Some of you have heard the news that I just had my first pro-level article published through SheKnows Magazine. I sent them an article about ideas to keep a married couple's date night fun and interesting, and they loved it. Then they invited me to write for them on a monthly basis! *excited squeal* See my first SheKnows article here. The Importance of Date Night for…
I'm am pleased to share with you a guest post from my friend and fellow writer, Gale Martin. Gale and I met through our publisher, Booktrope, and in the short time we've known each other, she's already been a source of warmth and encouragement to me. Gale has a generous heart and an inspiring story to share about how she forged her path on the writing…
It is my great pleasure to introduce you to Marni Mann, a talented writer with a fun streak that I love. Marni and I met via Twitter, and we both had our first novels published through Booktrope Editions within the last six months, which makes us sisters in the publishing family. Marni inspires me with her spunk, her compassion, and her kindness. In this post she courageously explores…
Every writer gets them. No one can escape them. No one, ever, has been brilliant and perfect enough of a writer with universal tastes that everyone agrees with to evade the reality of bad reviews, angry comments, or rude messages. Rest assured, this is not a rant about a horrible review I just received. I'm actually quite OK with people publicly declaring if they don't like something I wrote. (In fact, if everyone agreed that…
I have a long-standing relationship with Greek myths and retelling them. Moonlight and Oranges is one of many projects I've created to interweave myth and story and character. I explained my "mythical obsession" on the Owl Tell You About It blog this week.
Do you like shoes? I never thought of myself as a "shoe girl," but then I realized I had a story in me that told a detailed account of one woman's life through all the pairs of shoes she ever wore, from cradle to grave. I am very pleased to announce that my short story, "Barefoot" has been accepted by the literary journal Omnibus and is now available for sale! Yay!…
My author interview is featured today (and for the rest of this month) on Elena Hartwell's Arc of a Writer. Elena is a talented playwright and delightful person who I had the honor to meet at the Edmonds Write on the Sound writers' conference this past October. I mention the archetype (character-template) that I love using over and over again. Apparently, bad girls are a very…
Moonlight and Oranges has successfully left the harbor! For those of you interested in seeing what a book launch party can look like, please enjoy the pictures that I'm sprinkling liberally through this post. We rented the lower banquet room at Razzi's Pizzeria in Seattle's Greenwood neighborhood. (It's free of charge to rent the room, which is amazing for writers on a budget like me.) We…
It's here! Moonlight and Oranges is officially for sale on Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com in both paperback and eBook! You can look to the right of this post at the snazzy link that takes you right to Amazon.com to purchase it. Now that the moment has finally arrived, ("This is real, Elise. You're not dreaming. The numbness and disbelief is perfectly normal and proportional to how badly you've…
I am now a little more than two weeks away from launching Moonlight and Oranges. But before I go into more of that, please join me in welcoming the glorious, smashing cover design for Moonlight and Oranges, designed for me by Isaiah Qualls. Isn't it gorgeous??? If I could look back and say what were the five most important things I did to bring myself to this…