Happy Father’s Day to my dad!  And to all you other dads out there, may you have a beautiful day!  And, because I can’t help myself:  my mom, too.  Since I forgot Mother’s Day.  D’oh!  … [Read more...]

What Ursula K. Le Guin thinks:  “Fantasy is not antirational, but pararational; not realistic but surrealistic, a heightening of reality. In Freud’s terminology, it employs primary not secondary process thinking. It employs archetypes which, as Jung warned us, … [Read more...]

Not that I’m a sap, or anything—but this day, three years ago, I sold my first book.  June 15th, 2004.  It was the day before my 26th birthday.  Time goes so fast.  And I am so very lucky. I hope you all have a beautiful day!  Do something … [Read more...]

Well, that ear surgery Lucky underwent several weeks ago apparently went too well.  He healed up before all the fluids could drain, so he had to go in today for a second procedure.  Wasn’t pretty.  We got there, he took one look, and started acting like I was … [Read more...]

“Probably, indeed, the larger part of the labor of an author composing his work is critical labor; the labor of sifting, combining, constructing, expunging, correcting, testing. This frightful toil is as much critical as creative. “ -T.S. Eliot (in essay titles _The … [Read more...]

The following is a photograph of my grandparents taken in 1946, in Bromer, Indiana.  They’re sitting in the driveway of my great-grandfather’s farm, in a 1929 Ford Model A (with a rumble seat) that they bought for $150.  The two of them are still adorable—and feisty. Jai … [Read more...]

“I am afraid of people with too much charm. They devour you. In the end you are made a sacrifice to the exercise of their fascinating gift and their insincerity.” -W. S. Maugham Ayla asks:  How hard is it to get a good agent and start getting noticed by the … [Read more...]

“You can do more with a kind word and a gun than with just a kind word.” - Al Capone C.C. asks: Will there be a single book on Koni? I adore his character and so many of the others. Any tidbits you can tell us? There will be a book on Koni, but I have to settle … [Read more...]

One must think like a hero to behave like a merely decent human being. ~ May Sarton I’m receiving really wonderful questions about SOUL SONG.  Feel free to send me more and I’ll answer them here! From Mitch:  Is there a scene that just sang to you? Any … [Read more...]

“A dog is just a dog. Until he looks at you. Then he’s Mr. Dog.” ~ Anonymous   *** From Laura:  How long does it take you to finish a MS from plotting to the final editing? Most of us aspiring writers have day jobs. I think you do too, right? Where do you find … [Read more...]