A New Pen Name for a New Project As some of you may remember from earlier in the year, I was on a writing and submitting spree. Novella’s, short stories, writing contests—I was on a writing rampage! And with some spicier romance novellas in the collection, I asked for your help picking a pen name, […]
The Inspiration Behind Emergency Exit The opening of Emergency Exit, book 3 of the Valkyrie Brothers series, was actually the first scene I wrote in the series. Ash Valkyrie sneaks into the building (because… reasons) via the service elevator and due to the loud vent system Harper Smoak has a misunderstanding about which party the […]
Plotting all the Plots Recently, I came across a call for a short story anthology focused on murder mysteries that took place in the workplace. However, the stipulation was that the death be dependent on that working situation. As a graphic designer, unless I accidentally stab my business partner to death with my college-era bone […]
What Are We Publishing? Publishing is always a bit of a game, but sometimes I feel more like I’m racking up publishing “points.” This year, I’ve found myself with some unexpectedly free writing time. I wrapped up writing the series I was working on (the Valkyrie Brothers) and I didn’t have a next grand project […]
When You Get Stuck Between Floors When I start writing a book, I often have a specific scene in mind. For Between Floors, book 2 of the Valkyrie Brothers series, I didn’t. I knew generally what the plot was and who my characters were, but I didn’t have the scene that locked me into the […]
What’s in a Pen Name? I recently have had the opportunity to submit to a dark romance anthology. For those that don’t know dark romance could be defined as a subgenre of romance that explores the messy, complicated, and sometimes twisted side of love and relationships. Dark romance is not my usual genre. A lot […]
A Trailer & More Recently, I’ve been working on some marketing items including a book trailer for Elevator Ride from my Valkyrie Brothers series. Creating a book trailer is a challenge! It’s like condensing the soul of an entire book into just a minute or less of video magic. The first hurdle? Finding the perfect […]
Is it good to giveaway a book? Well, as a recipient of the occasional free book, I will confirm that yes, I think it’s great when authors giveaway books. However, many authors feel extremely leery of giving away free books. There have been many instances of winners selling books or copying content, so that fear […]
Awards Season is Here! No, it’s not time for the Oscar’s or anything normal people care about. I’m talking about the extremely niche category of mystery short story awards. The Short Fiction Mystery Society, a volunteer-lead group of short fiction writers annually hosts the Derringer Awards. Any member is welcome to submit a short story […]