April has been a particularly bumpy month. My daughter came down with Covid (along with five other kids in her theater group) and I managed to tear my calf muscle a week ago, so I’m limping, taking glorified Advil from the doctor, and start physical therapy next week. Good times. Beyond that, there are some…
In celebration of Women’s History Month, let’s look at some of the best villains in historical fiction and fantasies. What what makes them so delectably evil and fun to watch? Writing villains can be tricky. The biggest pitfall I’ve run into is making my bad guy two-dimensional, or as my daughter would say, making the…
My grandmother’s people came from county Cork, Ireland during the great famine. She had red hair and a fiery temper to match it, but boy could she make you laugh. I remember every St. Patrick’s Day she’d make my brother, Dennis, and me watch the parade in New York and we kept asking where the…
Hey readers! It’s been a pretty eventfully month on my novel writing journey. Remember how I told you I submitted my manuscript to The History Quill‘s beta reader program? (A beta reader is someone who reads your book before it’s published and gives you feedback so you know if you are on the right track…
Each month I highlight a book I’m reading for my novel research or the sheer joy of getting wrapped up in a good story. Since February is Black History Month in the US, I’m listing five great books by Black authors across several genres. The Color Purple by Alice Walker. Summary: Celie (played by a…
Novel Update #2 It’s been called lots of different things. “Sagging Middle Problem.” “Marathon of the Middle.” “The Middle of the Book Sucks Syndrome.” I’m there, people. For non-writers: When you are writing a book usually the opening is really strong, the climax is the stuff Netflix dreams are made of, but that big section…
How do you find readers for your book, blog, podcast, etc. when you’re new? In my case, I already have a tribe of fierce women interested in bodybuilding, but the gym rat crowd may not necessarily be interested in reading my 18th century novel crisscrossing through London, Virginia colony and Scotland. Whether you are starting…
Texas used to be known as the home of tough-guy cowboys. Now it seems like a state that is shaking in its cowboy boots if anyone wants to offer a perspective different than the white heterosexual male Christian one. As a writer, history major and parent of two, I find this trend chilling. Yesterday, Governor…
“Writers write,” said the published author. I was at the Pflugerville library’s special Valentine’s Day event – a panel of romance novelists talking about their books and how they got published. At the time I had two partially written manuscripts stuck in the middle and an intense fear of the internet. The writer suggested that…
I love a good story. You too? What if I told you that telling stories helped your kids feel happier and more confident? When my thirteen-year-old daughter looked at the cost of college tuition for the first time, she almost had a panic attack. She had no idea how expensive everything was, even if you…
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