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Showing posts from August, 2016

Reviews: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

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The Perils of Reading Reviews of Your Novel The day The Mermaid's Sister went live on Amazon was one of the weirdest days of my life. A mixture of excitement, fulfillment, and terror consumed me as the reviews began to appear. First, the five stars (yay!) Then some fours and a few threes (okay, everyone is entitled to his/her own taste and opinion)...and eventually, the dreaded one star. (If I remember properly, the reason the reviewer gave was that he didn't like Young Adult novels. Still shaking my head over that one.) I admit I kept reading reviews for a while--maybe a week or two--before I realized it was messing with my head. How could I have written someone's new favorite book that also was the most cliché piece of trash ever? How could a simple story draw such personal, hateful attacks from some and inspire others to joy? You just can't wrap your mind around that. And you shouldn't try. To quote a grammatically revolting cliché (because apparently I ro...

Festivals & Festivities

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Oh, the Places I'll Go... (to quote Dr. Seuss. Sort of.) Hi! Summer is winding down, but don't fret! Much fun is yet to be had before the winter winds blow. Here are a few places you'll find me purveying & signing books in the next month or so. The 7th Annual Williamsport Welcomes the World Festival Downtown Williamsport, Pennsylvania Friday, August 26th, 2016 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm My good friend and fellow author Susan Lower will share a book-selling table at this celebration coinciding with the Little League World Series. There will also be live music, food, and craft vendors. Beaver County Book Fest Beaver County Book Fest 2016 will take place Saturday, September 10th from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., in the charming and historic town of Beaver, in western Pennsylvania. This year's featured authors are Tawni O’Dell and Caroline Carlson. The Main Event on Saturday is free and features an Authors’ Tent ( with 50+ authors! ), the popular...

A Tale of Two Leprechauns

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It's no blarney... Right before I packed to go to Philadelphia for the 2016 Realm Makers Conference last week (more on that below), I sent the completed manuscript of my leprechaun novel to my editor. It was a proud and terrifying moment, as any writer could tell you. The leprechaun and I have been an item for almost five years now. We've broken up numerous times, only to make up and start over. So, here's hoping the luck of the Irish will be with me--and that the publisher says they'd like to give me a pot of gold to publish the novel. In other leprechaun (and mermaid) news, the Realm Makers Conference was amazing! The conference is designed for "people of faith who love speculative fiction" (fantasy, science fiction, horror, & thriller genres). One of the highlights was the yearly costumed awards banquet. Dressed as a leprechaun (heaven knows I love any excuse to put on a costume!), I received top honors in the Young Adult novel category and wen...