Next Generation Indie Book Award Finalist 2023 Finalist, Indie Fiction, 12th Annual Book of the Year, Chicago Writers Association, 2022 Writing can be a lonely pursuit––Will anyone ever read my book? Being a finalist in 2023 Next Generation Indie Book Awards makes me feel part of a community. My novel
The biggest news for me this year is publication of Unexpected Guests at Blackbird Lodge, a novel set in New York’s Adirondack mountains. I’m classifying it as a literary fiction/cozy mystery/romance that takes place over a week at a writers’ workshop at a lodge. Click the title on the menu for the
One could go on for pages about the similarities of birthing a book and baby: moments of delight at conception, nausea during the early stages while an idea takes hold, exciting expansion of the middle, and hours of hearing about other births or miscarriages–award winning novels and novels abandoned. Others
“Write what you know.” That’s writing advice of long standing. As one story goes, Louisa May Alcott followed this advice and wrote Little Women after a publisher pointed out her tales of lords and ladies were not authentic. I’ve been asked often if I wrote about my own family in
I was really excited to hear in May that One More Foxtrot, a tale of second chances placed first in the Books & Creative Writing category of the Woman’s Press Club of Indiana’s Communications Contest. First place entries automatically advanced to the national level contest, the National Federation of Press Women’s Communication Contest.
A book club at a nearby town asked if I would like to attend. They would read Escape from Assisted Living. Of course I was pleased and hoped I could live up to their expectations as author. No one could have asked for friendlier or better prepared readers. What surprised
The holiday season feels especially merry for me with the pleasure of One More Foxtrot, a tale of second chances being published. Betty Miles and Sharon and Vince D’Angelo, Betty’s daughter and son-in-law, were too real let go of after Escape from Assisted Living. And I really enjoyed the interest that my
After readers asked, “What’s Betty up to now?” I wondered too, and two years later I know! One More Foxtrot, a tale of second chances is finished, a sequel to Escape from Assisted Living. It’s about the year after Betty Miles’ unauthorized exit from senior living to city living. She’s
With “Singing du-wa-ditty-ditty-dum-ditty-do” in the background, I am inspired to update my website. Thank you Barbara for featuring it on the class page. It’s always sad to hear your report of the passing of classmates. Their names bring back scenes that seem like only yesterday. Here’s one I wonder if
Our local Barnes & Noble organized a full day of reading aloud of To Kill a Mockingbird the day before the release of Go Call a Watchman. Each reader read a chapter every half hour sitting in the cafe. The mic was set a a modest level so browsers could