Halloween Checklist

If Halloween has checklist, my boxes are filled: Old house on hill—√ Ghostly presence residing in house—√ Novels that include ghosts, psychics, and otherworldly elements—√,√, and √√ Black cat? Um… Check that one too! Say hi to timid Gus, the most miscast black cat, who just wants someone to assure him he’s loved. Halloween Ambivalence My boxes may…

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The Windfall of Publicity

My agent once told me, “You’ll succeed in this business in one of two ways: Your publisher will put a lot of money behind your book, or you’ll encounter some incredible windfall of publicity.” Regarding that windfall of publicity, I’ve gone from waiting for Oprah to call to waiting for Ellen to call to waiting…

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About That Tantrum…

Recently, I had a Facebook tantrum—the envy of any two-year-old. My fit was sparked by a reviewer whose words about my latest novel, Echo Moon, weren’t necessarily harsh, just a bland 3-star opinion. So what set me off? Why did this benign review dig like bamboo shoots under my nails? Amid the reviewer’s lackluster impressions…

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The Next Yellow Line

Number of published words in 2.5 years: 469,030. Hours at my desk? Impossible to calculate, and if sitting truly is the new smoking, the breathable air in my writing room must be in short supply. I don’t know what made me add those numbers up. Perhaps the odd predicament of arriving at this desk with…

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How Far Will Readers Reach?

This post ponders how far readers are willing to go. I might not have touched this topic when Foretold was released last fall. But since then, with Echo Moon out one week from today, I have been scratching my head over a reader idiosyncrasy—one that came full circle with a couple of Facebook surveys. Recently, two…

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While We’re Waiting…

Okay, waiting is not my strong suit. In the novel-writing business, few things take longer than publishing a book. From the time an author puts pen to paper and pub-day arrives, nearly two years passes—maybe more. And people wonder why we keep our day jobs! ???? While we tick off these final days to ECHO MOON (On…

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Making it to the Moon

This is it, coming soon! The last “chapter” in the Ghost Gifts series! It’s been quite a ride, much of it unexpected. I’d like to share with readers ECHO MOON’s backstory. I very much wanted to do something different with this book, but at the same time I knew readers would be looking for Aubrey…

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Three TV Shows that Pair Well with Wine & Chocolate

How do you get through a New England winter? Wine and chocolate are a good start, but what about sight and sound? Once football season ends (and we just won’t go there), the hardy hunker down and wait. We wait for our Facebook friends in warmer climates to post photos of forsythia in bloom and…

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Collecting Inspiration

  Dusty treasures…  With collections come inspiration. Objects of fascination are boundless: milk glass, bottle caps, depression glass, Golden books, grown-up books—signed copies and first editions—jadeite, rocks, stamps, coins, dolls, marbles, and… well, you get the idea. The endless need for shelf space and feather dusters. My mother-in-law collected salt & pepper shakers and tiny…

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