Each of us have a comfort book–or even a comfort genre–that we turn to when we just want to relax or when times are tough. I go for cozy mysteries. I like them because they tend to be witty, fun,
The Individuality of Story
So, not too long ago, I was going through my Twitter followers and putting them into lists because I’d become overwhelmed by my feed (stream? why do I suck at knowing social media terms?) and hadn’t really touched it in
Pre-marketing
You know, Squiders, no one talks about the work one has to do before one can even start to think about marketing. (Well, someone probably does. But it’s not obvious.) Shards comes out in a little over a month, and
Urban Fantasy versus Paranormal Romance
You know, despite all the subgenre studies we’ve done here, I still have a hard time differentiating between urban fantasy and paranormal romance. I mean, logically, I can spout off definitions but I have a hard time with actual books
The Agony of Book Descriptions (Also: help!)
What is a book description you say, Squiders? It’s that thing that shows up next to a book on Amazon (or your favorite book-buying location) that gives you a basic run down of the plot so you know whether or
Stealing Mythology
Oh, Squiders, I love mythology. You guys know that. My friends know that. My family knows that. My husband definitely knows that because every time we go anywhere I come home with new folklore books. As a writer, mythologies never
The Music of Shards
A few years back (oh, 2009 or so) I started making novel playlists. These are songs that, somehow, evoke a character, a scene, or the overall story for me. A lot of times it’s related to lyrics, and I find
Visualizing Characters
You know how you go to watch the movie-version of a book and you’re like, “This character doesn’t look anything like what I thought they would?” That rarely ever happens to me. I don’t know why, but when reading, I
Working With Mythology When No One Agrees On Anything: Angel Mythology
How’s that for a mouthful of a title? I’m rather proud of it. So, my book Shards, coming out in December, has a lot of mythology mixed into it. The main mythology is Biblical, specifically relating to angels, so I
Calm Yourself, Woman
I’m a mess, Squiders. My manuscript–the novel that’s coming out in December–is in my editor’s hands, and it’s the first time I’ve had a novel edited by an actual publication-process editor, and I desperately want her to love it and
