point of view

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POINT OF VIEW: Stepping Off the Ledge

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printing press - pixabay

Hey all, I’m about to step off the ledge. To take the plunge. To dive into the great unknown. I am about to become * gulp * a self publisher. I have two projects already teed up for this year, with more to come if things go well. The first is the long-awaited publication of “The River City Chronicles” in book form – my 102 chapter online serial that ended last October. It’s been a long slog to get to this point for this, my love letter to Sacramento. I just got the preliminary cover art from Kelley York, a … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Riding the Writing Roller Coaster

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Roller Coaster - Pixabay

I am two weeks away from sending Ithani, the final book in the “Oberon Cycle,” to my beta readers, and I am in full-scale freak out mode. OK, maybe not full scale. I still have all my clothes on. It has proven more challenging than I expected to write the series ender – there are so many loose ends to wrap up, and it’s necessary to both ramp up the volume and to keep tight reins on a story that caps off my first complete trilogy. I got within two chapters of the ending and realized something wasn’t right. I … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Days of Despair, Moments of Grace and Beauty

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Tulips - pixabay

These are trying times for most of the people I know. Our country is in a shambles. The headlines dominating the news would have been unthinkable just two years ago – a porn star threatening to describe a sitting president’s “junk.” A US senator berating kinds for trying to stop gun violence. An unchained Russia meddling in other countries’ affairs with impunity, changing elections, supporting discord, and killing expatriates on foreign soil. Closer to home, Mark and I have friends dealing with parental loss, cancer, and depression. In the midst of the longest run of economic “prosperity” in decades, we … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Connected

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Joyce Peterson

Today would have been Joyce Peterson’s 100th Birthday. Joyce was my grandmother on my mother’s side, and she passed away six years ago at the age of 94. She was an amazing woman, gifted and beautiful. I always thought she looked a little like Cabbot Cove’s Jessica Fletcher, but unlike Angela Lansbury’s most famous character, she didn’t leave a path of dead bodies and mystery in her wake. What she did leave was a legacy. My grandmother was a very creative person, like much of my family. She painted and sketched and made all kinds of art – her hand … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: T-Minus Seven for My First Second

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series - pixabay

I’m about to reach another milestone as a writer. As I put it to my Dad this evening on the phone, next Tuesday I’ll be releasing my first second book. Let me explain. I’m in the middle of writing not one but two trilogies – the Oberon Cycle and Liminal Sky. The second Oberon book, “Lander,” is coming out on 2/13, so it will be the first time I’ve had the second book in a series come out. I have no idea what to expect, other than having been told that the second book never sells as well as the … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Things That Make Me Happy

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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

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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: He’s Gone

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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: Writer’s Wait

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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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POINT OF VIEW: Things I’m Thankful For

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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