My award-winning debut novel, Small as a Mustard Seed, got a new cover and is available in paperback once again! What’s it about? As the daughter of a Korean war veteran, Ann Marie learns not to trust people, including her own parents. While her father rages with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), confusing reality with […]
Well, I already wrote about all the perks of living in the country. But as we all know, you need conflict to tell a great story. So here are a few cons that also shaped me (& made me a better writer) by growing up in rural America. Cons: Very little to do in […]
Favorite writing advice: “Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.” Who said it: Pablo Picasso Why: Well, he was a painter, not a writer, but still for any artist, I don’t think I’ve heard truer advice. You can’t sit around waiting for inspiration to strike if you want to be a writer. You […]
My novel, Small as a Mustard Seed, just won the Silver Medal 2012 Book Award for Literary Fiction by the Military Writers Society of America. I’ve been a member of the MWSA for nearly a year now and am happy to support our troops in the best way that I know how, by writing. […]
I am somewhat obsessed with war. My grandfather fought for the Germans on the Russian front during World War II. My grandmother, in the middle of 1940s Germany, held their little family together by herself for more than six years. My dad had the formative years of his childhood in a war-torn environment and […]
Favorite writing advice: “Trust the story.” Who said it: Patricia Ann McNair, creative writing professor Why: The story knows what it wants to be. You just need to get out of the way ~ with your thoughts on what it should be or what you want it to be, trying to make it sound a certain […]
This lovely 5-star review of my novel, SMALL AS A MUSTARD SEED, comes from Tom Clementson over at the Kindle Book Review. Tom’s an American military guy, currently stationed in Afghanistan. We met on Twitter (find Tom: @TCAbn) & I mentioned my book, that the story, among other things, dealt with a Korean War veteran. […]
November 1965 “I ain’t afraid this time. I ain’t some kid don’t know shit from Shinola,” my father hollered as he stood in the driveway. In the curve of his chest, pressed tight against the denim of his overalls, he clutched a black revolver. The other hand combed through the short dark hairs of his […]
So this is my two cents worth, but I think the most important thing a writer can have going for them is not talent, not desire, not sheer will. All those things, of course, are great, but 10 years down the line (maybe more/maybe less) & you’re not where you want to be, you’ll think […]
Well, I can write about this one because I took the last 2 months off to work on turning my first novel into an e-book. I sat down the other day to start writing my latest novel & couldn’t remember where I’d been, which character was doing what, & any thoughts I might’ve had about […]