Category: Uncategorized

  • Writing with a Collaborator

    I\’m at the Samhain Publishing blog today, talking about writing with a collaborator. I hope you\’ll stop by! 🙂

  • Requiem for a World-Changer

    I\’ve started to write this post several times since I received the news of Stephen R. Covey\’s death.  I don\’t handle death well for my intimates, how can I handle it for someone whom I\’ve never met but who changed my life?  I suppose I shall just go with my thoughts and feelings, top of mind.

    Mr. Covey, you changed my life.  I know it sounds trite, but the Seven Habits helped me to see that I have the power to determine my own future in accordance with my will and that of the Universe, rather than my culture or family of origin.  Your ideas of the Emotional Bank Account, Seek First to Understand, and Be Proactive are things which I use everyday as mantras as I wind my way through the thickets of interpersonal relationships.  I have your book The Eighth Habit and have not finished it, because I\’m taking it slow and digesting it.

    I remember when I first read your biography about your doctoral thesis, how you set about to discover how men lived and thought about success and personal accountability.  I never knew that one could write such a relevant doctoral dissertation.  I thought it had to be something untouchable, abstruse, not something so useful to everyday people.  Further, your syntopical reading list intrigued me and I wandered around some of the books you mentioned reading, awed by your decision to study them and by what you gleaned from their wisdom.

    I\’ve taught your material, defended it from others of my generation who felt it ten years out of date and laughed at my usage of your jargon.  I\’ve worked for your company, even, over a decade ago and in another state.  I\’ve used the Franklin Planner since 1995 and watched as you and Mr. Smith battled it out for understanding as you merged the two philosophies of time and life management.

    Mr. Covey, I never met you, but as I read of your bicycle accident and death I want to cry.  I want to cry because it feels like I know you, like you are a mentor for me.  I want to cry because the world has lost one of its luminaries today, one of those rare souls who touched the lives of those around them and made them better for it.

    Requiescat in pace, Mr. Covey.  Go with God.

  • Greetings From Vacation – The Attack of the Deer

    We\’re still on our vacation and enjoying our time in the Pocono Mountains.

    Except… for the deer that attacked my husband…

    He looks so innocent, doesn\’t he?  But the monster approaches… 
    He sees the first monster, but the second catches his scent.

    Drawing closer, the monster cannot believe its luck!

    Oh dear!  The monster\’s mother intervenes.

    And nearly eats my husband!

    These vicious animals are thwarted by my husband\’s strength of character.

    They confer, no doubt planning some dastardly deed.
    What\’s this?  They decide to separate, the better to regroup…

    My husband magnanimously lets them go.

    They decide to retreat, hiding behind their personas as leaf-eaters. 
    They check behind themselves to see if they still have his attention.

  • Tue Cent Twosday

    We are driving up to the Pocono Mountains today to visit with family.  In the meantime, I wanted to share some marketing tips from fellow author, Mandy Roth.  Here is her article, \”Author Marketing Tips and Tricks.\”

  • On Vacation This Week

    Happy Summer Vacation!

    I\’m in Phili this week, so stay tuned for more of Noony\’s Nuggets.  I might find something for you hiding around the corners whilst on vacation.  Lessee… nope, that\’s a hot dog bun.  For today, just a comic.  But tomorrow?  Hmm.

    Summertime.  It does a body good.

  • Greetings From the Road

    We are on the road to Philadelphia. Working on the Bryce Canyon Shawl on the road. Happy Sunday!

  • The Noonhour

    Welcome to The Noonhour, a new Podcast featuring essays, children\’s stories, and other items I find interesting.  It\’s an experiment that I\’m enjoying, so sit back, relax, and listen to

    The Noonhour


  • Technology. I.Love.It.

    This is a story about a writer who wanted to have some fun.  She wanted to use her spiffy new-to-her iMac to create a Podcast to the world and play with the M-Audio keyboard (piano keyboard, folks, not typing keyboard) that she\’d bought mumble-something years ago and actually make some music, like, man.

    Therein lies the story, see, because technology, well, technology is an ugly bitch that never got picked at the high school dance and now wants to take it out on anyone walking by whether or not they were at the dance dancing or wallflowers too.  So our writer, who will remain silent on the whole dancer/wallflower thing, decided to do the simple task of taking a microphone and speaking some words into it and doing a podcast.  Simple, right?  Even a monkey can do it.

    Apparently, our writer is not a monkey.

    Four DAYS later, the software update started is done and installed and all the new whizbang instrument sounds are available, she has recorded her first (cheesy and corny but fun) podcast – but then couldn\’t figure out how to post it to Blogger because apparently Blogger doesn\’t yet host podcasts – dude, Blogger, get with it, will ya? – and posted it to YouTube and…

    Therein lies the story, see, because you can\’t upload an audio-only file to YouTube.

    Sigh.

    So, Google search revealed the secret – that one must first make a movie on iMovie.

    You with me on this?  Our poor writer, who JUST WANTED TO HAVE SOME FUN, decided to record herself in GarageBand, which then uploaded to iTunes, which then uploaded to YouTube but wouldn\’t work, now is in iMovie to add the audio to a still image, and then upload that back onto YouTube…

    For a four second clip.

    Huh?  IT\’S SUPPOSED TO BE 10 MINUTES LONG!

    Turns out, iMovie defaults four seconds of audio when you have an image.  You have to change the duration of the image from four seconds to the duration of your audio.  Still with me?  Come on, drink some coffee, you can do it…  I know it\’s confusing, but it\’s almost done.

    So.  GarageBand-to-iTunes-to-YouTube-to-iMovie-to-YouTube and FINALLY success.

    I just looked and…

    My image is too wide for the space alotted for YouTube and cuts off the words in the bottom right of the frame.

    I officially give up and call it…

    MY FIRST DRAFT.

    The others being… well… firster.

    G\’night.

  • Chuck the Sheep

    When I went to Wisconsin\’s Sheep and Wool Festival a couple years ago, there was a highly peculiar sheep.

  • Walking In This World

    One of the most obvious ways to ground is to work IN the ground, by gardening.  What I\’ve discovered about gardening is that weeding is like laundry – it never ends.  As you keep working in your garden, the weeds keep growing.


    The best part about gardening is the results of the growth.  I love seeing tomatoes turn red, and peppers finish growing.  We have chard that is getting huge and beautiful.  It\’s almost a shame to eat, since they\’re so pretty.  My lilies are opening and my curry plants have lots of yellow seeds that scent the air.


    Weeds remind me that daily maintenance yields positive results and that there is serenity in the everyday. 


    Do you garden?  What do you like to grow?

  • Tue Cent Twosday

    Publishing and writing are two different parts of the puzzle.  They\’re not the same thing and shouldn\’t be approached as the same thing.


    Writing is a creative art.  It\’s image-intensive, using the imagination to create stories and poetry.  Even non-fiction is as much art as science, as connections are made between facts and figures.  There are many tools to help us keep the channel clear as we create.


    Publishing is a business.  It\’s about producing product that customers want to buy.  It\’s changed a lot in the last fifteen years, from the consolidation of traditional publishing houses to the explosion of ereaders and ebooks.  Genre definitions have blurred and fractionated because the internet allows authors to give readers many different tags for a particular book that would be impossible to duplicate in a brick-and-mortar store.  


    It\’s important to remember that these two \”jobs,\” if you will, aren\’t the same and that they require different skills.  Luckily, there are many places to learn the skills that will help you succeed at both, but the firs step is to recognize the differences between them.

  • New Blog Today, and a New Job!

    LGBT Fantasy Fans and Writers has launched.  From the \”About Us\” page: \”Welcome to our little corner of the ‘net. This is going to be a blog that appreciates LGBT fantasy in all its forms and incarnations- books, movies, games, art, whatever! Dark, light, urban, epic, romantic, sword and sorcery, classic… We love it all.\”

    Together with Alex Beecroft, Jennifer Thorne, Kay Barisford, Melanie Tushmore, and Violetta Vane, I\’ll be talking about one of my favorite subjects – the fantasy genre in all its wonderful variety, and specifically looking at the GLBT subset within it. We will offer flash fiction, essays, and excerpts from our own works. I hope you enjoy!

    My first entry is up today, \”Worldbuilding – M/M Style.\” I talk about some of the unique challenges presented to authors of M/M romance as they venture into creating worlds of their own.  Stop on by!

    Today is also my day at the Writer\’s Retreat Blog, where I talk about new beginnings.

    In addition, I start a new job today.  I\’m very excited.  Wish me luck!