The Tokyo Cover Girls Blog Tour: Coming this September

June 17, 2016.Reading time less than 1 minute.

The count down is on (and I mean the one that doesn’t involve a small human forcing its way through my nether regions)! In just a couple months my blog tour will officially commence. I’m not sure what to expect but am psyched to see that a) the sign ups are now open and b) […]

My First Official Review

June 6, 2016.Reading time 1 minute.

Was it lovely when my mother-in-law phoned to let me know she had thoroughly enjoyed my novel? Sure. Did I get a bit of a high every time my writing group complimented me on an excerpt. Hell, yeah. BUT THERE IS NOTHING QUITE AS AWESOME feeling as getting a positive review from a complete stranger–especially […]

The Tokyo Cover Girls: Making of a Book

May 18, 2016.Reading time 2 minutes.

I may not yet be done with this book birthing process (yikes marketing!) but I thought it would fun to look back on how I created the actual hard copy now that I have that part under my belt and in case anyone else is about to undertake the same thing. My first step? Shooting […]

The Tokyo Cover Girls in Real Life

May 17, 2016.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Da da da da! After many many years (why put a number on it?) my indie published book is now a real thing. The Tokyo Cover Girls is a young adult novel about three teens modeling in Tokyo who are trapped in a competition where the only escape is to uncover the truth behind a […]

My Self-Publishing Experiment: THE COVER

August 11, 2015.Reading time 2 minutes.

First off, let’s be clear: I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I’M DOING. However, I spent enough time waiting for boys to call when I was 15 (note to teen self: they never do) to know when it’s time to stop doing the same thing with literary agents. That’s right, I have decided to embark on […]

Why Blog: self leadership for writers

June 29, 2014.Reading time 1 minute.

Sometimes I wonder why I bother. Most things I do, experience, clean the dishes, revise budgets, edit my manuscript, have a distinct goal in mind. Money. Fitness. Clean counters. But not for this. I have spent probably hundreds of hours creating posts for my blog with no clear outcome in mind. Sometimes I think I […]

Mother’s day confession: I only have three stickers on my SUV…and I may be okay with that

May 11, 2014.Reading time 2 minutes.

So, when are you going to have the next one?” said my friend Dan yesterday, a half peeled banana in one hand. I was standing with some friends outside of a school playground—none of us quite yet ready to face the buckles and straps waiting in our cars. Two held jiggling infants in their arms while […]

Got feedback? Let me resent you for it

May 4, 2014.Reading time 2 minutes.

I am not good at feedback. Whenever someone in my writing group says anything that is the least bit critical about my work I hate their guts for about 3 – 30 seconds, depending on how much cheese I have consumed. Once I actually process said critique, I am always Incredibly Grateful for the insight they have gifted […]

Project GET MY MOM TO BLOG

April 27, 2014.Reading time 2 minutes.

My mother has started making hats out of old sweaters. When I suggested she start a blog about her repurposed creations, my mom responded by scrunching up her nose like I just gave her tickets to an Eminem concert. “Why would I do that?” she said. I tried to tell her about all the amazing wool […]

Vulnerability: lessons from writing on living (with help from Brene Brown)

March 23, 2014.Reading time 1 minute.

I wrote a memoir manuscript once. It wasn’t very good. I could tell when one of the teen readers I work-shopped it with scrunched up her nose and said she just didn’t connect with the voice. Years later I finally understand what it was lacking. It’s the same thing that makes ‘evil-doing’ characters into ones that […]