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POINT OF VIEW: Things That Make Me Happy

Buddha Board

Hey all, January was a difficult month for me personally, as readers of this column will know. Life moves on, though, and carries us with it. So for today, I want to step back, take a deep breath, and share some of the things that make me happy. 1) Snuggling in Bed With My Honey: This and hot showers are two of my favorite things. Feeling Mark’s warmth next to me, once the triumphs and trials of the day are over, centers me and makes me happy. Until I get too warm and need my own space. LOL… I think … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: The Holy Sh!t Moment

Scott - Holy Sh!t Moment

Every novelist works a little differently. Some write books by the seat of their pants, riding the crazy writing train to wherever it takes them. Others make meticulous outlines before ever putting a word on the page, and know exactly where they’re going and how they will get there. I suspect that most of us are somewhere in the middle. Icertainly am. I start with a loose outline. I know how the plot will lay out, generally, and the steps along the way. But I also allow for that rarest of beasts – the “Holy Sh!t Moment (HSM).” It’s the … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: After the Fall

hope - pixabay

Anyone who read my column last week knows how devastated I was to find out someone I used to be close to had been killed eight years ago, and I’d only just found out last week. I’ve spent the last week and a half processing this. I’m a writer – that’s what we do. Now I am starting to emerge on the far side. I want to thank my friends and family for rallying around me, and I want to acknowledge the pain of those who were much closer to Damon than I, and who lost so much more with … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: He’s Gone

damon-blurry

WARNING: This is a bit raw and intense. Read at your own risk. He was the first boy I ever wanted. He was the first boy who wanted me. He was my first. On October 23rd, 2009, Damon Nicholson was brutally murdered by a man who had slept with him the night before. He was beaten with a baseball bat in his own home so the man and his accomplice could take his electronics and sell them for drug money. I didn’t know this. I had been thinking about him for the last few days, and last Saturday I decided … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: A New Start

Scott 2018

Welcome to 2018! 2017 was a mixture of highs and lows for me and for us: –In January, the worst President of my lifetime entered the White House after the best one left –Mark and I also launched QueeRomance Ink –In February, my first novel “Skythane” came out, to great reviews –In March, I got to hang out with some of my best friends at the Dreamspinner Retreat in Orlando –Over the summer and into the fall, our health care was threatened numerous times –In September, we launched Other Worlds Ink, our author support company, starting with book tours –In … Read more

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Point of View: Writer’s Wait

Writer's Block - Pixabay

Hey all, I just spent the last three weeks agonizing over the plot for “Ithani” – the last book in my Oberon Cycle trilogy. I’m dealing with eight major characters, trying to deliver on the romance piece for a third time, and planning wrap up all of the loose ends by the end of the book. I’ve sat down to outline things on a couple occasions, and nothing felt quite right. It’s like trying to stuff yourself into a pair of jeans that’s three sizes too small–it felt forced, and just sat there on the page, taunting me with its … Read more

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POV: Writing Down the Bones

Scott - Writing Down the Bones

Even authors need occasional refresher courses and inspiration. On those occasions, there’s one book I’ve had for a long time, that I like to dip into to remind me why I became a writer, and that suggests little exercises to do to train my writing muscles. It’s called “Writing Down the Bones,” by Natalie Goldberg, and it’s full of great musings on writing and things to try to free up your creative reflexes. A random selection of chapter topics: Fighting Tofu We Are Not the Poem Writers Have Good Figures Don’t Marry the Fly Blue Lipstick and a Cigarette Hanging … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Plotting My Revenge

Scott - Muwahahaha

* maniacal laughter in background * Hey all, Okay, so my next novel, “The Rising Tide,” is now out the door to the publisher. Which brings me to my strange new year, in which I will be writing the third and final books for not one but two trilogies – “Liminal Sky” and “The Oberon Cycle.” Final books are where everything gets accounted for… all the little loose threads must be identified and wrapped up, the good guys get their win (usually), and the bad guys get what’s coming to them. I am diving into Ithani this week (the final … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Things I’m Thankful For

Thankful - pixabay

Hey all, In light of the fact that Thanksgiving has just come and gone, I thought I would reflect on the things I am thankful for as a writer. First and foremost, my husband Mark, who has always been supportive of my writing, and who gave me the kick in the ass to get things going again, back in 2013. Love you! Second, I am grateful that I somehow was given the talent to write, and that the ideas don’t stop coming. I am grateful for my wide circle of writerly and readerly friends, especially my QSF co-admins Angel Martinez … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: A Good Beta

beta reader - 123rf purchased

Hey all, I just got the last of my beta reads back for “The Rising Tide,” the sequel to “”The Stark Divide.” If you don’t know what a beta reader is, it’s someone who reads an author’s story and gives it a critical review before the author submits the book to the publisher, giving us the chance to fix any egregious errors or plot misfires before the editors see the story. I love my beta readers. I hate my beta readers. It’s a private joke between Angel and us that, just once, I want my beta readers to all agree … Read more