Month: December 2025

5 Comments

Happy New Years! #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

December 29, 2025

Happy New Year! Set a goal for yourself and let’s track it through 2026 to see how it’s going.

I’ve said this before – I don’t do New Year’s resolutions.

But I actually have a resolution that has nothing to do with the New Year. I made it when the anthology I took part in was published. (Defending the Moonlight.) I had interrupted writing the second book in the Edwards Investigations series to work on my entry for for the anthology. I really want to get that book completed. And I want to get it done before the start of the book-selling season.

That gives me six months. I’m currently at just over 22,000 words. Getting the first draft done shouldn’t be a problem, God willing and the creeks don’t rise. (We’ve had over 2 feet of snow, freezing rain that accumulated over 1/4 inch of ice, and about 1/2 inch of rain in the past week and a half. My sump pump is hard at work. Another storm is predicted to descend on us on Monday.) With this weather, I should have plenty of time to write.

The time crunch is people to critique.

And edit. And format for publication. And for the various companies to push publish. I can’t control those. Not as much as I’d like.

But I can control figuring out the story. I keep finding bodies to add to the carnage, new parts of the puzzle, and now the pieces are starting to make sense. I’ve already written a chapter that I thought was the first one and now realize belongs closer to the end. I’m not adding those several thousand words in my word count.

So, that’s my goal. Get this book written and as far along in the process as I can get. Yes, my personal goal is to get the book into print by the middle of June, but I won’t count it against myself if that doesn’t happen. I will be unhappy if I don’t have the first draft finished. I’ll keep you updated.

What about the other authors who join the hop this week? What goals do they have? Find out by following the links below.

As always, please stay safe until the next time.

December 29, 2025

Happy New Year! Set a goal for yourself and let’s track it through 2026 to see how it’s going.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

 

The Joys Of Researching #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

December 22, 2025

What person/place/thing did you enjoy researching the most?

Much of my research has to do with various types of weaponry.

So many of my books deal with firearms. Harmony Duprie has a revolver, the smallest one she could possibly use and still go damage. My wolf shifters are armed with various types of military style guns. Jake Hennessey didn’t carry a gun, but the law enforcement officials he dealt with did. It was interesting, and I got lots of advice from experts I knew, but it was “temporary” information and nothing I retained.

The research I’ve done for the Edwards Investigations series is different. I’m referencing places I knew and times that I lived through. But I’m not just remembering my personal stories; I’m putting my memories into a historical context, looking at them from a different point of view. It’s fascinating.

But reliving my experience with the dawn of the personal computer era is the most engrossing. I played the original arcade version of pong, and used 5 1/4 floppy discs. I had a camera that used 3 1/2 floppies to store files. My experience with computers started in the days of DOS and stretched all the way to the current domination of Windows. Being able to put that into exact years wasn’t possible without lots of research.

So, it made sense to make the advent of computers part of the movement of the stories.

I can use it exactly as history writes it, or I can smudge the edges as needed. It’s not the main plot point (or is it?)  but it gives readers something to hang their hats on. I can play loose with other areas of the history as long as readers feel comfortable with pieces they experienced. Or they can google something I mention to verify it. (Although cell phones haven’t made an appearance yet.)

Although I build a strong foundation in Book 1, I’m expanding on it for Book 2.  What was the role of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission? When was the last time you heard anything about it? You’ll have to stay tuned, dear reader, to find out.

Let’s find out what other authors have been researching. Just follow the links below.

As always, please stay safe until the next time. And have a good holiday, whichever one you celebrate this time of year.

December 22, 2025

-What person/place/thing did you enjoy researching the most?

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter


It’s A Winter Wonderland #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

December 15, 2025

Winter is coming to the northern part of the world. (It’s here!). Do you have any plans, or do you prefer to hide from the cold?

You may know the song – “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.”

Many of the past years, we’ve had a hint of winter before the holidays. An inch of snow here, a skiff of snow there. “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas” was only a dream. This year, that all turned upside down.

It was only a few short weeks ago when I was trying to save the last of my summer flowers to anticipated nights of near-freezing temperatures. I enjoyed every extra moment I scavenged.

Now, winter has hit hard, and it’s not even officially that season yet. In the past week, we’ve received around three feet of snow, and we’re getting more. I’ve given up trying to keep my sidewalk clean.  It’s time to hibernate.


(That’s my back deck. I estimate two feet of snow on the railings. And it’s still better than the hurricane force winds in Alaska, the floods in Washington and Oregon, and the winds strong enough to tip over semitrucks in Wyoming and Colorado.) 

But that doesn’t mean I will become inactive.

All the housework I ignored in favor of being outside all summer will nag me. Spring cleaning comes early in this house. It’s a natural progression from taking down and putting away Christmas decorations to deciding that deep cleaning is in order. And despite my determination to get caught up on my reading list, somehow, that never happens.

But perhaps I’ll make more progress on my work-in-progress, book 2 in the Edwards Investigations. It was coming along well until I stopped to send out Christmas cards. Now, it’s just nagging me, taunting me. I should give it some well-deserved attention tonight after I finish this post, while I sip  on a cup of peppermint tea.

What about you? Do you have any winter plans? Check the links below to see what other authors are up to.

And, as always, please stay safe until next time.

December 15, 2025

Winter is coming to the northern part of the world. (It’s here!). Do you have any plans, or do you prefer to hide from the cold?

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

 

To Be Or Not to Be #Open Book Blog Hop

  By Open Book

December 8, 2025

Do you call yourself more of a philosopher or entertainer?

That’s a good question. One I’ve never considered.

But I’m pretty sure “the world” labels me as an entertainer. I can turn a simple incident into a long story. Someday, let me tell you about the house we toured that had a hole in the middle of the living room floor. Although I never came up with a logical reason for that “feature.” The home wasn’t old enough to be part of the Underground Railroad or whiskey running, although the idea of pot smuggling crossed my mind.

For the most part, my Harmony books were written to amuse the reader. There were occasions when I touched on more serious topics, but my primary intent was to have fun. I tried to sneak in the heavy bits where the reader wouldn’t stop to think about the message, that maybe it would hit them later. Or maybe it would never cross their mind and that’s okay too.

My wolf books tackle more serious topics.

Patriarchy. Jealousy. Breaking barriers. The topics are built into the stories, woven into the adventures. I try to present the discussion from both sides, to allow the reader to decide which side they agree with, while making it clear why the character involved chose the one they did.

That still doesn’t make me a philosopher. 

Which, at heart, I am. But I don’t like to force my beliefs on others. If a topic comes up in discussion, I’ll gladly give my input. I may temper my words if I feel like the others aren’t open to hearing my ideas. But I have lots of ideas, and they have changed and refined over the years. I’m still learning new things.

What about the other authors on this hop? Philosopher or entertainer? Find out by following the links below.

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

December 8, 2025

Do you call yourself more of a philosopher or entertainer?

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

 

The Best Writer’s Gift #IWSG

  By IWSG

 

 

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

The awesome co-hosts for the December 3 posting of the IWSG are Tara Tyler, Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Pat Garcia, Liza, and Natalie Aguirre!

Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say.

December 3 question – As a writer, what was one of the coolest/best gifts you ever received?

Easy – the best gift I’ve ever received was a lifetime membership to ProWritingAid. I’d used the free version of the program for grammar and spell checking for several years, but it had its limitations. (I couldn’t check an entire chapter at the same time.) So, when I spotted an offer for a lifetime membership at a reduced price, I jumped on the offer.

Well, not personally. I pointed out the offer to my daughter when she asked what I wanted for Christmas. Like the great daughter she is, she followed through. They’ve made many changes since then, but the basic functions are still a major step in my editing process. (Yes, I used it on this post. And yes, they have ventured into AI functionalities, but I’ve ignored that.) I expect to use as long as I keep writing.

And I give the company props for having a feature to support writers in a replacement for NaNoWriMo. I didn’t participate, but it warmed my heart to see the possibility.

I wonder what gifts my fellow authors have received. The links below will lead me to the answers.

As always, until next time, please stay safe.