#WriteWed – Mission to Mars

I grew up during a time when space exploration was all the rage and I cut my teeth on books by Arthur C. Clarke, TV shows like LOST IN SPACE, and of course the movie adaptation of one of Clarke’s books, 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY. My hubby and I sometimes talk about how we thought that by now we’d be able to either live on the moon or on a space station and wonder why it is that we’ve fallen so behind in what seemed so plausible so many years ago. Of course, now there’s a space race going on again with the various tech billionaires trying to outdo each other with rockets, moon bases, etc.

It kind of makes me wonder why I never thought to write a book set in space? What do you think? Would you be interested?

In the mean time, how about signing yourself up to see your name on the next NASA Rover mission to Mars? Just visit NASA with this link to get your own boarding pass: https://mars.nasa.gov/participate/send-your-name/mars2020/

May 1, 2019February 17, 2021

#WriteWed #WisdomWednesday – Self Doubt is an Anchor That Keeps You From Flying Free

Most people think that with over 50 published works in 20 years that I can just sit down and write and write and write. Many know that I normally have a strict regimen of writing every day (work and family permitting). But like many there are moments when self-doubt grabs me and drags me down, especially in this constantly changing publishing landscape. Self-doubt is one of the most debilitating things in life and not just for writing. It can become an anchor that can keep you from success at whatever you want out of life regardless of whether it’s a relationship, career or writing. When those moments come on me, I tell myself to look not at what’s not been done, but at what’s been accomplished. I tell myself that the person who did all that can do anything they absolutely want to do. The only thing standing in the way is my own self-doubt. If you have those moments as well, take a second to share what helps you get over them and move on.

Original Image by Jean van der Meulen from Pixabay

March 27, 2019February 17, 2021

#WriteWed – Getting to know you!

I love getting to know you so I hope you’ll take a moment to drop by one of my upcoming events! Besides getting to meet me, you’ll be able to pick up some fun swag that I’ll have at the various events.

Liberty States Fiction Reader and Writer Conference
March 30-31, 2019
Book Fair open to the General Public
March 30 – 4:30-6 pm
Liberty States Fiction Writers Conference
Renaissance Woodbridge Hotel
Iselin, NJ

Book Lovers Con
May 15-19, 2019
Hyatt Regency New Orleans
601 Loyola Ave, New Orleans, LA 70113
For more info please visit https://www.bookloverscon.com

IWWG Summer Writers Conference 2019: Writing the Body:
Voice, Art, and Craft in a Changing World
July 12-19, 2019
Muhlenberg College
Allentown, PA
For more info, please visit https://www.iwwg.org/summer-conference/

Romance Writers of America National Conference
July 24-27, 2019
New York Marriott Marquis
1535 Broadway
New York, New York
For more info please visit https://www.rwa.org/p/cm/ld/fid=564

Original Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay

March 13, 2019February 17, 2021

#WriteWed – Setting Goals

My amazingly organized friend and awesome YA author Nisha Sharma presented me with a lovely birthday gift: a calendar and post-its for getting my writing (and social life) in order. Years earlier we had done a workshop together at RWA about getting organized and it was a lot of fun, but woefully revealed how I am not a calendar/planner/journal/whatever kind of girl. My daughter knows this as well since the other day she was showing me her wonderful planners with her daily writing goals, budgeting information, etc.

Sigh. Those two are going to drag me into the world of actually setting down my goals. Not that I don’t have goals since having been in this publishing world for 20 years and 50+ books, I must have had some kind of goals. LOL! But it’s more relevant than ever since there will be major life changes in the next year and I need to seriously plan what I want to do with my writing, work, and life in general.

How about you? Do you do the planner/calendar/journal/whatever thing? I’d love to know what works for you in setting goals.

Original Journal Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

March 6, 2019

#WriteWed – When Emotion Holds a Story Hostage

I don’t know about you, but I’ve had a story that’s been held hostage by my emotions for a very long time. It’s a story about me, my mom, and our family’s escape from Cuba. Every time I set down to write about it, I found myself being held back by the emotions that were inside me. Emotions that are still too raw even after decades of leaving Cuba and losing my mom.

But I know it’s a story that I need to tell almost as if by telling it the ghosts of that past and the pain associated with it will somehow disappear. It occurred to me that one way to get past the emotions holding me back is to write the story as if it wasn’t my story, but rather my characters’ story.

So I find myself laying out this new book that will be mostly about a woman disconnected from one part of her heritage, a man deeply connected to his heritage, and a grandmother desperate to reconnect with a part of her family that she’s lost.

In many ways, I can connect to the heroine and to the grandmother. For a while I had lost a big part of who I had been and had to fight to recover it and leave something of me for my daughter. In time I’ve given her a lot of that, but not all and I hope in time I can give her the rest.

As for this book, in part it is about sharing as much as I can about that story that’s been trapped by emotions. It’s about writing a story that all people will be able to connect to since it will be about getting over loss, finding oneself, and of course, finding love.

No title yet and no release date, but I’ll keep you posted!

February 20, 2019

#WriteWed – The Best Thing About Writing

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again! The absolutely best thing about writing is getting to spend time with all of you! I love getting to know you and talking books with you. So I hope I will see some of you at one of my upcoming events and conferences. Please take a moment to check out the list and if you have anything going on nearby that you want for me to attend, please drop me a line and I will see if I can make it!

Upcoming Events

Liberty States Fiction Reader and Writer Conference

Liberty States Fiction Writers Conference

Book Lovers Con
May 15-19, 2019
Hyatt Regency New Orleans
601 Loyola Ave, New Orleans, LA 70113
For more info please visit https://www.bookloverscon.com

Romance Writers of America National Conference
July 24-27, 2019
Literacy Signing is open to the general public.
New York Marriott Marquis
1535 Broadway
New York, New York
For more info please visit https://www.rwa.org/p/cm/ld/fid=564

Hope to see you soon!

February 13, 2019

#WriteWed – Playing Genre Roulette

Some people may know that I started out writing contemporary romance. Eight of them in fact for Kensington Publishing’s defunct ENCANTO romance line. I had written those novels over the course of about three years and I wanted to challenge myself by writing something totally new and different. Being a fan of The X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I wondered what I would do if I mashed the two genres — suspense and vampires — and tossed in some romance as well. That’s how THE CALLING IS REBORN series was created. Little did I know I would be sucked into a world of both regular and paranormal suspense for the next ten years. WOW! But like I had before, I felt myself craving doing some different and definitely something lighter. That’s how ONE SUMMER NIGHT and WHAT HAPPENS IN SUMMER came about as well as the TAKE A CHANCE Military Romance novellas.

It is a risk to mix genres like that. For an author it’s like playing roulette because you never know if you’re going to have a winner and make a reader happy. Ultimately, that’s one of the big end goals – happy readers. But there is also another goal: loving what you do as a writer.

Will writing in multiple genres work? It has for some people, but I always caution first-time authors to focus on one genre for at least a few books. Develop a following before you go off and try something different. If readers like you, they will follow. If not…

Publishing is a crap shoot for sure. If you’re going to be a winner in the long run the most important thing is to be passionate about what you write.