it, occasionally. And people read it. But then I said screw it and deleted the thing.

And yay, life was good, and the Internet Gods did rain YouTube down upon us and shove Facebook down our throats. I began writing in earnest in 2007, and even tricked a publisher into accepting my novella the following year.

And got royally screwed.

So I went a wee bit overboard and vowed to NEVER WRITE AGAIN. I had a pretty good run of it, too. I think I dedicated about seven years of my life to ignoring the need to type, write, scratch on paper, etc. Until finally, I read a book.

That itself isn’t a big deal. I devour books the way I devour candy: Double fistfuls until I’m so sick I can’t see straight. (Sexy, right?) But this book pissed me off. I mean, like blind fury.

You see, the book was very poorly written. The words were confusing, points of view were way off, and it was confusing. But it had a good plot and somewhat likable characters. I’m a big fan of self-published authors – being one myself – and I can put up with a LOT of crap for the sake of a good plot. But this… this was rough.

I made it all the way through, and was annoyed that I made it so far. So I did what any asshole with a keyboard would do, and I looked for the author bio on Amazon. And discovered that I was being a total dick.

The author had pieced this damn book together despite the fact that she was dyslexic. She was so proud of herself for actually completing her first book, something she had always wanted to do. She knew the writing wasn’t the best, and I’m pretty sure she expected the snarky and hurtful comments. Despite that, she published it anyway.

This woman, who had to struggle to get her ideas out of her head and onto the page on a daily basis, had done that. And she was pretty prolific too. I read my way through more of her books, and the second was better. By the fourth I realized that she had found a fair editor who helped her make the book flow better. And she kept chucking ideas out there.

I was furious at myself. This woman, who had so many obstacles, followed her dreams and put her art out there. I, by contrast, got burned once and refused to write again. I was mad at the time I wasted and the ideas I ignored. I finally put together an outline, and slowly Mia, Isabel, and Luke popped into existence.

I’m so glad I came across the-author-who-shall-remain-nameless. She reminded me that shit happens, and you just roll with it and keep going. I finally finished my first Otherkin book, decided to self-publish to avoid another publishing house nightmare, and even though there’s a massive learning curve to being a self-published author, I’m kinda liking it.

I’ve started this blog to capture the progress I’m making in the sequel, Enter the Demon. I’d like to post updates, ask readers their opinions on certain things, and perhaps catch a beta reader or two later on when the book is near completion. Because I love beta readers.

Also, I complain a fair bit. And I cuss like a sailor. I’ll probably post random things too. Sorry about that.

This should be fun!