Somewhat to my own surprise, I’ve now passed 100,000 words on The Witch Novel. Some of them are even good words, I think. This project had its beginnings in 2015, the year after COLD HILLSIDE was published. I’d gone back to some old, unfinished projects to see if anything might spark some inspiration. I made […]

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I spent April in the woods and the weeds of both WIPs. I wish I could say that I had a clear plan for what I was doing, but it was more a case of “write the next thing you think might happen here” and hope for the best. I’m not sure any of it […]

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As a break from the WORDS & MUSIC series (because, quite frankly, we haven’t started working on the next video yet!), here are the best things I’ve read since the beginning of 2022. FICTION Matrix, by Lauren Groff. A beautifully written book about the life of a young woman who sent to be the prioress […]

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This was the book for which I had the most difficulty choosing a passage to read.  I had sections that I’d performed successfully before, but they tended to be long, require explanations, and lack any shorter sections that had internal arcs.  This latter is very important in readings, at least for me, because I want […]

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That’s the perennial question for an avid reader. My “to read” list is always much too long but now I’ve got a new way to make it longer. I was contacted by Shepherd, a new site for connecting readers, authors, and books. Authors are invited to provide a list of five recommended books on a […]

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Here’s the second installment in my collaboration with my husband on “words and music”. This passage for COLD HILLSIDE is the most description-heavy of the excerpts I chose for this project.  It’s the first introduction to the fey and I wanted to try to capture their elusive, unreal qualities before the later part of the […]

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During the pandemic, an opportunity arose to get a grant to do some digital creative work. That never happened, but it seemed like a great project to work on anyway, especially in the middle of ongoing COVID restrictions. I’ve had some experience recording myself reading but now I had the opportunity to add music, as my husband’s […]

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I did A LOT of reading this year. I suppose being stuck at home during a pandemic will do that for you. Total books read: roughly 160 Fiction: 62% Non-Fiction: 38% Below are some of the ones I liked best, in no particular order. While I read fewer non-fiction titles, more of them stuck with […]

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Well, I made my target of 10,000 words in November for Nanowrimo, though I have done not a thing since. Even without any more writing in December, I’ll beat 2020’s total word count by a bit. Does this matter? Some of the words aren’t very good. Some of them will end up having nothing to […]

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In the thick of my Nanowrimo drive for 2021 (target: 10,000 words). But I’m still getting some reading done. Here are my favourites of the last two months. FICTION The Empress of Salt and Fortune, Nghi Vo. Absolutely loved this novella about empires, hidden magic, and power in unexpected places. Bonus: Mastadon cavalries. Black Water […]

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