The Clarion Write a Thon Begins!

Despite three quarters of hard work on my doctorate,  I have managed to keep a toe hold in the creative writing world with three new publications.  On the fiction side, "Dance With The Devil" was just published in Seers: Ten Tales of Clairvoyance. All of my (four) publications in Rayne Hall's Ten  Tales series are spinoffs from my novels Unfinished Business or Boulevard of Bad Spells and Broken Dreams, which are now (still) making the rounds of agents.

On the non fiction side, "Artichokes" was published in Winter 2013 in Thanksgiving to Christmas: A Quilt of Holidays. In September, "Karma, Kickbacks and Kids" will be published in Not Your Mother's Book: On Parenting, and at the same time Not Your Mother's Book: On Being a Woman will be re-released by PS Publishing to a much larger market. My nonfiction runs the gamut from the sweet and sentimental to the irreverent and edgy so there is really something for everyone.

All my publications are listed on my Amazon Author's Page and anyone who makes a donation to the Write a Thon on my behalf will get a special gft from me (Hint: something or another on that page, depending upon your  taste)

I'm actively at work on "The Fairy Lamp," which will be going out to pro short story markets very soon. "The Ultimate Test," which has been cursed with acceptances that never seen to work out when anthologies run out of room or close down is in the queue with Fearful Symmetries and my fingers are crossed. I've also got "Fairyflies," which needs a nice, literary market and if anyone has a suggestion for a rather short magical realist tale, please let me know.

In order to get back into a regular creative writing routine, I've once again signed onto the Clarion Write a Thon to work through this backlog and break this writer's block. I would sincerely appreciate some contributions, no matter how small to this very worthy cause as well as to kick my butt and keep me at work with a story I've been dying to finish for years called "The Northern Lights."

And once I get done with that, I really need to get moving on the first chapters of the second book in the Boulevard of Bad Spells and Broken Dreams series, which has been researched and outlined and just needs some serious behind in the chair, fingers on the keyboard work.

So, please join me this summer as I've got a big deadline approaching on September 3, when my final year of the doctoral program begins and I once again must retreat into the scholarly world, which is nowhere near as much fun as writing fantasy or whipping up excerpts of my memoirs. Click here for my Clarion Author Page to view my progress and to the Write a Thon Home Page to make a donation.

These Books Make Great Holiday Gifts for Everyone on Your List

Signed copies of all my new and re-releases are available for holiday gifts. Contact me for personalization and details about which anthology would best suit your intended recipient. I can also gift bag any combination of the books and send them directly if you'd like.

Grandma might not like Not Your Mother's Book: On Being a Woman, but then again, maybe she would. It's gotten five star reviews on Amazon as hysterical and a great present for all your (girl) friends.

"A Catholic Schoolgirl's Primer" is an excerpt of my memoir Someday I'm Going to Write a Book: Diary of an Urban Missionary.

For the less intrepid, a tribute to my dear Grandma Clo, who died on November 18, 1999, appears in A Quilt of Holidays, an anthology of sweet, inspirational stories. This one, along with other excerpts of Someday in Thanksgiving to Christmas and This Path, are work and family safe.


My new fiction: PG-13 urban fantasy stories set in the world of my novels, featured in the Ten Tales Series Anthologies edited by Rayne Hall, are very easy to gift since they are ebooks in all formats. And I can send you personalized gift cards.

Breakwater Beach

The Dhampir's Kiss

Mishmash Magick

Artichokes

'Tis the Season

The Dance Class
Endless Possibilities

A Catholic Schoolgirls Primer

My Life Is A Three Ring Circus

In the First Ring:  Fiction. In the Middle:  Non Fiction. In the Third Ring: Doctoral Program. And I'm juggling the full time job, the per diem job,  one husband  three kids, a dog, a cat, and a garden.

Publicity tours, readings, signings-it's great to be famous.  Seriously, I love meeting readers and other writers. World Con rocked. So did the "Ghosts and the Afterlife" Panel in Portsmouth, N. H.  with Renee Mallet, Chelsea Cameron, hostess Terri Bruce, and Me.

Got to visit Salem gearing up for Halloween and Samhain.  (all right pay back was finishing and submitting my Philosophy paper with free in room Internet  at 1 am in the Courtyard by Marriott, Andover but you only live once).

So far, I'm keeping up. Staying up, too. Average bedtime is midnight with the outliers being 10 pm and 2 am. Wake up is 5:30 am, except for one Sunday in the last three weeks that I slept until 8.

Lost five pounds. That's good. Lot of aches and pains--all stres related. Not so good. Trying to schedule in some yoga and dance classes to limber up and lighten up the mood.

What am I reading? Ha! About 150 pages of peer reviewed research and academic articles a week, plus writing at least one major paper a week.  Sometimes two. In APA format. In third person, passive voice. In a scholarly voice. (The last one is the hardest)

New electronic medical records at work+ Lots of training sessions=Decreased productivity=Angry bosses+Cranky, tired  midwife who doesn't get lunch or go to the bathroom all day.

How am I doing it? Not sure. But since I got a lot of writing done over the summer, most of my creative writing has been editing. And when I get the chance to write fiction, like the short story I polished yesterday called "Dance With the Devil," it's a relief rather than a burden.

There are three new releases out or coming out, and one in the pipeline. Here's the line up:

Kudos and Thanks to Rayne Hall for putting together yet another great anthology. My story "Mishmash Magick" is an excerpt of Boulevard of Bad Spells and Broken Dreams adapted to a short story format (as is "The Dhampir's Kiss" in Bites: Ten Tales of Vampires).  All Ten Tales books are PG13 and in most electronic formats.

Buy it here

Very suitable for all audiences, these gentle anthologies contain stories about life. This Path features two of my favorite excerpts of Someday I'm Going to Write a Book, including "The Dance Class" and "Endless Possibilities."
It was published a few years ago but just re-released as an ebook

A Quilt of Holidays contains "Artichokes," a tribute to my grandmother and family memories.

I have signed copies. Contact me for details.









And finally, on October 9, "A Catholic School Gir's Primer" will
be published in Not Your Mother's Book: On Being a Woman
Warning, this book, and my true life account about "becoming a
woman" is not for the easily offended.
But it's all true, edgy, and funny--if you have a sense of humor.

Stay tuned for details. There is a huge publicity tour in the works for this, one of the first in PS Publishing's Not Your Mother's Book Series.

And I'll catch you, and catch you up when I can!