• New Release,  Snippets

    A Sneak Peek into The First Findale Fae Mystery

    There’s still one more week before The Good Pharmacist’s Deadly Secrets is available for everyone to read. In the meantime, I thought I’d share a sneak peek at the first chapter:   CHAPTER ONE   Max, my floppy-eared cocker spaniel, stood on his hind legs and scratched excitedly at the trailer door, his blond stump of a tail wagging back and forth behind him—antics meant to remind me that I hadn’t let him out for his morning walk–as if I needed another reminder of how late I was running. I grabbed the FedEx box from my tiny kitchen table with a sigh and rushed to the door. As I reached…

  • General

    My Writer Besties

    Writing can be a lonely pursuit.  Talking to your friends and family about your work in progress is nice, and I did plenty of that, but they don’t really understand what you’re going through and eventually—although they would never say so—they get tired of hearing it. A couple of years ago I was at a spot in my writing career where I had published a few books and had made several connections with other authors at conferences and online. But I longed to connect with writers in my own backyard. To that end, I joined a local writers group, the Pocono Liars Club, which met at my local library. This…

  • Work in Progress

    Character Picture Board

    Characters are the most important element of any well-crafted story. So, not surprisingly, a lot goes into creating them. Many writers develop full histories and personality descriptions for even minor characters, including things like where they were born and details of their childhood—even though none of that information ever makes it into the story. And of course, authors need to consider the character's physical appearance. What color are their hair and eyes, what is their race? Are they short, tall, portly, skinny? Even a carefully chosen name can enhance the image the author is creating.