Today is my pub day, and to celebrate my publisher Gallery/ Simon & Schuster is giving away two copies of The Lake House, to She Writes members. Just leave a comment to win.

The moment I've dreamt about is here. Ever since I was a little girl, sitting in the library tucked between the shelves with my nose in a book, I've imagined what it would be like to have my book published.

In the last few months, there's been so much anticipation, hard work, things I…

I have been doing a great deal of Internet research on Islam for my upcoming fourth novel, Stage Daughter. Aziz, one of three main characters, is a Muslim man, so I have been undergoing a crash online course to better understand how he might think, feel, and react in different circumstances. When not worried about dark-suited CIA agents appearing at my doorstep, I have learned some rather interesting things.



Naturally, all religions have their more bizarre teachings and…

Many times I'm asked where I get ideas for my western historical romances.  It's simple, really. In fact I have enough stuff scribbled down to write these books for another twenty years or so. I prefer to write about the 1860s through the 1880s, though that's not a set rule. Each time I go on a trip through that era in my research the most fascinating thing happens. Characters begin to appear and talk to me. Tell me what it's like to live in the time and place I've stepped into. They speak…

Wondering how to market your new ebook? I have been, since I've just published my romantic comedy "Christmas in Wine Country." Now that I've hit #13 on Amazon's "Hot New Releases" list in both "Humor" and "Women's Lit--Single Women" I feel I have a lot of advice to offer the community. Here's my helpful how-not-to tips to steer you on the right path:

#10 Tweet, repeatedly, to no followers

#9 Have difficulty navigating your gmail account so when people express interest…

People of history who scorn at literature due to it being mere works of fiction, instead of dry facts, I ask you this: what is at the beginning of each history? Stories of origins, Myths, and fantastical tales of cosmos and chaos that surpass most literature. These precede any history.

Fact and fiction are, and forever will be, irrevocably linked.

Join us for Why There Are Words, November 8 at Studio 333 in Sausalito, 7 pm, $5. Our promise: A magical night of stories from seven remarkable writers on the theme, Promise.

Fred Arroyo is the author of Western Avenue and Other Fictions, as well as The Region of Lost…

As a member of She Writes and the subgroups Blooming Late Writers and Disabled But Not Done, I'm concerned about the Romneys' ages and Mrs. Romney's health. She has MS, which is a serious incurable disease. She's already had health problems because of the campaign stress. What? You didn't know. I'm not surprised. The subject has studiously been avoided; however, if Ann Romney develops more problems, what impact will that have on Romney, if he becomes president?

It would be a sad…

Last night was a blur.

Last night was Lit Crawl.

“Lit Crawl” is the final day of Litquake, San Francisco’s Literary Festival. The Festival proper is over 100 events spread out over nine days. There are events for kids at the library, teens. There’s even stuff for poets. We spend the entire year planning it.

Sometimes just called “the Crawl," Lit Crawl is 87 events spread out over 75 venues in the Mission and presented in…

Today’s Generous Soul is Amy London. Amy is my Baseball Tutor and is Chiara’s godmother. She introduced Matt and me to each other. And she can do anything. She made her own wedding cake. She has been known to weld her own props to go along with her choreography. I am not making this up.

Many, many years ago when Amy and I were roommates on tour together, our company had some gigs in a small, crappy little trailer trash town in Napa Valley that I’d rather not mention by name.…

Today’s “Generous Soul” post is about my dear friend Sofia—who, back when we were ten, told me that ballet dancers do not wear underpants under their tights. I could write a million different "generous soul" posts about Sofia. When I grow up, I want to be just like her.

Sofia and I have one of those ESP friendships in which we’ll email suddenly out of the blue or one of us will have a dream about the other, only to find out that something great or terrible (and sometimes,…

I haven’t sent that email to everyone in my inbox yet. The one that says, “Hey! You know how you always ‘like’ my blog posts when I share them on Facebook? And know how you’re always all, ‘You should write a book!’ Well, now I am! I’m writing it with my friends, the Write On, Mamas! and we’ve started an Indiegogo campaign and I know you’re just dying to be a part of it. Thank you so much! Here’s the link to…

The Great Blog Off is something I made up as an excuse to write a blog post and then link to the Write On, Mamas! Indiegogo fundraising campaign. Our group is raising money to self-publish an anthology of our essays.

Here’s the link to our site.

Here’s the link to our campaign.

Thanks to Phoebe Bode and Andrea Torres for already…

My stepfather is what they call a “real writer.” Publishes books and goes to bookstores and signs them. He’s really low-key about it and his nonchalance is contagious.

He writes on a manual typewriter and every year it gets harder to find new ribbon.

He writes every day. He’s 81. Sometimes he takes out an essay he’s working on and just changes one word. Then he puts it back in its manila folder and files it away for another day. It’s not ready…

I had a quest to find someone on line and I would receive emails from the singles sight I had joined from a gentleman who was way to old for me. I would tell him that while it was nice that he was interested in me I told him he was just much older than I was looking for. My bio had said I was looking for someone between 50 and 60. He understood but asked if he could just check in with me once in a while just to see how I was doing. I told him "of course, a person…

Today I welcome author Rebecca Graf to our stage. Rebecca is the author of Deep Connections and currently on tour with the Virtual Book Tour Cafe'. Let's give a warm She Writes welcome and enjoy!!

 Hardest Thing About Character…

It’s date night, and you want to plan something special.  A dinner and a movie are overdone, right?  Not necessarily.

We all have to eat, that’s a fact.  Some of us eat three times a day while others snack and graze all day long.  Have you ever tried to get something done, and you’re making good headway, but then…

Notes for a summer evening... my personal and practical writing tips... this is by no means a comprehensive list, but represents groups that I have participated in or taken classes with over the years— from Caroline Bock, author of LIE. More writing insights at: www.carolinebock.com

For adults:

 Long Island Children’s Writers and Illustrators (LICWI)  -  a very inclusive Long Island group meets once a month at St.…

I remember when I first started blogging. I was scared that no - one would read my posts and that if they did they would judge me. I wondered what people would think and took ages deciding what material was suitable for my blog or not. For a while I worried about being pretentious and being mocked by my friends, yet was also scared I could come across as boring and be a laughing stock in that way too. It took me so long to actually write a post and publish it. However I was keen that I…