Proof of Work in Progress In my Central Galactic Concordance space opera series, I’ve been working on the most feral manuscript ever. By that, I mean that I’ve fought for every word to get the characters and plot right. It’s a pivotal story in the Big Damn Story Arc that’s going on and has a…
Travel Bucket List, Updated Oh, my, but I had such thrilling plans at the start of 2020. The places I’d go, the people I’d meet, the things I’d see! Regrettably, the Calamity Fairies so enjoyed causing worldwide havoc that year that they decided to stick around for the next year, too. But I’m a forward-looking,…
Plans for 2022 This is my annual post about futuristic thinking. That’s the fun way of saying “my plans for 2022.” Do I actually follow these plans? Yes… ish. They’re high-level enough to allow wiggle room. More importantly, they’re not etched on titanium. I can adjust them based on unexpected detours and opportunities. Not to…
Which Audiobooks in 2022? My space opera series, the Central Galactic Concordance, has 4 novels that are also available in audiobook format. These are published by Tantor Media, and available at most major audiobook retailers. Since more and more people are listening to audiobooks these days, I thought I’d start on producing more of them…
SF Pets, Podcast, and More Occasionally I escape from the writing cave, or as I think of it, my own little pocket universe, and visit the world at large. Recently, I wrote a guest post on SF pets, appeared on a podcast, and more. Pets in Science Fiction The folks over at Shepherd were kind…
A Look Ahead to 2021 In retrospect, my plans for 2020 seem so quaintly innocent. Write a few stories, travel to writer and book conventions to teach and learn things, plus meet new friends and readers, and get my author business back on track after the previous summer of calamitous life events. Little did I…
Hope for the Holidays I love the spirit of the holidays. The music, the food, festive lights, and all the good will. Okay, maybe not the thundersnow. And this year, even though we still have more dark days ahead of us, we have hope for the holidays. Not one, but two vaccines are already winging…
New Captain at Pets in Space You may have noticed that I’ve absolutely adored Pets in Space® concept and the charity it supports, Hero-Dogs.org. Enough so that I’ve contributed stories to three of the five anthologies since it started, including this year’s Pets in Space 5. Today, I’m announcing that starting in 2021, I’ll be…
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…
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