Recently I read a writer’s blog written by an agent who identified nine ways NOT to begin your book. I read the list and when I reached the ninth example, I said, “OH NO!” Not only have I been struggling to write my second novel, now I need to rewrite the first chapter. This past…
As I researched drug trafficking for my first novel, Busted, my opinion about illegal drugs changed. Previously I’d supported the war on drugs; after all, drugs are bad. Over time, I came to the conclusion that prohibition doesn’t work, and in fact, creates a black market where illegal and illicit substances thrive without regulations. My new philosophy…
Every 9 seconds in the U.S. a woman is beaten. That’s what was displayed on the video presentation at the Human Options annual fund raiser on May 20, 2017. (Human Options, located in Orange County, California, is a non-profit organization dedicated to ending domestic violence and abuse.) While staring at that number, waves of disbelief washed over me. I…
After spending eight and a half years writing and rewriting, I began submitting my novel a year ago April. I received twenty-five agent rejections, of which many were complimentary but didn’t want to do another story about drugs. Just one agent read the manuscript while the others had reviewed the first chapter; plus I had…
