My observations as a reader, news about current and future novels, guest posts, independent author adventures, and more.
Character Naming Secrets A reader recently asked if I have any character naming secrets, and where I came up with the name of Mairwen Morganthur, the heroine of Overload Flux. I’ll tell you the same thing I told him, but first I must dispel the notion that there any secrets to naming characters. Just as…
3 Tips from Carol’s Cats for Living in Uncertain Times Hello. We’re Carol’s cats. We see that the Interesting Times Fairy has descended, rudely and uninvited, for an extended visit. It’s like the old saying, life is what happens when you make other plans. We felines feel your pain and want to help. Therefore, these…
The Age of Megafauna The concept for my Ice Age Shifters® paranormal romance series arose from my hobby of reading science articles. “What if,” I said to my muse, “some shifters were born as throwbacks to the earlier, larger versions of species?” My muse liked the idea, and the series was born. And lucky me,…
When Real Life Overtakes Fiction I write science fiction and fantasy, so I get to create imaginary things and events all the time. I also love reading about scientific advances, historical events, and fascinating people. They spark my muse, especially when they make me think, “Cool! What if….?”. However, sometimes this comes back to bite…
Authors of Color Write SciFi Romances Opinions and Recommendations This is a companion to my post on Authors of Color Write Paranormal Romances. Because apparently it has to be stated that authors of color write scifi romances, too. I know, you’re shocked. 🙀 Not as shocked as I was when I overheard a conversation at…
Pets in Space is Back Again! 🚀 Woo-hoo! PETS IN SPACE® is back, and I’m one of the authors! And just look at the fantastic group of authors I’ll have the honor of working with in Pets in Space 5: S.E. Smith Michelle Diener Veronica Scott Pauline Baird Jones Laurie A. Green Carol Van Natta…
Shifter Romance Brings Legends and Myths to Life I believe humans are the storytelling animal. Important information is easier to remember if it has a story behind it, because stories give it context, emotion, and meaning. Of course, just like my dearly departed grandmother, we also have a tendency to rarely let the truth get…
Women In Science Day My trusty calendar tells me that Tuesday, 11 February, is International Girls and Women in Science Day. Hooray! I grew up with scientists and have worked with them a lot over the years. Science fascinates me, so it’s probably no surprise that I write science fiction. My Central Galactic Concordance space…
Flamingos Are Delightful I love animals, which is why I write shifter paranormal romances (PNRs) and animals appear in half of my space opera series. It’s the fault of my cats, of course. 😸 When writing Shifter’s Storm, I needed the heroine, Chantal Hammond, to be in Florida so it would be easier for her…
Authors of Color Write Paranormal Romances Note: Contains opinionated author opinions and book recommendations I’m a sucker for a good story, regardless of who wrote it. Sometimes the author becomes the story, in both good and bad ways, which is a topic for another day. Today’s topic is that authors of color write paranormal romances….
Hurricane Recovery for Puerto Rico and Its Islands My latest paranormal romance, Shifter’s Storm (Ice Age Shifters Book 5), takes place on the island of Vieques, part of Puerto Rico. I took my inspiration from the news reports about the tremendous damage done by 2017’s Hurricane Maria. Hurricane recovery for Puerto Rico has been abominably…
Habitable Planets in the Central Galactic Concordance In my far-future Central Galactic Concordance space opera series, humans have expanded to 500+ colonized planets, with more on the way. The key technologies behind this achievement are faster-than-light (FTL) drive, near-instant communications, and terraforming capabilities. These allowed us to find potentially habitable planets and remodel them with…
Shifter’s Storm Excerpt Chantal Hammond is the heroine of Shifter’s Storm, the latest book in the Ice Age Shifters paranormal romance series. She’s a modern and independent-minded leopard shifter. She’s also a sheriff’s deputy on loan to another jurisdiction. Cougar shifters run the tiny Barron County, Florida sheriff’s department, but they haven’t been very welcoming….
Plans for 2020 🎉 First, happy new year, and may the coming year be your best year yet. I’m making plans for 2020 and sharing some of them with you. Because our planet doesn’t have a perfect orbit, we get an extra day this year to mess up our automated calendars. Some of you may…
About Prehistoric Aquatic Sloths (Thalossocnus) The hero of Shifter’s Storm (Ice Age Shifters Book 5) is Dauro de Mar, a shifter trapped in a fairy fantasyland. His animal side is an extinct aquatic sloth (Thalassocnus) from the Ice Age. As you might imagine, this quite surprised his elephant-seal shifter parents. When the story opens, he’s…
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