I Go Chasing Waterfalls in Shenandoah National Park
For the first time, I’ve written a blog post that bears only a tangential relation to my fiction. But all of my major characters would have enjoyed my vacation destination, especially nature lovers Clare, Ésh, and David. And if you’ve read Sweet Medicine, you may be able to surmise that I have a fondness for…
Let’s Get Square
Have you noticed that audiobook covers are a different shape than the tall rectangles of ebook or print covers? Audiobook covers are square, a legacy of when audiobooks existed mostly as compact discs. Perhaps the shape has persisted in the digital realm because a square cover fits more neatly above the controls when you’re playing…
Behind My 2026 Covers
What do my new book covers for The Lazare Family Saga mean to me, and how did my designer Damonza and I arrive at them? Let’s dive in! One thing I did differently with my saga’s 3.0 covers was to poll readers for reactions on a site called PickFu.com. This service is far from perfect….
Third Time’s the Charm?
Yes, I have changed the covers of the four books in The Lazare Family Saga…again. (Please be patient while I update all the places where the old covers appear and I have the power to change them, including this website.) Yet another cover refresh was a decision I made not lightly but with great anguish….
The Language of Flowers
Like many a 19th-century novelist, I use the Language of Flowers throughout the Lazare Family Saga as part of my symbolism. I explain some of this floral code in my books, while other references are “Easter eggs.” In this post, I’ll unpack some of those meanings, and I’ll include illustrations in case the word “anemone”…
My Creative Process
I am a “pantser,” not a plotter. This means I write “by the seat of my pants” and do not use an outline. Back in school, when we were supposed to write an outline for an essay, I’d write the essay first, then the outline. I’ve always hated them! For me, structure strangles creativity instead…
For the Love of Critters
One of my characters, Clare Stratford, is a Southern belle. When she falls in love, however, she considers spending the rest of her life as a Cheyenne Indian. So I knew she couldn’t be prone to “the vapors”; she had to be fearless and in touch with the natural world. Therefore, I gave Clare my…
The Art Over My Desk
Above my messy writer’s desk overflowing with research materials, I hung three works of art that helped inspire my historical family saga with strong romantic elements. Let’s take a closer look. Frank Dicksee’s The Confession (1896), a Victorian problem picture with multiple possible meanings. Is the man the woman’s husband or her priest? Which one…
Alternate Opening / Deleted Scene
It took me nearly three decades to write the four-book Lazare Family Saga. Over these years, I wrote at least a dozen opening scenes, set in different places and times in the point-of-view of different characters. Where does this story begin? I kept asking myself and exploring different answers. Here’s an alternate opening scene that…
Flashback: The Year It All Began
Over the next few months, I’ll be reviving some of my most substantial, evergreen newsletters as blog posts so that anyone can read them. And so it begins! The year was 1994. Schindler’s List won the Best Picture Oscar. Jeff Bezos founded Amazon. (Remember the days when it sold only books and you got a free bookmark…
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