New Books

I've updated the books page.

Flash of Fire

A collection of super short stories (1000 words or less) on the subject of fire. Ranging from the love of a volcano goddess to natural phenomena encountered as humans explore a distant planet, these stories evoke a sense of wonder and awe at the nature and power of fire. Some titles have been previously published as part of a weekly flash fiction project but others are brand new and exclusive to this volume. 
Titles include:
Molten Love
Spark
The Silver Fire
The Weeping Flame
Husband in the Flame
Troublemaker

Available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Kobo.

The Out of Order Detective

Spying on cheating monsters, being kidnapped to the past and chasing after a husband she didn't want who's been abducted by aliens is all part of the job for Eliza Carlisle, PI. This collection of super short stories (under 1500 words each) gives a glimpse into her life and her clients. 
Some of the stories have been published before as part of a weekly flash fiction feature but others are unique to this volume. 
Stories included are: 
Little Green Clients 
The Detective and the Archeologist 
Spying on Bigfoot's Wife 
The Case of the Missing Sparks 
Searching for Nessie 
To Whom It May Concern 
A Wife in Time 

Currently available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Kobo.

Reading about Writing

 Over the last couple of days, I've been reading through Dean Wesley Smith's essays from his book Killing the Sacred Cows of Publishing. They've inspired me to find all the stories I've written over the last few years and reread them. Not only have I found quite a few of them, I've found the critique letters and rejection letters that go along with them. My favorite is from a professor who says “I really dug this piece.” I've saved that letter for years and considered having it framed. I don't know why I never submitted the story it went with for publication.

Digging up some of these stories, I came to the realization that I stopped writing. I mean, for years, I stopped writing. I loved writing, it was the only thing I ever wanted to do (except for about 3 weeks when I was 4 and wanted to be a ballerina) and I did it constantly. I was good at it, too. What made me stop?

I'm coming more and more to the realization that I started writing with my critical voice. I've put off writing 2books that I've wanted to write for years because I was afraid of what people would think about them. Not just people, but family. Did I really want to write a book with a sex scene in it that my mother might read? The idea squicked me out and is, ultimately, what's kept me from sitting down and finishing it. In fact, in the original manuscript, I have in big red letters SEX SCENE and then the next chapter.

This is something I have to get over. So, I've set myself a challenge.

I'm writing at least 500 words every day for the next year. And I'm submitting my short stories for publication. And, Mom, you're not allowed to read them. You won't like them anyway.