The treasure we call family isn’t all that different from pirate booty, if you think about it; we’ve got mostly priceless, sparkling gems, but there are also a few pieces of precious silver tarnished almost beyond recognition, and a handful of fake coins thrown in the mix as well. But…

Review: The Mistress's Revenge by Tamar Cohen…

From 1845-1850, the British drove out two million Irish from their homes, converting their farmland into pasturage for sheep.According to Edward Laxton's The Famine Ships, 5000 ships left Ireland during the first six years of the Famine. About half the emigrants sailed to New York giving that city more Irish than Dublin.

The cost of sailing to America was roughly twice that of passage to Canada, so for the landlord the choice was an easy one. Money rules. American ships were faster and…

I’ve wanted to be a writer since I…

I've often said writing a novel is like running a marathon, but I'm beginning to think it's more like making a jigsaw puzzle: The charge of the first draft is to get the pieces all laid out on the table, face-up, so you can see what's there. The trick of subsequent drafts is to get them all fitted together into a picture…

Today's edition of Saturday Sharing includes links to Oregon Poetic Voices, a demo for Kindlegraph, the Syllabus Exchange, Between the Covers, AboutAWord, and NeuWrite. The video feature is the Art Monastery Project.

http://writingwithoutpaper.blogspot.com/2011/07/saturday-sharing-my-finds-are-yours_30.html

When I daydream about the future I see such a full life for John. I see him doing the things he loves - going to GA football games, fishing, riding around in his truck, mowing the lawn. (Well, he doesn't really love that, but right now it seems like the best thing in the world to him.)

Then my thoughts return to reality, which is still hard to believe is our reality, and my mind is immediately forced back into thinking about all the hurdles he has to…

My television service is abominable lately. Recordings freeze. I love things “on demand,” but apparently my demands are unreasonable, because the last two movies I have rented won’t play. “America’s Got Talent” went black right at the most crucial moment, and I wasn’t able to see if that guy survived the fifty foot fall into the baby pool. My computer is no longer wireless. The phones are a bit wonky. We have limped along with all of this, but when we lost the signal right in…

My debut novel, Child Finder, introduces Air Force OSI Special Agent Patrick S. O’Donnell, who discovers (reluctantly) that he has a unique gift to find missing children. Unfortunately, Uncle Sam quickly pulls him into a Top Secret under-world community that leverages his skills…

Recently I started taking yoga again. I’ve never been terribly consistent about yoga, and always admire the lithe, wiry people who seem to defy gravity in their poses, arms holding up their entire bodies; legs that seem strong enough to carry the whole class. These are the people who refer to yoga as a “practice”—a concept that seems to run so much deeper than just “I take yoga classes.” I picture them holding tree pose while they brush their teeth, doing downward dog as they tie their…

It’s A Hard Knock Life

As my thirteen year old daughter is about to begin high school, I am struggling with how much of my past I want to share with her. When I was eighteen, I was raped and nearly murdered. The rapist strangled me until I literally felt my throat close. Just before I passed out he let go, although he later kept saying he didn’t know why he hadn’t killed me. He made it very clear that he had killed past victims.

That day changed…

I’ve been doing some serious research into self-publishing options recently and one thing I’ve learned is that self-publishing is not for everyone. It can, however, be a great option for those who are prepared to market, promote and sell, as well as write.

My research has turned up over fifty resources (including some great freebies and some very affordable paid services) that I think could be useful to self-publishing newbies (and some of them to traditionally published authors too).…

I am a very fortunate mother. I say that because I have been blessed with a very loving and caring daughter. Many people want a son as their first child, but I believe it is better to have a daughter first. This is a tribute to loving and caring daughters everywhere, but especially my own. You can see her in my avatar, which was taken when she was less than a year old. We were then living in the South Pacific Island of Tonga.

 …

http://wellreadfish.blogspot.com/2011/07/black-ice.html

The members of Brown Sugar Ladies, Inc. are a team of detectives previously belonging to a group of child soldiers for the government in a division known as the Valkyrie Unit. Now, they offer their services to the city in dealing with preternatural occurrences in their district. These are their stories.

No Such Thing as Black Vampires

I’ve gotten some really rude stuff in the mail before so I had my gun in one hand when the package…