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The Renaissance Club Is Available for Pre-Order!

Pre-order THE RENAISSANCE CLUB, my time-travel, romantic novel. Would you give up everything, even the time in which you live, to be with your soul mate? That’s the question my main character, May Gold, has to ask herself when her adventures in Italy in The Renaissance Club bring her face-to-face with her idol, 17th century genius sculptor Gianlorenzo Bernini. She has always admired — maybe more than admired — the fiery, expressive artist who could…

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Illustrated Preview of my novel The Renaissance Club, and countdown to launch!

It’s starting to feel like the countdown to the offical launch of my novel, The Renaissance Club, in January! As the daughter of a rocket scientist, I have to use rocket metaphors in connection with the word “launch”. Very soon you’ll be able to pre-order my book on Amazon. And also soon, I’ll host a giveaway. My giveaway will include another good read, signed paperback copies of my book of poems and essays, Gods of…

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10 Days of National Novel Writing Month – #NaNoWriMo Survival

It was the best of days, it was the worst of days on Day 10 of National Novel Writing Month. Because I wrote for an hour first thing, it was the best. But actually, mostly it was the worst of days. Consider having: Your heating installed over a 3-day period of mistakes, confusion, and changing personnel. Three of your 4 website disappearing for no reason — all paid for and not hacked. The world’s stiffest…

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Day 8 of #NaNoWriMo — and I’m Still Here

On Day 8 of #NaNoWriMo — National Novel Writing Month — I’m still fulfilling my commitment to spend two hours every day working on my new novel, The Romantics. NaNoWriMo is a marathon, an endurance test for writers. The official goal of participating is to draft a new novel of at least 50,000 words. Yes, 50,000 words. That divides up into more than 1,600 words a day. Remember having to write essays in school? This…

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Preparing for National Novel Writing Month – 4 Writing Tips

Preparing for National Novel Writing Month can be hard if you’re allergic to plot outlines. And with any method, it’s a steep climb to write 50,000 words in a month. But if you have the urge to join the 34,000 people who last year completed a novel in 30 days, and your pen is poised over the paper (=your fingers poised on the keys), here are some tips. Thanks to Editor Barbara Bos and Women…

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How to Get Blurbs for Your Book – 3 Ways to Ask

How to get blurbs for your book — this has been my recent focus. I’ve wondered how, if I should, and if so whom I dare ask to take the time away from their own writing. I shied away from it for months. But everyone says blurbs, or short testimonials, help book buyers decide if they want to buy a book. Buyers see them on Amazon, on the back cover in a bookstore, and they…

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Preparing for National Novel Writing Month

I never thought I’d be writing about preparing for National Novel Writing Month, but November 2016 changed my perspective on what I had considered a ridiculous rush to write a novel in one month. How could any self-respecting author write so fast, so carelessly, so focused on the wrong dimension — the sheer number of words? And then I tried it. I was in grief over losing someone close to me. I couldn’t work, I…

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Two Ways to Plot a Novel & a Theory

Ways to Plot a Novel Working on a plot outline so you can plunge into your next big creative project, or getting ready to jump into National Novel Writing Month — could you use at least 10 ways to plot a novel? I have a list of articles for you. Actually, it’s a lot more than 10 ways. Writers in the Storm has an excellent article on different ways to plot your story. From a…

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Evolution of a Cover Design

The evolution of a cover design for my novel The Renaissance Club has been a fascinating process. I’m thrilled with this cover art, showing my main character walking into a mysterious, dreamlike Italian Renaissance landscape. The scene shimmers with possibility, like the doorway in time through which she walks to meet her 17th century artist hero, sculptor Gianlorenzo Bernini. Evolution of a Cover Design The process of working with my publisher on cover art began…

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Why Writers Wait So Much

For the decades that I’ve been writing, I’ve often wondered why writers wait so much. We wait for inspiration, we wait for writing time, and excruciatingly, we wait for responses from publishers and agents. Sometimes I’ve waited months for a reply to an agent query or a literary journal. Is it just me and my writing? What makes them hesitate and delay? Or is the publishing industry so clogged with writers pitching their writing that…

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