Book Release Announcement

 Harmony Ridge is getting its Wild Western backstory! When a powerful Gold Baron arranges a marriage, can the bride and groom find happiness? And when a sharp shooter with a grudge gets on the loose, will they even be able to survive?

Follow my here or on Instagram for upcoming news and previews!

Leaving Twitter & Writing Updates

 I just wanted to let you all know that I deleted my Twitter account tonight. That makes this blog my only form of social media. 

Drafting of my third Harmony Ridge Romance is underway. My plan for the series is to subtly dip in and out of different contemporary romance subgenres and book three is going to be a thriller romance! It is making for a fun change of pace.

Stay tuned for a release date for Book Two.

 

Moving Forward

After my amazing book launch for A Blueprint for Hope, I've made some decisions about how I would like to move forward in my writing.

Firstly, I will minimize my time spent on Twitter. What was at one time a wonderful app for connecting writers and readers has devolved into a numbers game and a pissing contest. I don't believe that readers find novels through Twitter. 

As to the Writing Community, you can imagine how dismayed I felt when I shared the happy news of my book launch, only to find a thread of other writers ripping me apart. Apparently, they decided to take the screenshots that I shared as an invitation to criticize a book they had never read and a marketing strategy I never shared. My goal in posting the screenshots was to thank my audience and to encourage other indie authors on their publishing journeys. I never wanted to make anyone feel badly about their own novels. I decided not to engage with the thread, but reading the nasty comments has soured me to the platform for now. I am not going to delete my account at this time. However, I will be removing the app from my phone. I will use Twitter only to share writing and publishing updates in the future.

My time is limited and I have decided to devote more of it to this blog and to writing my new novels. 

I think good things are coming and I will do my best to keep you all updated. As always, thank you for your years of support! 

10 Artifacts that Prove Vikings Weren't Savages

Pop culture perception of the Vikings is that of a savage people, unsophisticated and unusually violent, raping, pillaging, and razing their way across Europe. They were dirty, feral conquerors in horned helmets. Their only advantage was that of genetic size and strength. As they used it to destroy gentler, more sophisticated societies, the world was set back to the dark ages, shrouded in fear and haunted by lost civilization. Their history was written by their enemies. Their truth, recorded in Sagas and buried away in artifacts a thousand years old, tells a different tale.

Image Credit: National Museums Scotland

10. Balance Scales

Although Vikings may be best known for what they plundered, sets of early Scandinavian scales prove that they also paid for goods. Silver was the primary money of the day, although gold and other precious metals were also used in trade. Whether formed into coins, jewelry, or ingots, the metals were valued by weight, rather than demarcation. Large numbers of Islamic coins were brought into Scandinavian countries only to be melted into hack silver. So important was the weight of metals, that one merchant who lived his last days in Kiloran Bay on Colonsay in the Inner Hebrides chose to be buried with his scales. Weapons and ornaments from his homeland in Scandinavia surrounded his body, but cradled closest to him, between his knees and head, rest his splendid set of bronze scales along with seven engraved, lead weights. (1)

I Wrote an Outline

That may not seem like an unusual thing for an author to do, but I'm a "pantster". That means, I store all of my book information in my head, write multiple novels at once, often completely out of order, and then fix any errors later. It is chaotic, but it has always worked for me.

As you may have noticed from my last post, I've made it a goal to publish a romance novel. Genre romance is actually more complex than it seems on the service. The list of "must haves' in the novels are lengthy, and readers have certain expectations that have to be met. These include specific beats the writer needs to hit at specific points in the story. So, this week I actually sat down and outlined the entire novel. It's not a complex outline, but it's an outline.

I also drew a character Venn diagram. Crazy? Perhaps a little. I needed to map out exactly what my characters had in common and what their opposing traits are. That way, I can keep the push and pull of their story genuine. I've assigned each character a color season so that I can consistently maintain the image they project. When writing a 50,000 word novel, the author really has to keep things tight. 

My other goal for 2019 is to get my writing organized and I think this is a great start. I know what scenes, major emotions, and atmospheres I need to hit when and I think I can do that without the story feeling forced.

Scrivener is continuing to be a huge help in getting my work to higher standard.

I have also started a writers journal. As you already know, I work full time. That means I need to use my downtime wisely if I want to keep up with my novels, my social media, and the occasional freelance work I do. The fact is that I simply need to write more. Keeping a journal and pen handy for ideas, story-boards, and even writing rough drafts should help me with that.
  

The Best Rejection I Ever Got

Rejections. They suck.

Yet, writers learn to thrive on them. With each new letter or email blandly stating that, "your work does not fit our current publishing needs" we train ourselves to feel that at least we've tried. Some writers even turn these rejections into badges of honor, keeping thick, but neat file folders full of disappointments.

Once in a while, though, you receive that constructive criticism for which you've longed. You get to finally have the reason for the rejection explained to you. You get some hope.

I did.

I sent a submission to Harlequin. I waited. I expected the standard rejection. Instead, I received a multi-paragraph response specific to my novel. This email took a great deal of time and effort. I believe it will help me in the future. If I could personally thank the person who wrote it, I would.

I know you want to know what I did wrong. I'll tell you. After all, the online writing community is all about aiding each other. I am happy to share my mistakes if it can aid a fellow writer. So, here it goes.

I don't know that it would be wrong to share the actual email, but since I haven't been given direct permission, these notes are paraphrased.

The Gates of Nottingham Free on Kindle

I am excited to announce that from 7/13/17 to 7/17/17, my medieval action/adventure novel The Gates of Nottingham will be FREE on Kindle. Get your copy while the promotion lasts!

Please remember that an honest review is one of the best payments you can give an author. I hope you enjoy.

A Novel Half Edited, A Novel Half Written

I haven't updated this blog with anything personal in a while, so I wanted to let you know what has been going on with my writing.

My contemporary romance novel is undergoing a final edit. I am moving the setting to the Sierra Nevada foothills, to a fictional area inspired by the by the towns of Rough and Ready and Penn Valley. The novel touches on fictional issues of nepotism, gossip, and abuse of power in a small town, but is not meant to reflect any person, people, or behaviours of those in government in either of these real towns. As I say, the story line is entirely fictional.

I wanted to reflect the natural beauty of the area and the slower pace of life which conflicts with the protagonists' experiences in LA and San Francisco. I believe that when most people think of California, they picture sunny beaches and movie stars, but that is really such a small part of the state.

I live in a gold rush area, filled with redwoods and pines, scarred by the strip mines, and fed by an abundance of lakes and rivers. This is a place where you may lose cell phone reception, where you can still get lost, where you can hide out in the hills and avoid contact with other people if you chose. It is a place where you can go fishing, boating, or hiking just ten or fifteen minutes from home. There is one sandwich shop in town and one small grocery store. Costco is an hour's drive. It might take even longer if your neighbor happens to be herding cattle up your street or driving a tractor to a friend's house to lend a hand.

I think this unique setting will be of interest to readers and will certainly influence my characters.

As to the novel half-written, I have reached a point where I need to do some serious research to plot the second half. I have not fully researched the War for Independence at this point because inspiration struck and I wanted to get the main plot on paper while it was strong in my head. The war affects the characters and exists in the background, but this is not a war novel. It is the story of a group of people attempting to do what is right, stumbling, disagreeing, and creating anguish in the process. It is about compromise, forgiveness, and respect. So, while I will be learning more about the setting, this is definitely a character-driven novel. I hope to finish it soon.

Let me know if you like these updates and I will post more. You can also follow me on Twitter for tidbits on my writing struggles and triumphs.

Prince Dead: A Note on History

Just a reminder… Prince Dead is still on sale for $.99 on Amazon. As always, it is free to read for members of Kindle Unlimited and you can preview the novel here.

Note: This post is a re-print of the Forward from the novel which explains the decisions behind the presentation of some of the minor historical points. If you are considering purchasing, I hope this helps.

Author’s Note

The Vikings are a people whose history has been much clouded in legend, forgotten in time, warped by their enemies, and twisted in popular culture. Even their name, the Vikings, is incorrect to their people as it stems from the Old Norse word Vikingr, meaning freebooter, sea-rover, or pirate. Not all Vikings were pirates. Most were farmers, landowners, and craftsmen, but it is the few great seamen and the warriors who ravaged foreign lands whom are best remembered.

Gokstad Ship

Among our sources of knowledge about the Scandinavian people of the eighth to eleventh century are the rare rune stones. These give us records written in the actual period. However, they are scarce and, unlike other ancient languages, there is no Rosetta Stone to help in their deciphering. In fact, it would seem that what is recorded on many of these stones is street directions, which indicates that the majority of the population was literate, but tells us little else.

Detail from Oseberg Ship

We also have pieces recovered from archaeological digs. Among the most famous of these are the Oseberg Ship and the Gokstad Ship. Though they are only two of many vessels which have been unearthed, they are the most well-preserved, having been buried in clay. From these and other finds, archaeologists know that by the ninth century Viking ships had undergone vast improvements as compared to their earlier counterparts and were built for specific purposes. Some were large, robust vessels, equipped with sails and built for the open seas. Others were slim, fast war ships, wherein rows took the place of importance. There is even evidence of ships which seem to be built specifically for cargo.

Prince Dead: The Setting

Just a reminder… Prince Dead is still on sale for $.99 on Amazon. As always, it is free to read for members of Kindle Unlimited.

Once I had a character outline for my hero, I knew I needed to decide on the setting of the novel. My Viking would be invading… somewhere… sometime. I just needed to know where and when. I turned once again to my copy of The Oxford Illustrated History of the Vikings.

According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, on June 8, 793 AD, “the ravages of heathen men miserably destroyed God’s church on Lindisfarne, with plunder and slaughter”. Subsequent raids in England between the late 8th century and the first half of the 9th century were sporadic and seemingly unorganized. After that, however, the attacks intensified until in 869, the Vikings killed King Edmund and conquered East Angles.

I wanted to set the novel within this time frame, when the Viking were known and feared in the British aisles, but before they gained a true stronghold. I was not sure, however, that I wanted the novel set in England. That story, it seemed to me, had been told.

Between 795 AD and 824 AD the Vikings attacked Rechru, Innis Patraic, Do Chonna, Inishmurray, Roscam, Ulaid, Clew Bay, Howth, Cork, Skellig, and Etgal. They plundered, killed, razed monasteries and villages, and kidnapped women for hostages and slaves. From thence forward, the attacks in Ireland only intensified, just as they had done in England.

I personally never knew much about this and I suppose it is because, in an ironic turn of events, American students are generally given English history almost as their own prior to Christopher Columbus arriving in North America. We focus on English history, I suppose, for the simple reason that we can read it. So, while I was vaguely aware that the Vikings had raided throughout the British Aisles, Ireland was not the first place that jumped to my imagination when I thought of Viking invasions.

For this reason, I decided to set the novel in Ireland. It fit just enough with people’s preconceived notions (Americans’ at least), but would offer a bit of a fresh take. So, half my characters and my hero were to be Vikings. Now, I decided the heroine and the other half of the characters were to be Irish.

Prince Dead: The Inspiration for a Viking

In honor of the $.99 promotion I am currently running on Amazon for my Viking adventure novel Prince Dead, I would like to share a little bit about my inspiration for it.

I had known for some time that I wanted to write something set in the Viking era, though I did not know what. So, I had tinkered around with some research to understand the Viking age and the customs of it's people. I knew that the pop culture image of horned-helmet wearing, blood swilling, culture-lacking barbarians was not based in reality. Not even the name we call them, The Vikings, is accurate. Vikingr described the raiders, adventurers, and conquerors who traveled the seas and rivers in pursuit of fame and fortune. To call all Nordic people of this period Vikings is like calling all Europeans in the 18th century pirates.

When I wrote the novel, I knew I wanted to portray a more accurate, rounded image of these people and their cultures, though much of their history is shrouded in mystery. I also knew I would probably write about a raider, a true Vikingr for the simple reason that, like most people, they captured my imagination. The trouble was, I had no idea for a general plot line.

Authors get their ideas in myriad ways and this one came to me in the form of a single picture. I was never a fan of HBO's True Blood. I think I watched half an episode once. One day, however, I happened upon an image of Alexander Skarsgard as vampire / Viking Eric and, for whatever reason, a character started to form in my head.

The character I wanted to write was born to his bloody profession. He did not choose it. He was a quiet man who led a hard life, full of loss and misery. His fate seemed to him to be predestined. He felt he was living on borrowed time.

Further research helped me better sketch the character. The Nordic countries in the Viking age were generally politically turbulent, ruled by clans rather than kings, and plagued with blood feuds and invasions. There were, however, some united kingdoms, and a few great kings. To write about a common man would not provide that feeling of fate to the character, but to write about a noble king or a prince seemed too tediously cliche.

Yngvarr would be the son a a great king, but the disposable son. Nowhere close to being in direct line for the throne, he would be the black sheep of the family, the one they sent to lead the troops into battle when they could not surrender but knew there was no hope of victory. He was raised to serve his family and did so with pride and single-minded determination. The brutality of his era, his military training, and his unwavering loyalty made him ruthless, uncaring, and wary in many ways. He would be a bit of a dark hero, a man whom very few knew well.

At last I had a general sketch for my hero. Now, I needed my setting and my heroine.

The Gates of Nottingham, Trials and Tribulation

In honor of my week long book blowout, I am bringing you the first of my posts wherein I discuss the actual process of writing the novels which are now free on kindle. This post is about The Gates of Nottingham and tomorrow's will be about So Many Secrets.


****When I started writing The Gates of Nottingham, I did not have a plan. I had a few scenes in my head, some major plot points, and vivid images that I wanted to incorporate into the text. As a result of that ,  the original drafts were quite a mess.

I ended up with mountain of pages that did not make it into the novel available now. The story was originally meant to follow King Richard from his prison in Austrian and on through his journey back to England. I had thought that it would be an interesting subplot, but found in the end that it detracted from the Robin Hood story by pulling the reader's concentration from an already character-laden plot. This was a seventy page cut and I was not even done with it yet when I decided to pull it. All in all, I would say that over two hundred pages were gleaned out during early edits, before I had even written the ending.

Likewise, the characters were a work in progress from their early forms. The original draft of the first hundred pages contained a shy, somewhat passive Robin Hood whose hand was forced by fate. In the end, I found that having events leading the plot rather than characters resulted in a weak story, so Robin had to be changed.

An omniscent narration was given up to give each scene from one character's perspective only. This resulted in a patch work of actions, knowledge, and ideas that allowed the novel more depth. By the mid-point, all of my character's schemes were falling into plot points like dominos and the second half of the novel turned into an easily written, action packed ride.

I froze out right before writing the climax of the novel, the last bloody battle scene. With nearly five hundred pages written, I got scared. I had done so much research into the weaponry and battle techniques of the era that I found myself unable to pick what information to use. Meanwhile, each of the warriors had their own unique fighting style that had to be incorporated. My panic (or as I like to call it- strategizing) lasted over two months. I mapped it out, watched medieval movies, and edited the work I had. Sir Guy's fate changed a dozen times if it changed once, as did each detail of the scene from the weather to the arson to the crossbows.

Finally, with one song playing over and over in a loop through my ear phones, I wrote the thirty page climax in four hours. I felt that to stop even for lunch would stop my pace in the most important scene in the novel. This was where I wanted it to shine. When all of the lies and intrigues stopped and enemies were forced to at last meet honestly and face to face.

That was not the final ending in the journey of writing this novel. While I will not spoil the ending, I will tell you that it was re-written just a month before the release. And yes, the novel was edited again and again until I could not stand to read it anymore.

So, I bring it to you now, the result of over two years of work for free this week. It was my earliest writing and my baby, the writing journey to which all the rest have to compare themselves. For me, it was a wonderful experience and I hope it will be for you as well.

Being Spastic, Listening to Country Music, Watching TV

I've mentioned before that I can be a rather scattered worker. Since I sent off Prince Dead to Mills and Boon, I have not had a clear direction in which to work. I can't work on the sequel until I know which version of the original I will use, so I have basically been playing. I’ve written 70 pages each for two different projects and 30 pages for a third one and am now deciding which one I’m really invested in at this point. That’s right; I could have 180 pages written on one novel right now if I had stuck to one topic! This is another reason I'm considering pursuing traditional publishing again. Deadlines actually excite and motivate me.

I’ve mentioned before that I obsessively listen to music while I write and lately I’ve latched onto country music. Though I spent my formative years in the middle of nowhere, raised pretty much any animal you can name, preserved 200 pounds of fruit a year, and spun my own wool, I’ve never been interested in the country scene. Mainstream music is just so intolerable right now that I’m branching out. Honestly, I’m kind of obsessed with George Strait, which probably means all three of my books will be sad. Also, Jake Owen’s hair is my hero. If you have a current country favorite, please let me know so I can e-stalk them.

There, now that I’ve given an update, I’m going to crowd-source my next move. Do you think it would be a good idea for me to re-brand So Many Secrets as purely a romance novel? That’s what it is at its heart anyway, and I’ve noticed that fiction which fits strongly into genre categories is the only thing that seems to sell for indie authors. I’m considering re-writing descriptions to change the focus, designing a new cover which will probably feature a standard topless male photo, and then running a massive free promo with the help of a packet of advertising sites another author sent me. Does this sound like a good idea? 

I’ve been letting marketing slip lately because no amount of work seems to increase sales, so I feel like I need to do something drastically different. I only wish I had written one Druid or magic sword into Nottingham so that I could brand it as fantasy. 

Next week, I’ll be talking about The History Channel’s new fictional series Vikings (which btw is branding itself as fantasy when it has no element of that so far). How could I not talk about that show? Please tell me you’ve been watching it!

Published

It’s been a little hectic in my writer’s brain lately. I had a massive crisis of confidence which put me on hold for a while. Then there was Christmas and I got two different colds. So, nothing much has been happening. However, as a result of my massive freak-out, I did re-write the ending of The Gates of Nottingham. This cut 20 pages from the book, which is good because it was too long anyway.

Long story short, last night I uploaded to Smashwords. I made up my mind that I’m at a fish or cut bait place right now. Either I should quit talking about publishing and decide that I’m a horrible writer or I should just do it and see what happens. I need to trust my own opinions, and my opinion is that this is a good book. Is it absolutely the best book ever? No. I worked very hard on it though, and it is better than probably 80% of the professionally published slush I read on a daily basis. Of course everyone will have different tastes. Some people will love it and some people will hate it. Some people will be in between. I need to get it out there for my own sake, though.

I would do things differently now, but I think that, in a way, our writing is a time capsule. I was in a different place in my life when I wrote The Gates of Nottingham. My feelings were different and so was my writing style. I am a hyper-critical person and if I don’t just say enough is enough, this will never happen for me.

So it’s out there now. It is available on Smashwords here and has already had 10 samples downloaded since last night which is exciting. It is still sitting in the vetting process, so it isn’t available through any of Smashword’s distributers yet, but in a month’s time it ought to be available from Sony, Apple, Barnes and Noble, etc. I just finished uploading to Kindle and that should take 2-3 days before I get the green light. Then it will be available on Amazon.

At the moment, I am struggling to figure out what to do for a PDF for the CreateSpace version. I really don’t want to buy Adobe, but I’m not finding a way out of it.   

POV and Narrative Voice

The summer when I was fifteen, I was obsessed with Robert Ludlum. I never read the Bourne novels, oddly enough. It was his earlier novels, purchased for a quarter a piece at a thrift store that caught me. Having devoured three of his books in as many weeks, I went to an actual book store to buy a fourth. I can’t remember the name of it now, but I flipped it open with eager anticipation. Using my “give a novel 100 pages before you give up on it” rule, I plodded through the messy opening acts. Not only was it a bad book, but I was convinced within twenty pages that it wasn’t Robert Ludlum at all. Once my required pages were up, I did a quick internet search and found that it was, in fact, not Robert Ludlum but a ghost writer.

Authors like Ludlum, Stephen King, and (to cite an entirely different genre) Debbie MacComber have recognizable narrative voices. The same thing happened to me recently with King, and I think it was five pages before I realized that I was not reading his work. To me, that’s impressive, not because I’m a great reader, but because these writers have such a strong platform/market/brand/narration, whatever you want to call it, that a reader can tell almost instantly when it is not them.

So, how does an aspiring writer, sitting in her bedroom wearing pajamas after work hope to accomplish the same thing? Narration is a tricky business. Gone are the days when heavy-handed treatment of prose was in vogue. Writers these days don’t have the luxury of the witty and introspective asides that made Austen, Dickens, and Twain the oft-quote authors they are now. Instead, we are there without being noticeable. We wear black to the party instead of scarlet. However, we are still at the party. In fact, we are the host.

I think a great deal of this demands a reliance on instinct. We think and speak in our own way and that rolls over to our writing. However, once we have a “style” we must begin to put in an effort to control and maintain it. In my first novel, which was written in third person omniscient, I had a couple of long passages of beautiful, descriptive prose which had to be cut because it just didn’t work with the rest of the narrative. Likewise, in my more recent novel, I sometimes became too authoritative when the novel was written from the perspective of a meek, insecure heroine. I’ve just started my third book and I’m having a deal of a time tempering my own voice with that of the first person POV of the hero. It will work out, I’m convinced, but it’s difficult right now.

As an interesting aside, most of the people who didn’t know me and edited my first book, a medieval action/adventure, were convinced I was a man. They were shocked to find an eighteen year old girl behind the prose. Why I apparently write like a man is anybody’s guess, but nobody complained, so I don’t worry about it.

As a writer, how have you found your voice? Or, if you write in first person, how do you balance that with your voice?   

Could John Wayne be Famous Today?

Or Modern Ideals in Historical Fiction

John Wayne was the ultimate man’s man. He could wrangle a thousand head of cattle alone, draw quicker than any man in the west, out gamble his foes, and set ladies’ hearts aflutter all with a steely gaze and a laconic manner. He was Hollywood’s manifestation of a nation’s ideals of what a man should be and modern audiences still vote him one of the top 10 favorite actors every year. He is an institution. Imagine, though, if John Wayne was a young man now and Hollywood was pushing him at us in 2011 the same way that they pushed him in the Golden Age.

            Disaster.

            A modern film could never portray its hero dragging his wife brutishly through a muddy field as Wayne did in The Quiet Man. Imagine if the summer’s big blockbuster showed its hero spanking his wife with a coal shovel as Wayne did in McClintock. I think Hollywood would not only have created the biggest flop of all time (assuming that this last was not a bondage film because pop culture LOVES that sort of thing) but many people would be losing their jobs in a hurry and young John Wayne would be the symbol of the enemy of a social crusade.

            However, we continue to watch these old movies. We continue to love John Wayne. This brings me to my query: how much of old attitudes is a modern audience willing to tolerate?

            I write historical fiction, so this question is of particular interest to me. How do I write a story at least semi-realistically set in the 1400’s or the 1100’s while still garnering audience empathy for my characters? If I made my heroes bigots, racists, and sexists, nobody would like them. However, that is just what the majority of men would have been in those times. They weren’t necessarily evil men. They were products of their time, just as we are products of ours. I am convinced that future generations will look back on us and think how ignorant we were and how wrong and damaging some of the institutions that drive our culture were.  

            I’ve veered from my topic, though. How do I create an atmosphere where my female characters are respected so as not to alienate modern women, but where they are not running around in breeches, shooting guns, and swearing, making themselves completely unbelievable and thereby causing my readers to set down the books as I have done with so many novel? I suppose that one device that I and many others writers rely on is putting old-fashioned notions into the heads of supporting characters, but not as much in the main characters. This creates an atmosphere of reality, while allowing sympathy with the hero and heroine.

            One instance in my latest novel that I have greatly debated in my own mind is a line toward the end, where my hero tells his wife (and I am abridging this here), “It’s different for you. You are a woman. Women are meant to be protected.” A modern woman might rankle at this notion, but it is quite a natural one to the era and to this particular character. His wife does not argue the idea with him, further nailing shut the coffin I have created for myself. Have I insulted my readers? I don’t know, but I cannot write characters so modern that it pulls one out of the setting.

            This brings me back to John Wayne. If men and women can still watch his movies and overlook the differences between the heroes that he portrayed and, say, Edward Cullen, can they overlook the relatively few instances where I have chosen history over our own times? It’s a delicate balance. Maybe if Wayne’s movies weren’t so darn entertaining nobody would watch them. Maybe if a part of our society was not still rooted in the past, nobody would watch them. I don’t know.

            What I do know is that I can drown out the screaming feminist in my mind and enjoy watching The Quiet Man. Can you?   



Introduction

Hello All!

Welcome to a brand new blog by a brand new author. As I write this, my contacts in the internet world are pretty slim, but I hope to make plenty of new friends and network, network, network.

So, since I can't talk about you and this is an introduction, let me tell you a little about myself. When I was sixteen I decided that I could write a novel. After all, other people do it all the time and if Stephen King and J.K. Rowling could be millionaires, why couldn't I? Ah... the ignorance / arrogance of youth. But, I did it! It took me two years to get a first rough (very, very rough) draft. A year of editing followed. Then there was the year of queries. I can proudly show off thirty-two rejections letters. Bruised, but not broken eh? Hope appeared about eight months ago when I got this close to a deal with Penguin, but it fell apart.

What had I been doing in the meantime? Writing, of course. I now have a catalogue of two historical fiction novels and five screenplays. Did I forget to mention that I wanted to be a screenwriter for a while? Well, I'm kind of over that now. What I do want to do is learn everything there is to know about self publishing, e-books, and social media. My goal is that by this time next year, I can release my first novel in paperback and in ebook format.

We mustn't talk buisness all the time, though. You can expect book reviews, films reviews, random rants about things that annoy me, contests, and maybe even some lolcats over the next year while you follow me on my path to publication.

I think we're in for a good ride. If you're a writer extraordinaire with advice, a marketing guru with a tip, or if you just love costume drama and romance as much as I do, comment. As much as I could talk to myself all day (and sometimes do) I'd love a chat.