Plot Or Not: Super Simple Story Structure (new Audiobook edition)

Posted on August 1, 2018July 10, 2019 by admin

When I started writing, I struggled with plot. As in my first novel didn't exactly have one, probably why it got nothing but form letter rejections. I'd taken writing classes, but those classes almost exclusively focused on whether a scene worked or not. The advice on plot was basically to string the scenes together. That might work for some writers, but it didn't for me. It's also not the kind of book I like to read. I prefer genre fiction--mainly suspense, thriller, horror, and myster...

Rediscovering The Neighborhood Bookstore

Posted on July 25, 2018 by admin

A few days ago I did something I haven't done in a long time--walked to my neighborhood bookstore, Sandmeyer's. I love the hardwood floors in Sandmeyer's. Some boards creak when you step on them. It also smells like wood, a smell I associate with books and therefore love. There were two reasons I hadn't visited there in forever. Drifting Away From The Bookstore One reason is that I've spent since April 22 recovering from a broken foot. A lot of that time I was in casts (photos of the ...

Fiction And Life

Posted on July 18, 2018July 19, 2018 by admin

My fiction is not autobiographical. Not only have I never experienced a supernatural pregnancy (surprise, right?) as does Tara, the main character in The Awakening Series, I’ve never been pregnant at all. I’ve also never dated a vampire (When Darkness Falls), and unlike Q.C. (Quille) Davis, I don’t investigate crimes and no one I love has been murdered. (I did work in the tower formerly known as Sears, but nothing occult happened there. That I know of.) Yet as I walked today through Pri...

The Sights, Sounds, and Smells of Downtown Chicago

Posted on July 11, 2018 by admin

Monday I did something wonderful. I took my first walk through downtown Chicago since late April when I broke my foot. I'm still in an Aircast, but I'm getting around well enough to walk alone. It felt fantastic. First I walked from my physical therapist's office to the main Chase bank branch on Monroe and Dearborn. I'd been hoping to sit in the lobby area overlooking the plaza and fountain and rest, but it was under construction. As is everywhere near downtown Chicago these days it se...

This Year’s Retreat

Posted on July 4, 2018 by admin

This year's creative retreat is in Green Bay, Wisconsin. One of many beautiful sunsets: Our second day a neighbor warned about a storm coming. So did the sky and lake. I've been working on The Charming Man (Q.C. Davis Series No. 2). Hoping this bug did not die from reading it. But maybe that's good. Like The Worried Man (Q.C. Davis Series No. 1), it's suspense/mystery. We're using many different spaces. Here's a mini-office m...

Immigration, Family History, and The Stories We Tell

Posted on June 27, 2018June 28, 2018 by admin

With all the news and debate about immigration I’ve been thinking a lot lately about family history. My mom’s parents came to the United States from Poland in the early 1900s. My grandfather emigrated first. My grandmother planned to follow soon after, but due to changes in U.S. immigration law it was nearly a decade before she could. Two of her children traveled with her. She and my grandfather had four more children, including my mother, after settling in the U.S. For a long time,...

Lawyers, Stress, and Horror

Posted on June 20, 2018June 20, 2018 by admin

What do horror, being a lawyer, and stress have in common? All played a part in my life when I worked full time as a lawyer. Also, all factor into the three short stories in the new paperback edition of The Tower Formerly Known as Sears and Two Other Tales of Urban Horror. I finally released this paperback edition while home recovering from my broken foot--one good thing about the many weeks in the cast. The Man In The Mirror I'm particularly fond of this story, as it's the first one...

A Wheelchair, A Book Fair, And A Lot Of Nice People

Posted on June 13, 2018 by admin

This year I felt the most trepidation I ever have about bringing my books to the Printers Row Lit Fest (a/k/a the Printers Row Book Fair). And I had the best time I've ever had. The trepidation came because I'm still not able to put weight on my foot, which has 2 broken bones. I'm wearing a clunky Aircast, which is better than a regular cast, but still keeps me a bit off balance on crutches. With how crowded the book fair usually is, I felt nervous about getting through the crowds without ...

Please Join Me At Printers Row Lit Fest in Chicago June 9

Posted on June 5, 2018 by admin

If you'll be in the Chicago area on Saturday June 9, please stop and say hello at the Printers Row Lit Fest. I'll be under the Chicago Writers Association Tent Saturday, June 9 from 10 AM to 12:30 PM. The CWA tent will be between Harrison and Polk on Dearborn Street (so around 700 S. Dearborn). The Lit Fest (formerly called the Printers Row Book Fair) is open June 9 and 10. It spans Dearborn Street from Congress Parkway to Polk, and there are usually tents along Polk and events in the Haro...

Our Mothers, Ourselves, Our Fiction

Posted on May 30, 2018 by admin

After reading The Worried Man, a friend who’s also read my other books pointed out that my main characters’ mothers aren’t exactly warm and fuzzy. It’s true. Like a lot of women, my mom and I clashed over many things. What comes through in my fiction are larger than life echoes of those conflicts. Unfair as it is, the things I admire most about my mom — and there are a lot of them — usually find their way into other characters. Conflict Conflict Conflict Storytelling requires conflict...