I am a child of the 80s. Though I was born at the tail end of the 60s, a month to the day after Armstrong first walked on the moon, my formative years with popular music all occurred with 80s music, which I love to this day. The 80s a decade of interesting, upbeat, and often kooky music, and it was also the decade where music videos became truly widespread, from Michael Jackson’s Thriller to the music videos of Duran…
Now seems like a propitious time to do a post about the release of Saving Anne de Bourgh, which goes on sale tomorrow. The release of Four Days at Netherfield was a little under a month ago, meaning I will have two new books out in a short time frame. Usually I would not do this, but Saving Anne de Bourgh is also an audiobook release, and I did not have any control over the release date. It was unfortunately delayed a couple…
As promised, here is the second cover reveal this week. Saving Anne de Bourgh is a full-length novel I wrote last year, and unusually, I wrote the bulk of it, or probably about 84-90% in the space of about three weeks. I usually take much longer to write anything, but for whatever reason, the words continued to come hard and fast; many days I was writing three chapters a day. Most of the major action happens in one day, so that…
As I promised last week, I have a cover reveal today. Four Days at Netherfield was a project I conceived recently, one that has made it to the publishing stage far more quickly than most of my ideas. It is funny how that works sometimes, for delays can happen at any stage of the process, from outlining to final edits and covers. I currently have more than 15 variations outlined and waiting in my to do folder, which will give you…
As many of you may already know, I am a summer person. I often comment that I never complain about the heat in the summer because I reserve the right to complain about the cold in the winter. The heat gets a bit uncomfortable at times, but it never bothers me much, as I much prefer being too warm than too cold, which is why I really despise winters. Makes you wonder why I live in the frozen north, where…
I enjoy posting excerpts. It’s always interesting to offer a glimpse of what is in the pipe and hear what people are thinking. Before I publish each book, I do a rigorous editing program which allows other eyes to look at my manuscript, and ends up costing me many hours of time revising, dealing with any language not appropriate for the genre such as anachronisms, and trying to find that exact word that will say what I wish to say….
Anyone who knows me knows that I am a sucker for piano music. For today’s post, I thought rather than give you one piano, I’d give you two! Mozart’s sonata for two pianos was written in 1781 when he was 25 years old. The entire work is sublime, but my favorite part is the second movement, which I will share today. Enjoy!
The Oxford comma is one of the most debated concepts in the English language, even for those who do not know what it is. Commas in general are not my strong point, mostly because my grasp of grammar is instinctive rather than rule-oriented. I have gotten much better over the years, but I still rely on grammar checkers and proofreaders to detect when I’m using them incorrectly. The Oxford comma, however, is one of those things that is usually cut…
Recently I came across an article with a list of the origins behind common sayings, which sparked my interest in such things. I went and did some further research and came up with a number of such sayings that I thought I would share. This list is (of course) in no way comprehensive but I hope you enjoy them! Ever wonder why poor people are called “piss poor?” The saying originates from the practice of using urine to tan animal…
For today’s post, I thought I would go back to a subject that always seems to be of interest–an excerpt. On this occasion, I have several to choose from as I have three books in various stages of the writing progress. I chose Four Days at Netherfield because it is likely the closest to seeing Amazon’s virtual store shelves. As usual when I post excerpts, this is hot off the presses with little editing done, so you may fine an error…