Interesting Overlaps in My Life

There are interesting overlaps in my life these days.  I’m a certified Master Gardener, and as you can imagine, composting is a major topic of discussion for MGs and the public we train.  On that writing side, I work on MG stories for local publications, and sometimes I find my inspiration in the fiction I’m…

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Roxy vs. The Rattler – There are Story Ideas in Everything

Roxy the retriever/hound mix loves snakes.  Specifically, she loves to grab them and whip them around in a frenzy of figure eights, beating them on the ground until pieces start flying off.  Of the snake, that is. Hopefully she’s now decided this is a bad idea.  She tangled with one Friday night and got bit…

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What Makes a Thriller Great?

I’ve been attending ThrillerFest 2013 in New York City.  This first part, CraftFest, offers sessions on the craft of writing thrillers, mysteries and suspense, and my head is spinning from everything I’m learning! This topic is just one example.  Today I attended a session presented by Andrew Kaplan on what makes a thriller great.  According…

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Having Fun on YouTube

This might seem like shameless promotion – and it is!  But it’s the best kind – the kind that will help you whether you’re following me because you’re a reader or a writer. I’ve launched a YouTube channel.  Yes, you heard it here first – well, third, because it’s been feeding Twitter and Facebook with…

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The Scents – and Sense – of Things

We had rain this week, unusual in June in both it’s duration and amount.  The last truly significant rain was the beginning of May, and we’ve been behind all year.  In a month’s time, drought will be the buzzword again. But that’s not what is most compelling about this rain.  What changes the most when…

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Taking a Walk for Inspiration

I was looking for a little inspiration last week for Flynn’s Crossing Book 6, Wine Into Water, the story of Marguerite and Deke.  Marguerite is the winemaker at Witch Hill Winery, and Deke’s adjacent ranch has been in his family for seven generations. To jog my brain cells, I headed off to visit my friends…

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