One of the best things you can do for yourself as a writer is to join a writing group or workshop. The people you meet can offer fresh perspectives on your writing and help you evolve in your genre and beyond. Not only is it great to have another set of eyes look over your […]
Yes, the Radford Reads Festival had the expected panels, speakers, and workshops (which I’ll get to soon), but it had so much more–just ask any of the attendees who came for the classic cars. . . . . . or the blacksmithing, music, quilters, or Civil War reenactors. There were crafters selling soaps, lotions, jewelry, […]
Yesterday I finished reading the fifth book in Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series—The Fiery Cross—for the second time. This is the one that begins in 1770, with Clare, Jamie, et al., in North Carolina—embroiled in the War of Regulation, early conflicts preceding the Revolutionary War. As with all the Gabaldon novels, it is an intriguing blend […]
I’m excited that Virginia is for Mysteries: Volume II is available! You can find it at your bookstore of choice. (Barnes & Noble is releasing the book later this month.) IndieBound Amazon Barnes & Noble Books-A-Million I’m honored to have my story “War and Murder at Nimrod Hall” in the anthology. My story is set at historic Nimrod […]
The anthology of nineteen short stories, set in and around the Commonwealth, features Virginia landmarks and locations such as Virginia Wine Country, the Poe Museum, Luray Caverns, Colonial Williamsburg, the Great Dismal Swamp, Nimrod Hall (my story!), the Barter Theater, and Mill Mountain, to name a few. Visit VirginiaIsForMysteries.com to learn more. The stories transport […]
I’m excited to share that Virginia is for Mysteries, Volume II is available for preorder. The collection includes my story “War and Murder at Nimrod Hall” and stories by a talented group of authors. This is a sequel to “Death Comes to Hollywood Cemetery,” which appears in Virginia Is For Mysteries. It follows Clara as she escapes […]
You may recall that in one of my previous blogs, I mentioned talking with writers about writing as one of the best things about a writing workshop at Nimrod. Although not as interactive, there are lots of ways to get inside writers’ heads. A writing friend sent me this link to a New York Times […]
The cyclists are coming! The cyclists are coming! Not that I am a cycling enthusiast, but any event this big piques my interest. Some weeks ago, when I first became aware of the upcoming races, I started noticing bicycles—and they are everywhere! Did you ever count how many clutches of bicycles are fastened to motor […]
I have a long history of public speaking–lectures, workshops, panel presentations-facing with a group of friends or hundreds of strangers makes no difference to me. When I can work from an outline or talking points or questions, no problem. Humorous and lively. When reading aloud in public, the problem is that it is reading! This […]
I don’t enter contests. The Sandra Brown Prize for Short Fiction was awarded for “Good Works” based on manuscripts accepted for publication that year in descant. But this spring, when the James River Writers Best Unpublished Novel Contest call for submissions came, the timing was right. I was wrapping up a manuscript I started years ago, […]