A huge part of publishing a book is promotion. If researching a story is a rabbit hole, creating promo material is a black hole. There is an entire universe of options, and it is far too easy to get sucked into each one and lose hours, sometimes days. Here is my latest creation. I made many versions in Canva* before settling on this one. For those of you doing your own promo (which falls on most writers nowadays, independently and traditionally published), I highly recommend Deposit Photos* for your photos. They have great sale packages, so keep an eye on their site, or sign up for notifications. (*These referrals are based on my experience. I do not benefit from recommending them.) 

When you chase your dreams, you begin to live your dreams. —Scot McKnight

Brace yourself. Long post ahead.

My team…

It’s a big day in our house any time one of my books gets published. But, today feels even bigger because I see SPOTLIGHT as “our” book, not just mine. This baby has been handled only by Keev and me, with some help thrown in from my dear friend and beta reader, Jayne. Keev and I will be raising a glass of Zanatta bubbly later today to celebrate our collective efforts.🥂

Our tasks…

I wrote the story. I revised the story. I edited the story. Then, Keev took it on and, let me tell you, he is one hard editor. I had to come back at it several times before Jayne read it. And Jayne is eagle-eyed too, even when handed a formatting nightmare of a book.

Ugh, formatting. It made the writing and editing seem like a cakewalk. Learning how to format for eBook wasn’t too bad. For paperback? Ahhhhhhh. But, after much wailing and gnashing of teeth, I learned how to create different margins on alternating pages, how to block text so that there were more than five words on a line, how to drop the first letter of the opening word of chapters, and how to stop numbering pages when it was a new chapter. I have a copy of the paperback, and I’m very pleased with the look.

I also designed the cover. Learning what I needed to purchase for licensing was the easiest part. Designing it so that it was both eye-catching and fit all of the criteria of formatting was a challenge. Although, it was a much more pleasurable challenge than the interior text. From this, all graphic promos are built…another task that is mine alone. And, I won’t talk about uploading, timing paperback and eBook, meta data, creating advertising spread—which is waiting approval because it has the word “sexy” in it. 🤦‍♀️ I’m still wiping at my tears.

What I learned…

I love my publisher, Dragonblade, and have a huge appreciation for all of the work they do. I look forward to working with them again (news on the horizon). It’s doubtful I’ll go the self-publishing route again, but I’m glad I tried it. The learning curve was steep but definitely rewarding. Oh, and for the record, those who are not concerned about having a paperback copy but purchase one to support me, I make more on eBooks. So, buy that eBook guilt free! Reviews do make a difference too, so if you can bring yourself to drop by Amazon and star it (honestly) and/or say a few words, that would be greatly appreciated.🙏

Back to the story itself…

I have already mentioned that this book is not about me, but has pieces of me. Those who know me will recognize my passion for lyric writing and performing. It was a thrill to write song lyrics for the book. I dream of putting them to music. (What do you think Aldo? Jay? Wouldn’t that be a hoot? Pity neither of you live close to me anymore.)

Folks will also recognize my experience from 17 years in the hospitality industry. I know waitressing and bartending inside out and upside down. I can hear the kitchen orders, see the serving shelf, and smell the cruddy little staff room. I also remember well the orchestrated dance of busy servers. It’s a job. It’s a strategy game. It’s hard work. As for the school and learning disability scenes, it goes without saying, I have a bit of insider knowledge on those.😉

Finally, yes finally—I warned you it was going to be a long post—everyone knows that I believe in dreaming, big or small, and in chasing those dreams. I have done it my whole life. May I never stop. May you never stop.

Thank you for supporting me in my endless chase. It means more than I can truly express. 💕

US: http://amazon.com/dp/B0C3Z47XGZ

CA: http://amazon.ca/dp/B0C3Z47XGZ

UK:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C3Z47XGZ

DE:  https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0C3Z47XGZ

 

One Starfish at a Time

My latest YA novel, Spotlight, is not remotely about me, yet has so much of me in it. It is definitely more connected to who I was, who I am, and my life experiences than my other three YA novels.

I had two teachers who made such a difference in my sense of self that I am convinced they changed the trajectory of my life. Autumn, the main character in Spotlight, is also fortunate to have one of those special educators. I had such great pleasure writing that teacher through Autumn’s lens.

Those in the educational field do not often get to see the impact they have on the future of their students. And some days it’s tough for them to believe that what they do is worth the sleepless nights. But, it is the faith that they can somehow make a difference that drives the great ones. I always thought this short adaptation, called The Starfish, captured that perfectly. The boy’s words became my mantra as a teacher and as a principal, so it’s not entirely surprising that the concept has found its way into my writing.

I look forward to you meeting Autumn and seeing her special relationship with her music teacher. Here’s to all the educators who pick up starfish every day.

Coming June 1st! Available for preorder now.

Someone asked me what the most difficult thing about having a dog was. I replied – the goodbye. – Unknown

I began to take my writing seriously about fifteen years ago. Around the same time we got two little Lhasa Apso sisters. They were inseparable, except when I wrote. Spice decided she was my muse. Wherever I wrote, Spice was beside me. I don't write at a desk. My laptop is literally on top of my lap. And my little fur muse was beside me. Always.

On February 25, I said goodbye to my writing buddy. As anyone who has ever loved a fur baby knows, it is an incredibly hard thing to do. She was an integral part of our lives for fifteen years. My logical side knows that fifteen years is a good long life for a little pup, but my heart wishes it could have been a little longer.

I have written since. It took me a few days to face the empty couch. But I have managed to put words down and finish the first draft of the third novel in my Honorable Intentions series. I've also completed developmental edits on book two as well as cover copy and tag lines. It's been hard, but I've pushed through.

It seems she was not my muse so much as my life coach. She taught me how to laugh daily, to see joy in simple things, to stop and pay attention to one another. To be present in the moment. She brought out a maternal instinct in me that I would have sworn did not exist. As her health began to fail these past two years, her care became a top priority. We rearranged our lives around her needs because that's what you do for someone you love. And love? Boy, did she teach me about love. Spice reminded me, daily, that love is affectionate, demonstrative, and unconditional.

Ginger and Spice tumbled into this world together. They'd never been apart in their 15+ years of life. Spice loved all three of us. Ginger loved Spice. She is struggling to make sense of this new world where she has only the humans left. Every once in a while, she'll curl up near me. She's currently snugged in beside me, as though she knows I'm writing something challenging. She'll never be the cuddle muffin her sister was; it's simply not who she is. But, I like to think that when she joins me, she finds some comfort in my proximity. I know I do in hers. It's a start. For both of us.

RIP sweet Spice. Thank you for sharing your life with us.

Dragonblade Authors Unplugged

Check out this interview on Dragonblade Authors Unplugged. Meet the host, the lovely Evelyn Adams, and two other Dragonblade authors, then hook up with me around the 12-minute mark. (I'm the bobblehead in the bottom right corner. J)

He must shape simultaneously (in an expanding creative moment) his characters, plot, and setting, each inextricably connected to the others; he must make his whole world in a single, coherent gesture, as a potter makes a pot. ~John Gardner

I've talked about how I choose a setting and about how I track a setting. Today, I'm going to discuss how a setting isn't simply a place to drop your characters and let them run loose. For me, it's about much more than that. It provides an opportunity to enhance character development, to give insight into why a character is who they are without explicitly telling the reader. I think of it as backup information to help explain a character's behaviour.

Nicholas Sinclair is the second son to a wealthy nobleman, an earl. While he was never meant to inherit the title, he did grow up in comfort with the advantages that come with money. Independent and sure of himself, he sought to become his own man and joined the army.

Catherine Baring is the only daughter of a baron who lives on the neighbouring property. She is comfortable with men, having grown up with only her brother and father in her home, and, of course, the neighbouring Sinclair boys. Yet, she is not rough and tumble. She is graceful, refined, and exudes a caring and warmth.

What does setting have to do with their character descriptions? Everything.

Both Nicholas and Catherine grew up without a mother's love. While Nicholas and his brother were left in the care of servants, Catherine's father took an active role in her upbringing. Nicholas can be cold and standoffish and easy to anger, whereas Catherine is patient and all-loving. Nicholas' home, Woodfield Park, is a massive building with clean impersonal aesthetic lines. Its rooms are big, its pillars intimidating, and it is cold.

Catherine's home, Stratton Hall, is a medium-sized manse, with smaller rooms, and the warmth of wood panelling of years gone by. In stark contrast to the austere marble décor that greets you in the entrance hall of Woodfield Park, Stratton Hall has a huge fireplace, a well-used table and a wall of taxidermy that adds personality to the room. (I know, yuck, but it was a thing. I decided to think of it as bringing nature indoors.)

Nicholas's father is often found in his private set of rooms away from the rest of the house. Catherine's father is usually in his library which is just off the main entrance hall. Can you guess who of the two is the more accessible emotionally?

Nothing reflects the differences in their childhood homes more than the entrances. I'll use the pictures of two very real estates and quotes from Love Denied to demonstrate it.

Entrance at Willey Hall

The vastness of the atrium mirrored his sense of hollow, his heels clicking on the floor as he moved to the marble stairs dominating the hall. ~Love Denied

The Hall Browsholme

The hall was not a grand entrance but a serviceable room, its high-beamed ceiling echoing voices of days long ago. She laid her hat on the weathered table, its etched surface testimony to the many meals that had been eaten on it once upon a time. ~Love Denied

So, the next time you read a novel, consider the setting. Maybe it will fill in some valuable information.

Remember, just because you're writing fiction doesn't mean that you can ignore facts. It is those details that make fiction compelling and, in many cases, very real for the reader. ~ Roy A. Teel Jr.

One of the difficulties for me as a writer is keeping track of the minutiae, the small things that should remain unnoticed but, if inconsistent, will throw a reader out of the story. Is it a desk or a table in the library? Is the settee facing the fireplace or perpendicular to it? Are the servants' quarters downstairs or in the west wing? Is the dining room to the left or the right down the hallway?

Over time, as I write, this knowledge becomes ingrained. But, when I begin, I am too focussed on character development and plot lines to hold onto all of those miniscule details. So, in advance, I draw a plan of the house. I sketch it out, designate rooms, and add necessary details to them as I go along. It helps me maintain continuity and, as an added bonus, it makes the world I am creating even more real.

Ground Floor of Woodfield Park

Upper Floor of Woodfield Park

Ground Floor of Stratton Hall

“This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.” – Richard III, Shakespeare

I've been getting a lot of questions lately about my writing process. Do I know my story when I begin to write? (Somewhat)  Are the characters based on real people? (Sometimes) How do you know all that "stuff?" (Research)

Those are the easy answers. Of course, writing, like life, is far more complex and so much more interesting and fun than those one-word answers. So, I thought I'd share a few insights to my approach to historical romance over the next little while.

LOVE DENIED is set in rural England during the Regency era—1812 to be more precise. I love looking at old houses near and far, so it was no hardship to root around in books and the internet looking for inspiration for my setting. When I came across Willey Park in an old book, I knew instantly that I had found the perfect place to land my story.

It has the majestic structural opulence of the new architecture of the times married with the sweeping grandeur of old-world bucolic land holdings. The story is founded on old-world values clashing with new-world ideals, so this combination was exactly what I needed.

Now, I write fiction, so of course I could not use Willey Park, but its inspiration breathed life into my own world. My characters roam Woodfield Park, an imposing manse and property that was built long before Willey Park, which only began construction in 1813. However, Woodfield Park does include an addition that happens to be designed and built by the same master architect who built Willey Park, the talented Lewis Wyatt. In my far-too-fertile imagination, I like to think that Wyatt practiced the Neo-classical style on Woodfield Park before moving on to Shropshire to build Willey Park.

Check out Modern-Day Willey Park

https://www.historichouses.org/house/willey-park/tours/