Literary Love

You don’t have to preach a sermon. You don’t have to quote twenty-five scripture verses. Just a few kind words can start the healing process for someone else. ~ Joel Osteen Ministries The last few years, I have been doing a great deal of inner reflection, and have worked hard to be positive and to acknowledge the many blessings I have in my life. Being grateful has improved my outlook on life and the challenges I face. But even riding a wave of gratefulness, I still get hit by rogue waves. Undertow can leave me breathless and sputtering for air. The other night, right after reading a wonderful comment from a reader, I found an awful, negative review. It was by far, the harshest review yet. The earlier, warm glow of praise slid right off. I floundered in the waves and forgot how to swim. This reviewer seemed angry and vengeful and went so far as to condemn the writing of my sequel. I understand my book will be judged by all who read it. And, I expect that som...

The world always seems brighter when you've just made something that wasn't there before.      ~  Neil Gaiman, author What a weekend! Saving Toby's popularity has had an explosion during the 2-day promotional free downloads this past Friday and Saturday. I believe I have scored a slew of new readers. To those, I say welcome! As my ability to navigate the publishing field becomes more practiced and comfortable, I will happily entertain you with many more stories. For those of you who don't know me, I began working on Saving Toby in the spring of 2010. At that time, the story was loosely configured in my head, and though I'd been writing all my life, I didn't know a lick about how to publish a book, but once I started putting this story together, I couldn't stop. I fell in love with the my characters, and every day, I thought about how the story would unfold. I had to keep a notebook on hand at all times. Ideas flooded me day and night. Claudia ...

To celebrate the new cover of Saving Toby, the Kindle eBook version will be available for FREE both Friday and Saturday.  Find out what all the hype is about! http://www.amazon.com/ Saving-Toby-ebook/dp/ B00EV6K2AC/ ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=13790976 30&sr=8-1&keywords=saving+toby

A blog about Inspiration Back, just before I consciously decided to take my writing seriously, I was working at a job I loved. While my manager was super smart, our interoffice relationship was awkward. After paycheck cutbacks sent many of my coworkers packing, the situation with my manager darkened. Stressed by the uncomfortable office atmosphere, and now, making less money, I decided it was time to move on. Was it scary? YOU BET! Thankfully, I had other financial support to back up this decision, but I didn't sit around. I got another job... a few of them. They included: Web design, pet sitting and bus trip organizing for a non-profit organization on the north shore. My schedule was erratic, and I had a lot of time to think. I asked myself that age-old question, the same one I'd often asked myself most of my adult life - "What do you want to be when you grow up?" I had an answer. I've always had an answer. I wanted to WRITE. Never believing I could a...