What made you choose the city or town that you live in? Was it your job? Was it because you grew up there? Was it because you can afford it? Was it because you like the view? What if you had to start over and pick someplace new? Where would you go? How would you decide where you should be? …
A Writer’s Midlife Crisis
There is a lie we tell our children. It goes something like this: “If you set your mind to a goal, you can achieve it. Anything is possible if you work hard enough.” We tell our kids they can be an astronaut, a ballerina, a basketball player, a physicist, or even the president. It’s not true. At least it wasn’t for me. I …
2016 Wrap-Up
Happy New Year’s weekend, everyone! Welcome to my year-end wrap-up, along with a few recommendations for amazing stuff to watch and read that I discovered in 2016. Although this year kind of sucked for obvious reasons, it wasn’t all bad. Here’s the proof. On to the wrap-up! In 2016, I published: The Dante Deception (thriller, Natalie Brandon #2) The Carmelite Prophecy …
Trip Report: The Petersen Automotive Museum
Museums have a tough job – they have to engage the mind of the knowledgeable visitor and entertain or stimulate that of the ignorant. On a recent trip to L.A., the hubby and I visited the Petersen Automotive Museum. Visiting car and motorsport museums is something you have to do when you marry someone who loves cars as much as …
Scared Straight by Empress Elisabeth of Austria
To many people, Elisabeth of Austria was a free spirit – a woman longing for independence who chafed at the restrictions of court life in Vienna in the 19th century. Wild and beautiful, they think of her roaming Europe in search of fulfillment on a physical and spiritual plane she just couldn’t reach with her courtiers, subjects, family, children, or …
Madame du Barry & Me: What an 18th Century Courtesan Taught Me about Modern Life
If you’ve ever wondered where writers get their ideas, sometimes it’s when they were looking for something completely different. Case in point: I’ve been reading the biography Du Barry by Stanley Loomis, as part of my research for the sequel to The Romanov Legacy. The book is a fascinating glimpse at Louis XV’s last mistress. I related to her in …
How to Work Full Time and Fail at Everything Else
How do you know you’re on the right path in life? I’m not sure, but I can tell you how you know you’re not. It happens when you start feeling small and insecure and angry and on the verge of tears because the one thing you need is the one thing you can’t buy more of: time. This is the …
How I Got Started as a Writer
Lots of writers get asked about their origin stories. For some reason, people want to know what prompted that all-important life-changing moment. What makes a person take that crucial step? It has to be something compelling, something important, something meaningful…right? For me, it was a soap opera. A soap opera with an alien. I kid you not. General Hospital circa …
Guys, I Have a Webcam
If you’ve seen the classic chick flick 10 Things I Hate About You, you already know how I feel about this post. Remember that part when Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is trying to persuade Patrick (Heath Ledger) to have another try at dating Katarina Stratford (Julia Stiles)? “Sacrifice yourself on the altar of dignity and even the score,” Cameron says. “Don’t …
I Have a Theory
What if all the things you’re afraid of are things that killed you or hurt you in a previous life? I had a lot of irrational fears when I was little. Among them: spiders (okay, maybe not so irrational) lighting matches heights lightning One day, I started trying to figure out why I was terrified to light a match. Grown-ups …
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