Talking Story
Cover Reveal: Little Dead Riding Hood
by Amie and Bethanie Borst
Continuing our cover reveals this week is Little Dead Riding Hood by the mother-daughter writing duo Amie and Bethanie Borst, the second in their Scarily Ever Laughter series for middle grade readers. From the back of the book: You know things are going to suck when...
Cover Reveal: Black Moon by Teri Harman
Black Moon, the second book in Teri Harman's witch fantasy trilogy has just released its cover. From the back of the book: Simon Howard accidentally killed three people. Four months later, the nightmares won’t stop. Willa Fairfield, his girlfriend, his soul mate,...
Cover Reveal: Splinters
by Matt Carter & F.J.R. Titchenell
Here's a first look at Matt Carter & F.J.R. Titchenell's Splinters, the first book in The Prospero Chronicles. There's a giftcard giveaway for this upcoming title on Goodreads. From the back cover: Under ordinary circumstances, Ben and Mina would never have had...
Cover Reveal: Mojave Green
by The Brothers Washburn
Isn't gorgeous? This is the cover for Mojave Green, the second book in the Dimensions in Death series by the Brothers Washburn. Here's the blurb. Camm and Cal thought they had killed the unearthly creature that preyed upon the people in their isolated mining town...
White Knuckling It
Twitchy. I’m not sure if it’s his hands on the steering wheel or me in my seat, but the rain is turning to sleet as we wind up the canyon. I give him side-eye, my son now taller and broader than me with his shiny new driver’s license tucked in his wallet. His arms are...
Say My Name
“It’s pronounced L’wah. It’s French,” proclaimed the guy sitting next to my son, Aaron. Aaron gives him side-eye. The guy and his girlfriend are studying the bios of the authors seated on the platform in front of the room. It’s the first day of a writers’ conference...
Decorating Someone Else’s Service
At first glance you’d think my fourteen-year-old daughter is a pretty, self-confident jockette and honors student growing up sheltered and cherished in ways only the truly privileged take for granted. But get to know her and you’ll realize that she’s a deep thinker...
Death in Apophenia
Lately, behind me in the shadows and corners of dimly lit rooms, Death stalks softly. I’m uncertain if it’s simply the rule of three—three good things in a row, three bad—or if having my foot in a cast has made me more aware of the inevitability of age and the gradual...
Book Review: Shucked by Megg Jensen
Shucked by Megg Jensen is a fun, light-hearted, YA rom-com-adventure read, perfect for escaping dishes and laundry for an afternoon. It’s the story of 15 year old Tabitha who was raised by an archeologist mom who took her all over the globe in pursuit of adventure....
Sundance PiB Plague
The PiBs are back in town. You can spot them in a New York minute or L.A. heartbeat, the People in Black, dressed for an ice age in 30+ degree weather—a bleak, but chic ice age—walking very quickly and importantly wearing bright Sundance badges, drinking skinny...
Tips for Showering with a Cast
I took a shower all by myself today. Usually, the best you could say about that is how boring and the worst congratulations, did you feed yourself, too? Well, yeah, I did, but that’s another blog post. Life lately has been full of small victories and accomplishments...
Futless by the Numbers
Days since heel surgery: 7 Days drug free: 2 Days attention span longer than a goldfish: 2 Books read: 0 Books started: 4 Chapters written: 0 Attempts at writing chapters: 733 Random checks of Facebook and Twitter: 2587 Catan/Candy Crush/Carcassonne games played on...
Casting Problems
So how do you use a laptop when you can’t sit at a table and don’t have a lap? That’s my most pressing problem right now with my right foot in a cast and needing to be propped higher than my heart. The ice bag takes up what little room I have between my gut and knee...
Learning ‘Ōlelo: Hau’oli Makahiki Hou
Hau’oli Makahiki Hou (how-oh-lee mah-kah-he-key ho) Hawaiian phrase. In Hawaii people say Hau‘oli Makahiki Hou when they wish someone a Happy New Year. It’s a direct translation from the English: hau‘oli means “happy” or “glad,” hou means “new” or “fresh,” and...
Learning ‘Ōlelo: Mele Kalikimaka
Mele Kalikimaka (mel-lee kah-lee-kee-mah-kah) (Phrase) Hawaiian for Merry Christmas. Example Aunty Lehua wishes you and yours Mele Kalikimaka this holiday season! Note: ‘Ōlelo is a Hawaiian word meaning language, speech, word, etc. To see the current list of...
Author Interview: Christine Haggerty
The Plague Legacy: Acquisitions
My friend and critique partner Christine Haggerty just published her debut novel with Fox Hollow Publications. Acquisitions, book 1 in the Plague Legacy, introduces Cam, a teenage orphan trying to survive in a world reshaped by a plague virus that renders people...
‘Twas the Night Before Deadline
'Twas the Night Before Deadline (with apologies to Clement Clarke Moore) ‘Twas the night before deadline, when all through the den Not a writer was writing, not even with pen! The novel was due to reviewers with care In hopes that sales stimulus soon would be...
Imperfect Sundays
I have a favorite Sunday joke that goes, “A mother left church to look for her son and found him sitting on the curb in the parking lot. ‘You need to come back inside,’ she said. ‘But Mom, nobody likes me. Nobody talks to me or wants to sit by me. It’s boring going to...
Book Review: Where’d You Go, Bernadette
by Maria Semple
It’s been a long time since I laughed out loud while reading a book. Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple is spit your Diet Coke funny. I’ve lived slices of Bernadette’s life, right down to the passive-aggressive snooty private school politics and paralyzing...
Old Dog, New Piano Tricks
When my son was eight years old, we made a deal that he would take piano lessons until he was sixteen or could play all the songs in a simplified hymnal, something I guessed would take three or four years at the most. By then I figured he’d love music and would want...