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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
5 Gifts for Authors This post is gift advice for the Beloved Author in your life. These ideas are suitable for gift-giving year-round. Plus I’ve included a few inexpensive and free options that won’t break the bank. And by the way, no, I’m not angling for gifts from my readers. Your gift of buying […]
May You Live in Interesting Times, or Reordering My Ducks Funny how life likes to make a shambles of human plans every now and then. Probably to keep us silly humans from becoming insufferably conceited about thinking we have everything in control. It’s like the famous Chinese curse*, “May you live in interesting times.” In […]
Illustrated instructions on how to manually send a .MOBI file (ebook) to your Amazon Kindle e-reader.
About the Big Damn Story Arc in My Space Opera Series I recently appeared on a writer’s panel at the 2019 Denver Pop Culture Con. The panel’s goal was to give the audience tips and tricks on how to write a bingeable series. My esteemed co-panelists, Trai Cartwright and Marin Lepore, are both screenwriters and […]
More Ice Age Shifters This Summer Yes, in answer to several recent reader queries, there will be more Ice Age Shifters this summer. 🌞 First, though, on 6 June, I’ll be releasing the first four books in the series at all major booksellers. They were formerly exclusive with Amazon, but now they’re going wide and […]
Ancient Horses, New Horses Humans (and some dogs) love digging around in the dirt. We never know what we’ll find—roots, rocks, earthworms, buried treasure, a 42,000-year-old foal from an ancient horse species… In Siberia, scientists found a foal preserved in the permafrost. Under the right conditions, cold can preserve a lot of things, including humans, […]