An Interview with Katherine Forrister

Katherine Forrister, another 2021 Debuts author, just released Lodestone, a novel Cari Dubiel describes as “an impressive fantasy that leaves the reader both satisfied and wanting more.” Others who have endorsed the book mention the incredible setting, the complex characters, and the magic. What more could a debut novelist ask for? While Katherine might make…

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Days Like This

Days like this— after a surgical procedure routine for the surgeon but not for you when your belly is swollen and sore and you’re moving slowly slower than you have in years— are good days to speak to your mom. What other person will let you vent the exact way you need to? What other…

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A Grapefruit-Sized Pause

My life is busy. That four-word sentence doesn’t even cut the surface of that busyness, but as I always say, I am quite fortunate: my busyness is not bad, just tiring (I don’t get nearly enough sleep in my quest to get everything on my to-do list accomplished). But you know how it goes. The…

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Podcast Love

Several years ago now (I actually can’t remember when!), I met freelance journalist Carrie Vittitoe when a friend and I headed south to Kentucky to attend a writers conference. She was speaking about her experiences, and since then, we’ve kept up with each other on social media. Fast forward to 2019, and she and Amy…

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Shameless Promotion II

If I don’t promote myself, who will? That’s the introductory line of my last post on promotion, and a lesson I’m still learning. Eventually I’ll have learned enough about promotion, marketing, branding, and everything else that I’ll be able to teach a course. Maybe someday . . . But today, I have a fun surprise…

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Did Someone Say Free?

Book marketing is exhausting, and posting about the book over and over makes me grumpy, but my book (Rewrite the Stars, in case you’ve been ignoring me for a while) is FREE for a few days, so I’m writing about it here. And apparently I don’t care much how my sentences come together, because that…

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April Challenges (April Love 2021)

April, with its robust arrival of spring, is a good time to challenge myself. A few years ago, I took on a fitness challenge and added in an extra mile of walking each day in April. That lasted throughout the year, and it’s carried over to today—I still try to walk an extra mile when…

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An Interview with Sarah Lawton

Sarah Lawton is a fellow member of the 2021 Debut Group, a group of authors publishing their debut novels this year. Sarah’s bio there tells us, “After leaving a career in the charity sector she spent several years blogging and raising a small person to school age, at which point she decided enough was enough…

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That’s a Wrap!

Never in a million years did I imagine that when I finally published a book, my launch would be virtual. But in the end, I’m glad it was. People from different parts of my life gathered to help me celebrate my accomplishment, and many of these folks would not have been able to attend a…

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An Interview with Lee Barber

Lee Barber is no stranger to persistence. She began her debut novel, Getting to Grace, in 1998, and wrote, rewrote, wrote again, landed an agent, and then a publisher, finally releasing it this past December. She also blogs and writes short stories. I first met Lee in a workshopping class where I was blown away…

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