September 17, 2025
Today I’m turning my blog over to Z (aka Elizabeth Haines), a fellow Michigan Sisters in Crime member. Z lives in Richland, MI, with her husband, Steve, and their cat princess, Winnie. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, piecing quilts, or attempting, usually unsuccessfully (according to her), to grow tomatoes. Despite reading over a hundred […]
June 30, 2021
Thank you everyone who entered THE CROW AND ME contest on my Facebook Author’s Page. Each person who posted an image or wrote something about crows was entered in https://www.random.org/ which then randomly selected the winner. And, the winner is: Pamela Thibodeaux Congratulations, Pamela. You will receive a $25.00 Amazon gift card. I hope everyone enjoyed […]
June 2, 2021
It’s here, the month of June, and I’m celebrating my birthday and my “Crow” books. From today until June 30th, the ebook version of THE CROWS will be available for 99c. (Don’t forget, even if you don’t have a Kindle, you can put the Kindle app on your iPhone, iPad, or computer.) Later in the […]
May 26, 2021
It’s the end of May, the town where I live is gearing up for a summer of boating, swimming, and (hopefully) festivals. (However, there will be no Forth of July Fireworks again this year.) I’m seeing more faces (without masks) and once again getting into restaurants involves a wait of a half hour or more. […]
December 12, 2018
I recently received information about a contest being conducted by Stockholm Writers Festival. The prizes are great. If you’re unagented and have something unpublished (whether you’ve been published or not), check this contest out. ********* Good evening from Stockholm!, Once again we are running the First Pages Prize, a literary contest for writers worldwide, […]
September 6, 2017
I’m always trying something different, sometimes because of outside changes (lose a publisher or hear about a new publishing opportunity), and sometimes for variety (write sexy romances, sweet romances, romantic suspense, straight suspense and thriller). Back in the mid ‘90s, my Silhouette editor told me about a new line that was being created. The idea […]
August 2, 2017
Last week, in my blog, I asked others to suggest ways writers might find freelance editors. Here are the suggestions I received: Susan Oleksiw said: I’d include the National Writers Union and its locals. Local chambers of commerce sometimes include editors among their members. In Boston, Grub Street is a good resource for published and […]
May 24, 2017
Not long ago I saw an ad on Facebook for a book contest. Two writer friends had “Liked” it, and the contest sounded great: free advertising for a period of time and a certificate/label you could use on your book if you won. Also, for this month, they’d reduced the cost of entering the contest. […]
April 11, 2015
I started entering and judging contests back in the 1980s. At that time the RITA was called the Golden Medallion, and the score sheets actually had points for various aspects of the book as well as space for comments. I remember my 1988 finalist, A Winning Combination, was marked down for a lack of conflict […]
July 30, 2014
Last week, during the Romance Writers of America’s® National Conference the RITA and Golden Heart contest rules were once again modified. From what I understand the rules have basically gone back to what they were a few years ago. Even as the conference proceeded, several members posted messages about the contest, which in turn sparked […]