Writing Life: Heading Over the Rainbow

Writer’s Brain I don’t know about other writers, but if I spend too much time researching, reading, recharging, or goofing off rather than tapping away at my keyboard doing actual writing, I get as agitated and depressed as a Kansas farm girl watching her balloon-ride home drift away into the heavens.  This is my state… Continue reading Writing Life: Heading Over the Rainbow

Short Story: Something Sparkly in a Little Velvet Box

Just for you, my dear readers, a Valentine’s Day short story with a happy ending. XOXO, Shelley SOMETHING SPARKLY IN A LITTLE VELVET BOX ******** “I have bad news.”  Henley’s voice faded in and out, the cell service in that part of Florida spotty. I pressed the phone against my ear. “What did you say?”… Continue reading Short Story: Something Sparkly in a Little Velvet Box

Author Q & A: Nancy Gardner

The cover of Dream Stalker by Nancy Gardner

Nancy Gardner, whose new novel, DREAM STALKER just came out in both ebook and paperback, likes to garnish her mystery stories with a paranormal twist.  DREAM STALKER is the first in a series of three books the New England author has planned. It tells the story of Lily Scott, a modern-day Salem witch who is… Continue reading Author Q & A: Nancy Gardner

Author Q & A: Nicole Gabor

An Interview with Former NYC Runway Model and YA Author, Nicole Gabor “I think it all started with a feeling of what I wanted to say,” Nicole Gabor types as we begin our online chat interview. Although it would have been fun to dress up and meet in person somewhere in New York City–at a… Continue reading Author Q & A: Nicole Gabor

Writing Life: Cozy Butterfly Project

[UPDATED March 2022] So, awhile back I had the idea of starting a comfort shawl project that would allow myself and others to encourage women engaged in the hard work of transforming themselves and their lives.  A couple years ago, as an enthusiastic but scattered knitter with basic to intermediate skills, I’d been drawn to… Continue reading Writing Life: Cozy Butterfly Project

Writing Life: 3 Cool Ways to Work Around Procrastination

Procrastination. As a writer, I’ve built elaborate scaffolds of procrastination, making work that is really an avoidance of the work of novel-writing.  I’ve built a website. I started a blog. I created a new Facebook account. I began writing female-empowerment flash fictions to post on Facebook.  I made an Instagram account. I took photos of… Continue reading Writing Life: 3 Cool Ways to Work Around Procrastination

Writing Life: Simplicity, Luxury, Refinement

This morning, I grabbed my usual cup of coffee and my current read, and headed out to the balcony. This is how I start my days, with coffee and books and music. Today I cued up a playlist of opera arias and visited the English countryside with Wilkie Collins’s mystery novel, The Woman In White. … Continue reading Writing Life: Simplicity, Luxury, Refinement

Writing Life: Success: What is it Good For?

Coffee in the Morning

I’ve been thinking about success a lot these days–what it means, what happens if you fail, what happens if you don’t fail. Is the journey really the point, or are we just making ourselves feel better about our failures when we invoke the journey? Is it better to aim high and land somewhere south of… Continue reading Writing Life: Success: What is it Good For?