Clockwork Alchemy 2024

Happy Wednesday Scribblers, I hope you are all having a wonderful week. This past weekend I attended Clockwork Alchemy (click here to learn more) in San Mateo, CA. The con was an absolute ball, and I was thrilled to be part of three different panels as well as having space in the author alley. Today I thought I would share some of my thoughts and photos from the event and the panels I was on.

First off, a huge thank you to everyone at Clockwork Alchemy, especially B.J. Sikes (learn more here), for having me and ensuring everything was running smoothly for us authors. 

Over the weekend, as I mentioned, I was on three different author panels. All three groups were well attended and facilitated terrific and meaningful conversation. The panels I took part in were:

Own Voice Story Telling

In this panel, we discussed the importance of celebrating, promoting, and encouraging Own Voice Creators. It’s important to remember that Own Voice Creators, are not there to gatekeep, but they are there to remind everyone of the importance of opening up the creative communities to all and not limiting story telling or creating to a small group of people who may not fully understand our diverse community members. We reminded everyone in the panel that representation matters. This panel was absolutely wonderful, and I learned a lot.

Book Marketing and PR

Where to start with this panel, there are so many factors to keep in mind for book marketing and PR. It’s hard to nail this topic down, but the important points from this discussion were to open up yourself to trying new avenues of promotion within the realm of what is cost effective for you. As with all marketing and promotion, what you can comfortably afford should always be front and center in your planning. Some basics are:

  • Have a Press Kit

  • Start a Website and Social Media platform

  • Have a newsletter (however this can be hit or miss, so use your judgement)

  • Start marketing yourself and your book(s) right away

Book Publishing

What didn’t we cover in this conversation? We chatted about the different types of publishing (indie, traditional, communal, highbred, etc.). Part of our conversation landed on does and don’t and things to avoid (watch out for snake oil salespersons). We offered suggestions on the craft of writing (editing, cover art, basics around starting your brand, and how to deal with unflattering reviews). My fellow panelist and I endeavor to be as encouraging and as straightforward as we could be, within the time allotted. We all agreed that we could have talked for hours on the subject. To end the discussion, we reminded our audience that they are all authors and to start thinking of themselves in that regard.

Also, I shared my YouTube channel with the audience, letting them know I have almost 40 videos posted there, all about writing tips and tricks for authors. All the information is free and available for everyone to view. If you’re interested, find the videos here.

Those were the panels I participated in, all topics that I believe I have a lot to offer my fellow authors. When I wasn’t at my panels, I was staged in the Author Alley meeting and greeting readers as well as chatting up my fellow writers. I had a wonderful time. I managed to get down to the Artists’ Bazaar and caught up with wonderful vendors I know. I may have made a few purchases as well.

For a hit of trivia, for those of you who have read any of my books (especially The Calling series, click here) there is a side character named Fredrick Bisset. Mr. Bisset is the owner of the Los Altos Beaux Vêtements. He is a lovely and wonderfully talented man who makes all his clients look amazing (no matter who they are or what they look like). In short, he’s fantastic. This weekend I was thrilled to chat with the man that this character is based on, Mr. Alan Jeffries, of Fine Gentlemen’s Apparel (find him here). After, perhaps, buying a few pieces, I told him about how he inspired Fredrick and how Fredrick pops up in some form in all my books. We had a good laugh, and he thanked me for the compliment. So, here’s to Mr. Alan Jeffries, the real-life Mr. Fredrick Bisset.

Well, there you go. Clockwork Alchemy was so much fun and a terrific time. I’m hoping to go back next year. In the meantime, if you’re in the area this weekend, April 27th at 5pm. I’ll be at Books on B, in Hayward, CA for the Hayward Lit Hop. It’s always a lot of fun, so I hope you can come out and join us. Until next time, have a great week.

2023 Year in Review!

Happy 2024 everyone. I hope that you are all having a great start to the new year. I want to share with you my year in review. See where we’ve been and where we are going.

I launched Mu; Legend of a Lost City with my new publisher; Spectrum Books.

For the third year in a row, I had one of my short stories; Thanksgiving Pie shared in the BAQWA Presents anthology.

I released Conspiracy-A New World (Book 3) on audiobook thanks to the talented Steve Connor.

I finished my next novel, a haunting story about a neighborhood tormented by angry spirits.

I began work on my newest story, set in an alternate reality where airships sail the skies.

I continued work on the fourth novel in my Sci-Fi series A New World.

I was a guest at the Rainbow Chamber of Commerce (March 2023) and the Milpitas Chamber of Commerce (Dec 2023).

I participated in the Hayward Lit Hop with the Bay Area Queer Writers Association.

I attended several Pride Events this year: Placer Pride, Davis Pride, Sacramento Pride, and Modesto Pride.

I was a speaker at BayCon 2023.

I continued to meet and interact with several authors, who remind me of why I write.

With respect to my book sales, 2023 was my best year! Thank you to everyone who has continued to buy and support my work.

2023 wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. This year I also lost an aunt, several co-workers and a dear friend from high school.

As to not end this year in review on a low note, my husband and I celebrated 25 years together, and we marked this milestone with a cruise. We experienced the first ever Pride Night at Disneyland and we also enjoyed several other visits to the Happiest Place on Earth.

As with years past, we got together with several wonderful friends and family who we don’t get to see near enough, but we enjoy the time with them when we do get together.

For 2024 I’m planning on more in person and virtual events and I’m hoping to release at least one new work this year.

I’m sure there are several events that I’ve missed, however 2023 was a good year and here’s to 2024 being even better.

Happy New Year!

The Outsider

Happy Wednesday Scribblers, this past weekend, Eric and I went to Disneyland for Pride Night and as we enjoyed the night and experienced this wonderful event that Disney offered (officially for the first time). I took the opportunity to talk with folks and hear their stories and why this event was important to them. Eric and I also talked and the more I listened and heard everyone’s thoughts, even the thoughts of the cast members, I realized there was an underlying theme to the night. Not only am I going to share more of the fun pictures from the event, I’m also going to share my thoughts on what it’s like to be an Outsider in our world and finally being able to be 100% who I am even if it’s for only a few short hours.

Now, before I get started, this is my point of view and I fully understand and appreciate that my experience and observations are nothing compared to people of color, trans people of color, and even other members of the queer community. That said, I believe there is a common theme that I feel we all share and can agree on.

We are all the Outsider, that society fears.

We are the Outsiders.

Our world, as amazing and filled with wonder that it is, is skewed. Our society is set up for heterosexual members of our race. We think nothing of seeing a mother and father walking down the street with a baby buggy or a toddler. We see images of happy straight couples everywhere we look. This, to our greater society, is normal, well many of us are not ‘normal’; we are an Outsider. And as Outsiders, when we walk down a street, we don’t typically reach for our loved one’s hand to hold. We don’t typically share a kiss in public. And if we do either of these things, we are always checking over our shoulders, ensuring our safety.

We live as the Outsiders. We are the other, that for some reason people these days are terrified of.

But it’s us who are terrified. It is us who continue to live in fear. It is us who get the odd looks. The nasty comments. Why? It is this ten to fifteen percent of society, that may enjoy greater safety and freedoms, these days (for now), but none the less, we are a minority of oppressed people who in reality get a few moments of pure joy where we can let down our hair and be a hundred percent our true selves.

We are the Outsiders who live at the mercy of the Insiders. The ones who can control not only our lives, but our existence.

I can say this to you, because I live as an Outsider every day of my life. I experience outsiderness and I live in fear of losing not only my freedom, but my life. I live this on a daily basis.

When Eric and I are out in public, we never hold hands. We never kiss. People may look at us and see two gay men, but they may not be sure, because we don’t show ourselves that way. Not in public and rarely in private around our friends. This is how we grew up, and this is what stuck, because we are the Outsiders. We learned what was acceptable and expected of us.

So, when a company like Disney supports people like me (and I fully understand they are not perfect) and offers us a safe place to be ourselves and to show the world who we really are. It’s important. It’s special. And yes, it’s magical.

When Disney announced that they were doing their first official Pride Night, there was no way that Eric and I were going to miss it. Because for a few short hours we were normal. We were the norm, and no one judged us for being a couple. We weren’t the Outsiders anymore.

As we left, I heard several people make comments like; “I wish this night wouldn’t end.” And I agreed, because I knew as we walked back to our hotel (with a casual and familiar space between us) I wished we could have continued to be in that bubble where, for once, I could be my full self.

During the event, Disney put together a special fireworks display. It was about five, maybe six minutes, and the musical direction was wonderful. The fireworks ended with the song from the movie, The Greatest Showman; This is Me. As I watched, cheered and enjoyed, I also wept because the words to This is Me, always made me feel seen. Made me feel valued. Made me feel safe. It also filled me with a joy and strength to continue to write and to show the world my books aren’t about the character(s) being a member(s) of the queer community but these individuals living out in the open and going on adventures that got to happen to everyone else, but never to the Outsider until now.

Well, there you go, the point of view from an Outsider, who occasionally gets to live as an Insider. I hope you enjoyed the photos too. As you can see, we had a blast. Until next time, have a great week.

What’s happening? What’s Going on?

Happy Wednesday Scribblers, I hope you all had a great long weekend, celebrating Memorial Day (here in the US), for everyone else, I trust you’ve had a good week and a restful weekend. It’s been a busy couple of weeks and things aren’t slowing down anytime soon. Today I thought I would give you an update on what’s happening and what’s going on with me. As always, I want to take a moment and welcome my new Scribblers. I always appreciate hearing from you and seeing you out at events. Thanks for stopping by.

This last weekend, Eric and I had a little fun and went out to lunch and did a bit of shopping. When we go out, we are like kids in a candy store and we’re not to be trusted, but we had a good time and being out for a couple of hours was great. We even managed to buy a little something fun. We decided to add to our Lego collection and bought the Magic Kingdom’s Cinderella Castle, which was fun to put together. I built the first half, and he built the second half. I think slowly we’re going to build our own Disneyland.

What was nice about this build is that it didn’t take days to complete, but a couple of hours. It’s incredible all the tiny little pieces they give you and you have to make sure you put them together correctly or you have to take things apart and fix what you’ve already completed, or thought you completed. As with all Lego sets, we had a few extra bits, so we found a way to embellish our castle, which is always fun.

Click on the image to learn more.

Coming up this weekend, as some of you may have seen, I will be joining the wonderful group from QSac (find them here) at Davis Pride. The event is Sunday June 4th 10am – 4pm, so I hope if you are in the area you’ll come out and say hello. We had a great time last year, and I’m sure this year will be equally fun.

 

If you want to see all the events I’ll be going to don’t forget to check out my events page (click here).

Happening closer to home on June 17th 1pm – 2pm, several members of the Bay Area Queer Writers Association (BAQWA, learn more here) will be at the San Leandro Main Library (300 Estudillo Ave, San Leandro, CA) for a book reading. This is another free event and your support means a great deal, so if you have time, please come out and say hello.

On the writing front, I have Steve Connor (learn more here), back again working on Conspiracy - A New World, Book 3 (click here to learn more). Steve is back providing his voice and talent to the story and I can’t wait for you all to hear his great work. Have you read my A New World series yet? If not, you can get your sign copies here (US only) or you can find the audiobooks here and the eBooks and paperback books here. Check them out!

Also, I’m happy to report that I’m busy working on my next novel. I’m just over 40,000 words (150 pages or 16 chapters) in and I’m thrilled with how this story is coming along. I’ll be sharing more details about the story and the characters in my newsletter. Are you signed up? If not, join here and don’t miss out. I also provide my newsletter subscribers some exclusive offers.

And one more writing update. I’ve finished my next short story. It’s a Thanksgiving meet cute about two guys who meet at a grocery store on Thanksgiving Day, the story was a blast to write and I can’t wait for you to meet these two charming men.

Well, there you go, a quick check in this week. If you’re going to be in Davis, come and say hello and if you’re going to be in San Leandro, please stop by the San Leandro Main Library for the in person reading by several BAQWA Members. Until next time, have a great week.

Is it too Soon for Pride 2023?

Happy Wednesday Scribblers, I hope you’re all having a great week and a wonderful day. Is it too soon to start celebrating Pride 2023? That is the question. This past weekend, Eric and I packed up the car and drove to Roseville, CA for Placer Pride (learn more here). This year Placer Pride celebrated its second year. I was part of the group of six from QSac (learn more here) who all shared a booth so we could sell books, talk to folks, and basically have a great time. And we did! This experience was probably one of the best in-person events I’ve been involved with since the end of lock down. The weather was a little warm, but we had a bit of a breeze, which helped. But Placer Pride, for me, wasn’t about the weather or the actual event itself. The day was a chance for me to hang out with some great people and meet others. Selling my books was a plus, a big one at that, don’t get me wrong. Knowing that folks want to read something I created is always a joy.

And sales don’t always happen. Which can be a bummer. So, when I go to event I go with the mindset that I’m going to be hanging out friends and having a good time being out, and being social.

As I mentioned Placer Pride had a great turn out, after the last couple of years as events have slowly been coming back on line having the crowds out and about was wonderful. Still, being out and seeing people, talking to them, getting to walk around and visiting all the other booths, listening to the music, watching the various acts, well nothing compares to the experience. No matter how hard we try to duplicate these celebrations on line. An additional perk of not being virtual is for lunch Eric and I got a chance to try a wonderful local deli, Better Foods Deli, which is a little hole in the wall, but the sandwiches were excellent and the staff were helpful and pleasant (learn more about them here). If you’re in Roseville, give them a try. Thanks to Scott and Mark for the recommendation.

After our day of selling and chatting to community members our first pride event of 2023 came to an end, but since we had a long drive ahead of us, Scott, Mark, Eric and I headed to dinner, where I snuck in a cheeky little drink. After the long day, I believe I deserved it. As the four of us sat around and chatted; we reflected on our day and what a lovely time we had. We enjoyed the wonderful food, including some excellent desserts. Thank you, Café Bernardo (find them here). Yes, we were all tired, but the day had been good and we really enjoyed ourselves. Considering we didn’t leave the restaurant until after 8pm and our day started at before 8am, you can assume we had a wonderful time.

Happily, to start the Pride Season we got to hang out in a welcoming and joyful space, where we could be open and crazy, laugh and have fun. We got to see and celebrate with Drag Queens, and Queer Kids and their families. We got to pet puppies, listen to music and overall celebrate life. We didn’t have to put on any airs or look over our shoulders to make sure we weren’t offending anyone (not that I typically care about such things, but I do try to be careful). This is what all our days should be, and I was glad to start off Pride Season with this event. Is it too early to start celebrate Pride? Absolutely not. We should celebrate like this every day.

I’ll be at several more in-person events over the coming months. Here is my current list of scheduled events:

  • Davis Pride, June 4th

  • Sacramento Pride, June 10th–11th

  • BayCon, July 1st – 4th

  • Modesto Pride, September 16th

And there might be a few more activities coming up this year, so keep your eyes on my events page (click here), so you don’t miss out.

Well, there you go. My first Pride event for 2023 is in the books. If you are going to be in the area, please come out and say hello. I love seeing and talking to folks. Until next time, have a great week.

The Issue with Drag

Happy Wednesday Scribblers. I’ve been thinking a lot about Drag and this latest trend, and especially the vote in Tennessee, to ban this art form. I have so many feelings about this attack on Drag and I’m not sure what to do with them. Today I thought I would share my thoughts and see what you all think.

To start Drag has been around since Ancient Greece, maybe not in the form we know it today, but Drag came to be, because women in ancient western cultures were often not allowed to perform onstage or become actors, so men and boys were used instead to fill the female rolls. Also, men and boys were expected to dress as women for many religious ceremonies and rituals. Having men play the rolls for women was commonplace, however there are some who don’t feel this is where ‘true’ Drag came from. Still, if that is the case, then Drag may have come to be in the 1800s with forms of entertainment such as minstrel shows and Shakespeare’s plays, as Shakespeare often incorporated male actors as female impersonators. Either way, Drag has been around a long time.

Some seem to believe that Drag is new. But it’s not. Drag has been around and in pop culture since Vaudeville, even making appearances on television (here in the US) in the 1950s. Milton Berle and Bob Hope did several TV shows in Drag. Then you had Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis in Drag in the movie Some Like it Hot.

As we move forward to more current times, Bugs Bunny was in children’s cartoons (starting in 1939 and continuing today) in Drag. M.A.S.H. had Klinger in a dress in almost every episode for eleven years (not to mention the movie). In the 80s you had Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari dressed in Drag every week for two seasons in the sitcom Bosom Buddies. In the 80s and 90s we had movies like Tootsie and Mrs. Doubtfire. There was Too Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar. Who doesn’t know Dame Edna from Australia, or Agnes Brown from the U.K., or the late great Divine. We also have the talented actor Tyler Perry who brought to life Mable “Madea” Earlene Simmons, with how many movies and specials out there. By the way, Georgia can thank Mr. Perry and Madea for the movie industry they now have and reap the benefits off of, as Tyler Perry built his studio in Georgia (Tyler Perry Studios, 2006). And we cannot forget RuPaul, who has been on the scene in Drag since the 1980s. All these artists and entertainers (and so many more) continue to perform for the public. And not once have we heard this kind of outcry (at least when we are speaking of entertainment).

And here we are.

2023 and Tennessee has banned Drag Performances. To be clear, the ban is basically this; the bill that passed in Tennessee restricts “adult cabaret performances” in public or in the presence of children, and bans them from occurring within 1,000 feet of schools, public parks, or places of worship.  

Tennessee didn’t stop there either, but I don’t want to get into that now. Just know that other states are watching what happened in Tennessee and plan on pushing their own bills banning Drag through.

Why are we doing this?

The children… or that is their claim. These politicians want to protect kids from ‘big evil’ Drag queens who might… what? I don’t know. Maybe these people are hiding the fact they have fantasies about these drag artists. I’m sure Milton Berle and Bob Hope really get them hot and bothered. Or Madea. You never know. Anyway, none of this Drag outcry makes sense to me, since most of these persons pushing for these bills grew up watching Drag performances, of one form or another, their whole lives. Now Drag is the biggest problem in America… um no.

I don’t get it.

Politicians are focusing on the ‘Boogeyman in Drag’ because they believe they won’t get much flack and they can claim they are keeping their cities and states safer for ‘the children’, but are they? No.

This week Jon Stewart tore into GOP Senator Nathan Dahm (OK) on the subject of guns and tied the matter into Tennessee’s ban on Drag. You can watch the video here now I’m not a huge fan of Jon Stewart, but in this case, I was impressed with him and his remarks.

Now what?

I don’t know.

Like Eric and I talk about, is seems we are moving in the wrong direction as a country. We are attacking people and creating laws to hinder people’s rights. Sadly, it’s not just about Drag. It’s about so many other people’s rights and I’m not sure where and how this madness will stop. An interesting thought is if we are going backwards, then since Drag has been around since at the least the 1800s, then Drag will continue to be around and people will continue to enjoy the artform and the creative expression. Art finds a way and so does the queer community. Strap on your heels and glue down your wigs because this is going to be a bumpy ride… for us all.

Like I said at the start, I’ve been thinking a lot about Drag and everything that is happening these days and I don’t know where these thoughts are going or what is coming. Thank you for baring with me this week. I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject, or any subject, as there seems to be a lot happening. Until next time, have a great week.

Velma (HBO Max) – My Thoughts

Happy Wednesday Scribblers. I hope you are all doing well today. I’m happy to report that today is the first full day we didn’t have any rain, since, I want to say, around Christmas. I don’t mind the rain, however it’s nice to see the sun. We are actually drying out a bit, especially after the thunder, hail and downpour we had yesterday. On the flip side, that means we’ve gotten, California cold, which means our lows are in the 30s at night and the low 50s during the day. 

Don’t laugh, when you aren’t from the snow, that can be cold. Plus, I’m delicate. 

Eric and I started watching Velma, this weekend and I wanted to share my thoughts on the first two episodes we’ve seen. I want to give the writers some credit here because if this wasn’t an origin story about a popular character from a hugely successful kid’s cartoon from the late 1960s and early 1970s the show is good. The characters are interesting and different. I loved the mixed of characters and the diversity. I enjoyed (especially in the first episode) them making fun of other modern TV shows, especially nudity. Both Eric and I had a chuckle at that. 

Unfortunately, Velma is not a new show. These aren’t new and fresh characters, these are characters that several generations (from Gen X forward) grew up with. This is the issue I’m having with the show so far. They have taken these characters we all know and love, then thrown them into a blender and we ended up with this mix of… well I’m not sure what to call it.  Let me give you some simple examples: 

  • Velma Dinkely: She’s a geek/nerd who has family trauma and a really unlikeable father. She’s a know-it-all and doesn’t like anyone. She thinks they are all idiots.

  • Daphine Blake: A ‘mean girl’ who you don’t like from the start and continue to dislike (she and Velma were BFFs until Daphine made friends with the popular girls. The best part about her character is she has two moms who are detectives (and not very good detectives at that).

  • Fred Jones: Ugh… a childish freak (sorry that is the best word I have to describe him). He is a rich pampered snob (he doesn’t even remember Velma’s name at first even though they go to school together). He can’t even cut his own food for himself. He too comes from an odd (read mildly abusive) family. The most interesting part of his character so far is, for some reason, he hasn’t gone through puberty and has an underdeveloped penis.

  • Norville "Shaggy" Rogers: He’s a friend of Velma’s who has a crush on her (he’s the most likable of the characters so far). I do like that they have him creating SM content about food, I thought that was clever and interesting.

  • Scooby-Doo: MIA. We haven’t seen or heard the namesake of the cartoon yet. WTF! 

Now, don’t get me wrong, the talent is giving their acting and these characters there all, which is wonderful to see. And I really appreciate all the diversity, as it modernizes this show for a new generation. The animation is excellent as well, so they are really putting out a visually beautiful work. Honestly, this should have been called something else, and I think they would have something quite good. Instead you, the viewer, are trying to watch the show and you keep getting pulled out of it with all the differences from the original source material. 

Eric and I will continue to watch the show, because it is interesting, but this is not Scooby-Doo by any stretch of the imagination. Will the series live or die? Will we actually get Scooby-Doo? I don’t know. But if you want to watch a dark gritty adult cartoon, then give Velma a watch. If you want something fun from your childhood run the other way and avoid at all cost. 

There you have it, my thoughts on the first two episodes of Velma (2023).  Have you watched Velma yet? What did you think? Did you watch Scooby-Doo (1969) as a kid? Let me know in the comments below. Until next time, have a great week.

2022; Year in Review

Happy New Year everyone and happy Wednesday Scribblers. It has been a crazy year, and today I thought I would do a year in review, and share all the things that brought me joy this year. I also thought I would share a few things that may or may not be on your radar, which I hope you will all check out and support.

First and foremost, as I hope you all know I’ve had two new books come out this year; Conspiracy-A New World (Book 3) (click here) and Volaria (click here), I was also part of three anthologies this year as well; Save the World: Twenty Sci-Fi Writers Save the Planet (click here), BAQWA Presents: Two (click here), and Horror Addicts Guide to Life 2 (click here). There was a lot of writing this year, which always brings me joy. I’m thrilled to be involved with all these other incredible authors. I’ve learned so much from each of them, and I believe that has improved my writing greatly.

This year, I returned to in person events and boy did I miss them. I didn’t attend too many events, but the ones I did go to were a joy to attend. This year I attended: The Hayward Lit Hop, The Bay Area Book Festival, Davis Pride, and BayCon 2022. It was so good to see people in person and get to sign books and meet fans. I absolutely love being out and about seeing folks. I’m hoping to go to more events this year (click here to see my events page).

Publishing three more audiobooks this year was incredibly special for me. In 2022 I released: Contact-A New World (Book 1) and Conviction-A New World (Book2) as narrated by Steve Connor; and, The Calling as narrated by Vance Bastian. Both these actors/narrators are exceptionally talented and made the novel come to life. I could be more pleased with all the work that went into them. Find them here, on Audible and here on iTunes. You won’t be disappointed. I know I wasn’t.

What really made my year, was getting to contribute to some wonderful online and print publications. I had two articles featured on Pen to Print (find them here and here). I was asked to provide an article for the San Francisco Chronicle which was a huge honor (find it here). The East Bay Time did a write up about me and my two novels; Conspiracy and Volaria (click here). Lastly, I was interviewed on behalf of the Bay Area Queer Writers Association (BAQWA) for the Bay Area Berkley High Jacket (click here).

Another bright spot for me this year, was getting to be interviewed on Small Publishing in a Big Universe (find it here) and WROTE Podcast did me the honor of not only allowing me to come on and chat about my writing and my books (click here), but they also had me for the entire month of December as a guest reviewer for their holiday movie reviews, which was an absolute joy. Here are the links to each of the episodes:

Gayeen Froese (12/9/22) – click here (we review Christmas at the Ranch)

Faith Mosley (12/16/22) – click here (we review Happiest Season)

Kevin Klehr (12/23/22) – click here (we review The Holiday Sitter)

2022 Yearly Wrap-up (12/30/22) – click here (we review The Christmas House 2)

Being part of all these podcasts and YouTube channel interviews really got me excited about the possibilities, and what, if anything, I could do to help support the writing community. This year I launched my Writing Tips and Tricks for Authors on my YouTube Channel (find it here). I wanted to reach out to not only authors but to readers as well and share what it’s like to be a ‘real’ indie author and all the work that goes into it. These episodes are fifteen minutes (or shorter) and it’s been a lot of fun creating them and seeing the comments and reaction from folks. I’m already up to 30 subscribers but it would be great to reach 100 or even a thousand. Who knows. But if you want to keep up with me and get to hear and learn about writing I encourage you to check out the channel and see what you think.

The last thing that has brought me massive amounts of joy this last year, is each of you. Knowing that there are folks out there who love my writing and buy my books makes me happy and gives me the desire to keep going. 2023 Promises to be another crazy year, and I’ll have a new book (or two) coming out, so keep an eye out.

There you have it, my year in review. Here’s to 2023 and all that lays ahead of us. Until next time, have a great week.

Happy Holidays 2022

Happy Holidays 2022

Happy Wednesday Scribblers, I want to take a moment and thank you all and wish you all a joyful holiday season. No matter what you celebrate, I hope you take time to rest, relax, and unwind. As with each year as it ends I want to share a simple Holiday message with you all:

Happy holidays! Sending you love, light, and laughter for good memories and a bright and healthy 2023. May you and your family stay healthful and may you see the light in a world that can be dark.

Until next time, be well, happy holidays, and have a great week.

Writing Update – March 2022

Happy Wednesday Scribblers, I hope you are all doing well. As you may have noticed, I took last week off from my blog. I was dealing with some medical issues. Nothing to worry about, and everything all worked out. Which has been a big relief. I’m happy to say I’m not going anywhere anytime soon!

This week I wanted to provide a quick update for you. Regarding my writing, I’m still moving forward with Conspiracy-A New World (Book 3). However, there has been a delay with my publisher. I’m hopeful this will not slow down the long-delayed release of the book, but I can’t say for sure. In audiobook news. Contact-A New World (Book 1) is about finished and I’m thrilled with how well Steve Connor (find him here) has done with the story. Steve really has narrated the heck out of the novel and brought my words to life. I can’t wait for you all to hear it. Along those lines, once Steve finishes with Contact, he will move on to Conviction (find both books here for signed copies and here for all other editions). I’ll keep you posted on when the audiobooks are available.

Also, on the writing front, I’m about ready to send off Volaria. I have another round of edits I want to make and then I’ll be shopping the story around to see if I can get any bites. Wish me luck.

Lastly, and I couldn’t be more pleased to share; I have in-person event news. With the restrictions being lifted and more and more events coming back. I’m happy to share some of the following in-person events I have planned:

April 2022

Hayward Lit Hop—(April 30th, 4pm) Books on B, 1014 B St, Hayward, CA 94541

May 2022

The Bay Area Book Festival 2022—(May 7th and 8th) Berkley, CA

BeastCrawl—(May 28th) Oakland, CA

June 2022

Davis Pride—(June 12th) Davis Central Park, 401 C Street, Davis, CA 95616

 

I want to say nothing will change, but you never know. So, stay tuned.

That’s it for this week. Remember to check out my events page (find it here), now that more local events are coming online, I’ll be adding more and more events. So, you don’t want to miss out. Until next time, have a great week.

Writing Process and How Writing Works… For me Now.

Happy Wednesday Scribblers, I hope you are having a pleasant week. Over the last several weeks, I’ve been working on several writing related projects. I’ve been doing auditions for my next audiobook. I’ve been listening to a current audiobook in production. I’ve been writing a couple of different articles that have been requested of me from some different online sites. I’ve been working with my author groups on planning some events for 2022. I’ve been finalizing some new promotional pieces. And the list goes on.

It’s an odd thing when you are working on unique items and see how your time splits between them, and it got me thinking about how things were at the start.

When I first started writing, I had the luxury of sitting back and working on a single story at a time. Once that one was finished, I would move on to the next one, while I put the first story through my writing group for critics and comments. That wasn’t quite how it always worked out. Sometimes I worked on a couple of manuscripts at once, but mostly, I worked on one story at a time. Now… that’s not how things work.

As an author, now with five books, two short-stories, three audiobooks, and two anthologies out, my writing time seems to drip away. Because you have to focus on addition writing related tasks. You have to work on editing. You have to work on marketing and PR. You have to work on getting your books turned into audiobooks (which I have four, five and six on the way). You have to engage with readers, plan reading events, work with other authors to grow your community. The list goes on. Everything I mentioned in one way or the other affects my writing process. Where I could once sit down and write a couple of chapters a week. I’m lucky if I get a chapter in a week. Sometimes it takes me a couple of weeks or even a month to get a chapter finished.

I’m not complaining and I love working on my author business and brand, but I miss the days of having characters come forward and say hello and start telling me their stories. It still happens, just not as much.

Additionally, and much to my dismay, I haven’t been adding general characters to my trunk of characters for future stories, which is a shame because I love that process. If you don’t understand what I mean. There was a time when I could sit down and write general characters bios and save them for later use. When I would need a character for a story, I could go to my ‘trunk’ and pull one out for use. It was a great way to have characters ready to go when I need them.

I still have characters packed away, but not near as many as I once had, and I haven’t added any in years.

These days, I have to schedule my writing times. I have to sit down with purpose and focus… okay, who am I kidding? I still get up in the middle of the night to write. Or I’ll get up early on the weekends and pump out a few thousand words. Then sometimes all I want to do is sit and work on my writing and my current story, letting everything else fall to side.

I love these days.

In the end. I still have novels coming out. I still manage to create and write whenever I have a free moment. And my characters still come and talk to me and tell me their tales. These characters of mine continue to even play nice when they aren’t getting the attention they deserve.

I think they understand better than I do. And they are a lot more forgiving than I am as well.

Overall, my writing process has both grown and changed over the years. Do I long for how simple things were at the start. Sure. That was a time of writing innocence for me. Now I’ve grown… dare I say matured, as has my writing and my author life. Perhaps someday, when I have a catalog of books out there as long as my arm, I’ll be able to pass on some of these more mundane tasks to an assistant or marketing professional and focus solely on my writing and creating new worlds for people to visit. That would be lovely. However, until that time, as I grow and move forward, so does my writing process and how it all works itself out. I guess it all a matter of juggling, where once it was only two balls, I seem to now have five or six. Who knew I could juggle?

Until next time, have a great week.

How and When did you know?

Happy Wednesday Scribblers. A few years back I wrote this article about my coming out and how that has affected my writing. Today, after so many years, I thought I would revisit the post and see if there is anything I want to add or change, because as we all know, time has a way of changing our perspective on life. Especially with how my journey has influenced my writing.

People ask and are curious about my coming out. I get this question a lot from my straight co-workers and friends. The query is kind of funny because if you flip the question ‘when did you know you were straight?’ it’s silly. Anyway, I don’t mind sharing my story, so here it is.

As a kid, I always understood I was different, at least on some level.

I grew up in the 80s, so yep, I’m old. Anyway, I never gave much thought to my sexual feelings or identity in middle school. Sure, I was ‘sensitive’, but I had a wonderful group of ‘nerd’ and ‘stoner’ friends, so I never suffered from any personal angst. I never understood what the big deal about girls was. Sure, they were pretty, and some were friends, but I wasn’t interested in kissing them or anything like that. I never was ‘girl crazy’ and found that I enjoyed their company and we had fun together, but I wasn’t interested in anything else. Friendship was fine with me.

Where there any girls that liked me. Maybe. I suppose there were a few girls who liked me, but honestly, I had no clue.

I wasn’t supper popular in school, but I wasn’t an outcast either. If I had to describe my school experience; you know, in the movies, you see all the kids in the background that are there and appear to be having a good time and aren’t the center of attention. That would have been me. Don’t get me wrong, I had a good time in school, so it wasn’t bad and I have some great friends who I’m still in contact with today (thank you, social media).

Anyway, I didn’t really deal with my sexual identity until my later teens and early twenties. I had a few girlfriends and even was engaged to be married, but something didn’t seem right. Again, I didn’t really know, clueless as I was, what the ‘it’ was. I found guys so much more attractive than girls, but I still thought I was ‘normal’.

Once, my engagement fell apart (her doing and not mine) that was when everything crashed in around me. I realized I had all these fake walls and barriers up. For the first time, I had to take an honest look in the mirror and accept that I spent my younger years in deep denial. At one point, I even remember my sister Dawn and I talking. She told me she thought I was homophobic, not mean or cruel or anything like that, just not as friendly or as open-minded as she thought I would be. Thinking about it now, I guess I was trying to hide who I was and didn’t want to come across as ‘gay’, which of course is stupid, because I was in fact gay. Live and learn, I guess.

As I got older, I remembered I had major crushes on guys and I denied it… hid it. I had even fooled around with a few friends, but again, these experiences were all pushed behind these walls I created, and this life I wanted to live—I needed to live in. For me, this pressure wasn’t so much from an outside source, but internal ones. No one told me to be one way or the other. Those rules and thoughts all came from me. Anyway, when all the walls crashed down, I fell to pieces. It wasn’t until I thought about killing myself that I figured something needed to change. I couldn’t be like this anymore. I had to pull myself together if I were to have a happy and healthy life.

No one realized I was going through any of this because, by my early twenties, I was amazing at hiding my drama.

I found a therapist and spent about a year going to treatment once a week. She helped me face who I was and where I needed to be. After therapy, I could come out to everyone. Keep in mind this was in the early 90s, so AIDS was still a big thing and society wasn’t nearly as open and welcoming as now. First, my friends. Then my sister. And finally, my parents.

I was lucky, very lucky, because I was my own worst enemy. Everyone in my life supported me and was there for me. And those that weren’t quickly dropped from my life. I was the hurdle. I was the one that created all my problems. I tried to make myself fit into this perfect image I had in my head.

The journey wasn’t always easy. I lost a couple of friends, made friends with some of the wrong people, and I even lost a job because of who I was, but I never blamed them, I knew I was better without them and bigger and better things were waiting for me.

I guess what this journey boils down to, for me, is that I always realized I was gay. I always understood, but I wasn’t willing to face it. Still, I never blamed society or anyone (as I said my family and friends were way more accepting than I was) and I don’t judge it as a failing of the time I grew up in, it was more what I was willing to accept. Maybe, if there were more positive gay male figures when I grew up things would have been different, I honestly don’t know, but like I said for me, it wasn’t so much the outside influences, but my internal thoughts that caused me the most trouble.

Part of what I write is to provide positive LGBTQ characters with a voice because I do agree we need more of them. My goal is to show them without this ‘queer struggle’ I want my characters to face other issues. That doesn’t mean they live in a world filled with sunshine and rainbows. They have a past, as we all do, that affects them and their lives. All my characters carry a little of me in them and their internal journey may differ from mine, but if you look into them deep enough, you will see my journey there as well. Telling honest stories with believable, imperfect queer characters is my goal. The LBGTQ thing is a part of them and not the focus. My opinion is that the more people/society can see us, all of us, and relate to us on a non-sexual identity level, the better.

I share this because people ask about my ‘gay struggle’ and how it affects my writing. My experience is unique to me and this personal journey is different for everyone. As I say, I was lucky.

There you have it, my coming out journey and how it affects my writing. I hope you got something helpful from this. Until next time, have a great week.

Merry Christmas and Blessed Winter Solstice

Happy Wednesday Scribblers, I want to take a moment and thank you all and wish you all a joyful holiday season. No matter what you celebrate, I hope you take time to rest, relax, and unwind. I know these last couple of years have been difficult for all of us, so please take some time and decompress.

My wish and prayer for you all:

For this holiday season, I wish you all peace, joy, and healing. Even though each day feels like a struggle, we are strong. Through our kindness and love, we bring light to a dark world. Take these moments and recharge. With the ending of this year, we can look forward to this coming year with hope. As light always concurs, dark.

Until next time, be well, happy holidays, and have a great week.

December 2021 Update

Happy Wednesday Scribblers, for those of you here in the US, I hope you enjoyed the four-day weekend and had time to rest and relax. Overall, we had a quiet Thanksgiving, but we managed to put up our new Christmas Tree, decorations, and holiday lights. I can say for certain that our halls are well and fully decked. In fact, here are a couple of photos, I snapped.

As some of you may have seen, my latest audiobook, A Dragon for Christmas, is out and ready for you all to listen to and enjoy. It’s a short story with a listening time of 1-hour and 13-minutes. Amanda Vargas, who did an excellent job of bringing Carmen to life, narrates the story. Here is the blurb:

Carmen is eleven years old and wants to get her dragon. Since she was seven years old, she understood two things. One, she was going to be the strongest Dragon Keeper there ever was. The second was that she was going to marry her best friend, Mattie.

As Christmas approaches, the magical charms Carmen has to use to fight off her curse are taking a toll on her health. But that can’t stop her from taking her final test to become a Dragon Keeper. If she passes her test, she gets her dragon. If not, she has to start all over, relying on different magical charms to fight the curse for her. That is something Carmen doesn’t want to have to go through. The testing is difficult and charms make her sick. Carmen has decided that if she doesn’t get her dragon this Christmas she’s not going to go for a third attempt, even if that means she can’t marry Mattie when she grows up.

You can listen to the sample here:

You can pick up your audiobook copies at the following on-line retailers:

Also, this week I wanted to share a spot of exciting news. My novel The Called (The Calling, book #2) , get your copy here, has been uploaded to a list on Goodreads; Goodreads Choice Awards 2021. If you are on Goodreads and you’ve read The Called and feel so inclined to do so, I would love it if you voted for my books. Seeing my book break the top 100 or even the top 10 would be a wonderful Christmas present.

I still haven’t heard if The Called or TAD-The Angel of Death, get your eBook or Paperback copy here find the audiobook here, won in the Rainbow Awards this year, but I’ll keep you all posted. I have received some amazing honorable mentions, which is nice. So, fingers crossed.

I received a bit of disappointing news this weekend. A new publishing house I was hoping to try out turned my newest manuscript, Volaria, down. The news wasn’t what I had hoped for, still I will continue to move forward with the project and see if I can find a different publishing house for this piece. I hope to diversify where my books are published in hopes of building and finding a larger audience for all my works. I’m, by no means looking to leave NineStar Press. My goal is simply to help expand my current reach. Wish me luck.

Okay, that is all I have to share this week. Until next time, have a great week.

Summer 2021

Happy Wednesday Scribblers, we made it to summer. Happy Summer Solstice to you all. How wonderful to be back to a time when we can actually make summer plans and enjoy? It’s time to appreciate the warm weather and plan some summer vacations. I know there is still a lot happening in the world right now, and the weather isn’t great for many people (thanks to global warming), but I don’t want to focus on the negative. We’ve all been doing too much of that. I want to think about all the positives and getting out there and having a good time this year.

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If these last sixteen months have taught us anything; it’s take nothing for granted. So, this is what I would like to recommend for the coming months. If you are of the mindset, go out and see friends, family, and neighbors. Spend some of your summer catching up with people you love face-to-face. Give them a hug (if you both are inclined) and enjoy each other’s company. You don’t have to do anything fancy, just meet up and have some quality time.

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Another idea is to go away for a few days. Take a drive. Get out of the house. Get out of town. Just get out. Do something. Go somewhere. A change of scenery will do you, me, and all of us some good.

As I said, I’m not blind to what’s going on in and around us, however, we need to make the best of things and enjoy. Shut down the computer, tablet, smart phone, whatever you are connected to and disconnect. Get out of your own head, out of your own space and really take in what’s around you. See the world for all the beauty it has.

For my part, my hubby and I have gotten to meet up with some dear friends who we haven’t seen in person since COVID. We’ve actually eaten inside a restaurant again. And we’ve made plans to go away for a couple of days in July, just to get away. With each of these activities I’m feeling more like myself than I have in over a year.

Whatever you decide to do this summer, enjoy. Take a deep breath and have some fun… we deserve it.

Until next time, have a great week.

Happy Pride Month 2021

Happy Wednesday Scribblers, are you all having a wonderful week? This week launches World Pride Month. A time to celebrate our differences and our uniqueness. This time of year can bring joy to so many as well as uncertainty and fear for others.

Pride started as the Stonewall riots in New York back in 1969. They weren’t out dancing and celebrating; they were fighting for their lives. These pioneers fought to be recognized as humans who had a right to live and love as they chose. So much has changed since those hot summer nights. But the struggle, not only here, but worldwide, is ongoing for many on the queer spectrum.

This struggle is real for every queer person, even today.

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As each generation of queer youth takes up the charge, let’s not forget all those who fought for us. They were not perfect (none of us are) remember they lived in a different world. Don’t forget that because we cannot isolate ourselves or fight amongst ourselves. There are others waiting for us to show our underbelly. We, as a queer community, need to lift each other up. Respect each other. Learn from each other. The world continues to change and grow, but casting aside those who came before us, because their views of the world might be different, or they might not fully understand the new generation of queers. Or because they might not be fashionable. No, that is wrong. Remember, these past generations lived in a world that would sooner see them dead on the street than recognize them as human. And this vile sentiment is alive and well today.

So, this year as you celebrate, remember those who came before and their sacrifice. Remember they weren’t perfect. Remember you aren’t perfect. Remember in a few years, you’re going to be seen as out of date. Out of touch. Outdated and old. The next generation of queers may even want to cast you aside. Don’t let them do that to you and don’t do that to those who fought before you. We are all one queer family. We put the ‘fun’ in ‘disfunction’. We are the light people gravitate to when the world is at its darkest because we know how to fight. We know how to love. We know how to be one family. We know what Pride means. We are strong and they all know it. Don’t be the reason for other queers to be uncertain or fearful. We fight best when we fight as one.

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No matter where you land on the queer spectrum, remember you are loved, you are valued, you are beautiful, and the world wouldn’t shine as bright if you weren’t in it. Let me know in the comments below how you celebrate (or don’t celebrate Pride). Please consider sharing this post on your social media sites, it really helps, as does clicking on this little heart below. Until next time, have a great week and Happy Pride!

Easter and Passover 2021

Hello Scribblers. I hope you are all taking care of yourselves. Well, Spring has sprung and we are already to Easter and Passover. Today I simply want to thank you all for being here this whole time and let you all know how much I appreciate you. Also, I want to take a moment and wish you all a wonderful Easter and a happy Passover.

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That’s it for now, until next time have a great week.

Media Update March 2021

Media Update March 2021

Happy Wednesday Scribblers, I hope you are all having a great week and are taking care of yourselves. Can you believe today is St. Patrick’s Day? We are a few days away from the start of Spring and I can’t believe it. I also, can’t believe we have passed the one-year mark of living with the pandemic. It’s been insane. Today I wanted to take a minute and spot light some of the amazing vlogs and podcasts I’ve been on over the last couple of months, in case you’ve missed them:

In December 2020, I had the joy of being interviewed by the amazing Wayne Goodman from Queer Words Podcast. In this 20-minute interview we talked about my books (including my upcoming novel The Called), my writing, and my life. The interview was great and Wayne is a wonderful host. I encourage you to listen to it, rate it and give it a vote. Click here for the interview.

February 2021, found me sitting back down with Baz over on the WROTE Podcast. Baz and I spent our hour talking about my upcoming release of The Called the sequel to my award-winning novel The Calling. We chatted about virtual cons and my participating in a voting themed limited anthology, A More Perfect Union. Baz and I always have a great conversation, check it out here.

The Bay Area Reporter invited me to write an Op Ed piece for their newspaper regarding A More Perfect Union and why voting is so important. The article appeared on March 3rd. The article turned out fantastic please read it here.

Most recently (March 5th) I got to hang out with life long friend (and brother from another mother) Rob, from What Up With Rob and Chris. We got to sit back and chat about my writing journey, my family, writing inspiration and I share who I would love to cast if and when my novels are turned into movies or television shows. Who knew an hour could fly by so quickly, find the conversation here.

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There are four of my most recent interviews and media events. If you want to see all my media spots and all the places I’ve shared my thoughts and opinion, you can find a full list here under my News section. You will also find a complete list of my Guest Blogs and Author Interviews I’ve done. And that is all for this week, Scribblers. Thank you for taking the time to read this and to continue to support me and my writing. Which interview or article was your favorite? Are there questions you would like for me to answer in upcoming interviews? Let me know in the comments below. Please consider sharing this post on your social media sites, it really does help, as does clicking on this little heart below. Until next time have a great week.

Am I doing too much, or not enough?

Happy Wednesday Scribblers, here we are another week into 2021 and these last two months feel so 2020, but you know what we are making progress and things are getting better. We need to keep our spirits up because we’ve got this. Look how far we’ve come and what we have already survived. Now if you recall, last week I shared with you some announcements (click here for the blog post) and that got me thinking. Am I doing too much, or not enough? I really don’t know.

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This last week I was a guest on WROTE Podcast, if you haven’t checked out the interview here it is for you to listen to, and really you need to listen to it.  We had a blast. However, Baz asked me a question that stopped me dead in my tracts; when do you sleep?

For a second, I froze, I didn’t realize until that moment how much I’ve been doing.  Let me break it down here, so you have some context:

  • I work full-time, Monday -Friday 7:30am – 4:30pm (that’s my day job)

  • I write part-time. Currently I have the following: The Called will be launching April 2021. I have Conspiracy-A New World, Book 3 with my Editor. I’m in various stages of three different works in progress: A Sci-Fi/Urban Fantasy mashup (55,000 words or 205 pages), an Alternate World Urban Fantasy (8,000 words or 33 pages), and an alternate world story (nothing written yet, but characters and story ideas laid out and set to paper).

  • I’m currently involved with two virtual cons; Rainbow Space Magic(RSM) happening March 12th – March 14th, which is an LGBTQIA Sci-Fi and Fantasy Con for readers and authors, check out the information here. IQARUS Book Con is a conference that features all kinds of genres of books and is open to anyone who wants to learn more about great authors, books and writing (happening May 8th) find out more here.

  • Then I’m part of a writers group Bay Area Queer Writers Association (BAQWA) that meets once a month, and we host virtual readings and other book related activities. You can find the group here on Facebook.

  • And for my writing, I manage my website and blog, a Twitter account, a Facebook Page, an Instagram account and now my YouTube channel.  All of which take time to provide and create content for.

  • This doesn’t include any other virtual events (or public events when aloud)

So, yes there is a lot going on, and yes, I’m busy. But here is the rub, what does all this translate to, honestly, not much. If I’m being completely honest, book sales are stalled out and a lot of the time I feel like I’m spinning my wheels; not getting anywhere.

Another author buddy of mine, commented, “with all you’re doing, your book sales should be through the roof.” My response was, “not so much.”

I guess, what this got me thinking is that maybe I’m not doing the right things. Maybe, I’m spreading myself too thin. I’m not sure. All the books and videos I’ve read and watched about being an author and engaging with people say to make it easy for people to find you, to engage with readers where they are. Well, my audience is everywhere. Readers have found me from all the places I’ve mentioned.

What do you think? Am I doing too much? Or, not enough. Do you have suggestions or ideas? Of everything I mentioned above what resonates with you? Do you enjoy the book readings I post on YouTube? Do you enjoy my blogs? What about the content I share on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook? Would you rather I not do any of that and focus on pumping more stories out, keeping in mind that I’m at the will of my publisher so even if I wrote a new story every six months the books are still going to take a year or more to publish.

I will admit, I get tired and I seem to be going every day. In fact, today, I have two zoom meetings, one about RSM and the other my BAQWA group. Then tomorrow I have a meeting with the folks who are working on IQARUSBookCon. However, on the flip side I know several other authors who do way more than I do. They are amazing. These authors pump out the books, engage everyone on social media, have huge followings which leads to great sales. They are incredible and that would be an excellent goal to have.

I do want to make one thing clear, I’m not trying to complain or whine, well maybe a little, I understand how blessed I am. I only want my books to be read and enjoyed. I want to know that there are people out there who love my work as much as I do. I really don’t do all this for me (well I write the stories for me). I do all the social media, the events, cons, etc. for you and to help others like you find my novels, so everyone can, hopefully, enjoy the works and see themselves reflected in the stories. After all, everyone wants to be seen and heard. And we all want to be the hero of our own story.

There you have it, Scribblers, that is my writing world in a nut shell this week. Thank you for taking the time to read this and to continue to support me. I’m curious, what do you think about all this? Let me know in the comments below. Please consider sharing this post on your social media sites, it really does help, as does clicking on this little heart below. Until next time have a great week.