Romanticizing Reality

This is what it all comes down to, and what it's taken me five years to realize: "When you want to write well you have to be fearless. Otherwise, you just give your characters your own hang-ups instead of letting them be themselves." My friend, Katherine Lampe, is a genius, folks. On top of being an excellent indie author (check out her ebooks here ), she has been a great friend to me (one who I would like to meet face-to-face someday), and even an invaluable mentor (though it wasn't intended). Being fearless. For me, that has included writing outside the norm, forgoing some writing rules, and last but not least, writing what I want to write and not what others think I should write. Worrying about what friends or family will think of a certain scene or story direction (especially, in my case, morally), and feeling the stress of having to please the masses: it was once my greatest hindrance as a writer. I can honestly say that as I've learned to overcome th...

Some people during this #PitMad contest have been requesting that, if at all possible, a longer pitch and excerpt of their work can be put up on their websites, for any who are interested. So here's mine, for HEMLOCK VEILS. I'm posting the blurb from my query letter, as well as the first 250 words: When Elizabeth Ashton escapes her damaging city life and finds herself in the remote town of Hemlock Veils, Oregon, she is smitten by its quaint mystery; but the surrounding forest holds an enchantment she didn’t think existed, and worse, a most terrifying monster. The town claims it vicious and evil, but Elizabeth suspects something is amiss. Even with its enormous, hairy frame, gruesome claws, and knifelike teeth, the monster’s eyes speak to her: wolf-like and ringed with gold, yet holding an awareness that can only be human. That’s when Elizabeth knows she is the only one who can see the struggling soul trapped inside, the soul to which she is moved. Secretly, Elizabeth b...