Four Things I Had To Learn To Finish A Novel

Hint: It wasn’t grammar. (It’s still not grammar. Sorry, editors.)

This post was requested by a friend planning to do Nanowrimo (a yearly challenge to write a 50K novel–or your own “rebel” goal–in a month). My confession is that despite three attempts, I’ve never “completed” Nanowrimo. But after some false starts, I did manage to finish a novel, and my friend asked how I finally pushed past the roadblocks. And when I told them some of what worked for me, they asked me to put it in a blog post and share with everyone. So here goes. 🙂

Creators gonna create

The artist Bob Ross painting on a canvas with the text "Find freedom on this canvas."
On this blog we stan Bob Ross.
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Guest Post for QBU

From Wayne’s World to Red Dwarf: Inspirations Behind Spellbound’s Paranormal  Roaring Twenties

I wrote a guest post for Queer Books Unbound on some of the influences behind Spellbound’s magic and characters! You can find the article at this link at QBU.

Hint: It’s not the Great Gatsby. Anyone remember Wayne’s World, Relic Hunter, or the BBC sci-fi comedy show Red Dwarf?

Picture of Ace Rimmer, an alternate dimension counterpart of Arnold Rimmer.
Smoke me a kipper,
I’ll be back for breakfast.

Prohibition and the Paranormal

The Real History Behind Spellbound

In celebration of Spellbound’s upcoming release, Harlequin and Carina Press invited me to blog about why I set the novel in the 1920s and some of the real history behind Spellbound’s paranormal Prohibition.

My post is over at the Carina Press blog, where I dive into how Spellbound got its Roaring Twenties setting and some of the real New York City history that influenced the novel, like Fifth Avenue mansions and the Coney Island Wonder Wheel.

You can read the post here, at this link.

Interviewed!

Heidi Cullinan and I talk Spellbound and more at Joyfully Jay

I’m so grateful to have been given the chance to talk to Heidi as part of her Author Interview Series. We talked about Spellbound, historical romance, mental health, Star Wars, and books I love or am looking forward to reading. There’s also a peek into what’s coming next for Rory and Arthur in Magic in Manhattan #2.

You can read the entire interview over at Joyfully Jay at this link.

A Romance Query That Worked

The query letter that led to my book deal and agent

Querying can be so stressful. And as a new author, I’m not very far out of it. When I was drafting my own queries, one of the things I found most helpful was reading successful letters. I’m grateful for the authors who shared with me, and I’m sharing mine now in case it helps even one other author.

A man and cat sharing corn on the cob.
Sharing, just like this!
Okay, maybe not exactly like this.
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