My observations as a reader, news about current and future novels, guest posts, independent author adventures, and more.
3 Websites for Favorite-Genre Books You know how sometimes, you just want to find a book in one of your favorite genre without wading through thousands? Booksellers have gotten better about categories, but many of them use the same groupings you’d find in a physical bookstore. And let’s be honest, some put their thumb on…
Escape with Pets In Space® 5! Pets in Space® 5 is back for the fifth amazing year! Escape with 12 of today’s top science fiction romance authors and 12 original, never-before-released stories written just for you. Escape into action, adventure, suspense, humor, and romance—plus pets!—that will take you out of this world. The giving doesn’t…
Make the Leap from Paranormal to Science Fiction Romance I love science fiction and fantasy, and I love romances. I especially love it when the two genres blend to bring me the best of both worlds. (Probably why I write them, eh?) If you’re a paranormal romance fan, I’d like to invite you to make…
Hilarious AI Fails at Photo Captions Part of my job as an indie author is to market my books. The need for background images for ads and promotions periodically sends me to various stock photo sites. The latest trend in these sites is to use artificial intelligence (AI) to create photo captions. Often, they miss…
Spotlight on Pet Trade Pet Trade was my first science fiction romance novella for the Pets in Space® anthologies. This book has a spiffy new cover design by the talented Amanda Kelsey at Razzle Dazzle Design. Therefore, in honor of its upcoming publication anniversary and its lovely cover, I’m shining a spotlight on Pet Trade….
Most of my blog posts talk about my books, or the thrilling life of an author, and occasionally cats. This is one of two personal essays on topics related to current events. The other talks about friends for life. This essay is in response to the casual, callous murder of a Black man by a…
This departs from my usual blog posts about my books, or the thrilling life of an author with cats. This is one of two personal essays related to current events that are profoundly affecting our world. In the other, I talk about racism and the need to be allies for life. This essay talks about…
Spotlight on Last Ship Off Polaris-G 🎉 I’m so thrilled with the shiny new cover for Last Ship Off Polaris-G (scroll down to see it!) that I’m shining a spotlight on this story and its origins. Last Ship starts my Central Galactic Concordance (CGC) scifi space opera romance series, but I didn’t write it first….
Revisiting World Domination: Revised Plans for 2020 This time of year, I usually look back at the grand plan I create in January and make minor adjustments. Funnily enough, while my World Domination Plan hoped no calamities would arise, it didn’t even contemplate the possibility of a global pandemic. How terribly unimaginative of me. So…
Creative Avoidance My general approach to life is to keep busy. It’s my way of staving off boredom and countering my DNA-deep slacker nature. On the continuum between “do it now” and “do it when you have to,” I’m in the “do it now” side. But not always. Despite my determination to do a particular…
Spotlight on IN GRAVES BELOW Today, I’m shining a spotlight on In Graves Below, the first standalone paranormal romance I ever wrote. May 3 is the book’s publication anniversary. The story came about because Amazon invited S.E. Smith (Susan) to participate in the Kindle Worlds program. Authors opened a story universe to other authors, and…
Lessons Learned in Pandemic Living Inspired by a list by my science fiction and paranormal romance author buddy, Susan Kay Quinn, these are my lessons learned while living in a pandemic. I would live in pajamas forevermore, except cats have needle-sharp claws. As I am averse to having my thighs turned into pincushions, I wear…
Happy Earth Day I’m extremely fond of the planet we live on, so here’s wishing everyone a Happy Earth Day, 22 April. This year, lots of events have moved online for social distancing reasons, but they look amazing. Environmental causes have some great slogans, and climate fiction has come great books. Clever Earth Day Slogans People…
Ghosts in the Books The other day, my cat saw a ghost in my bookcase. At least I assume that was the cause of the suddenly fluffy tail and startled look before he bolted. Just because I’m a skeptic and can’t see ghosts in the books doesn’t mean they aren’t there. Cats have far better…
Journalism in the Far Future In my space opera series, a free and independent press is one of the founding principles of the Central Galactic Concordance. In the far future, journalism has developed new methods, tools, and outlets. But the fundamental purpose is the same: to shine a bright light on the truth. The previous…
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