Author: dholman472
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From Gilded Age Grifter to Aer Lingus Diva
I’m sitting at Gate 9 at Bradley International Airport in Connecticut, waiting to board a 6:05 p.m. plane to Dublin. The seats are filling fast. Uh oh. Does that mean some poor schmuck is going to get wedged between me and my husband? He likes the window. I like the aisle. (Seventy-year-old bladder. Two kids.)…
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Relax, Nobody’s Stealing Your Masterpiece (Probably): Practical paranoia tips for writers who want to share online without losing sleep
DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer. The information I share here is gleaned from my experiences and various sources I have consulted. Copyright law varies by country—always double-check your own country’s rules. If you’re a writer in 2025, chances are you’ve workshopped a scene online, uploaded a chapter to a critique group, or asked an…
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Chicago, 1892: A Day in the Life of a Divorced Diamond Seller
I took up Coach Carole’s Thursday GenAI Club challenge for Week 2: Time Travel Thursdays. The prompt invited us to time-travel with a favorite ancestor, so I adapted it for my husband’s great-grandmother, Catherine—who just happens to be the subject of my next novel (Countess of Cons: The Story of a Gilded Age Grifter). I…
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When “I’m Done” Isn’t Really Done
A love letter to every writer who’s ever found a typo … after launch. I thought I was done. I revised the children’s book. I corrected all the errors. I double-checked the margins, the text boxes, the captions. I pressed the magic button: Download. I uploaded the newest version (Number 6,262?) to Amazon. Ran it…
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Late-Night Thoughts Before My Book Launch: A Letter from Mom (Sort of)
The timing is a little awkward — my new children’s book comes out this Sunday… and I’m leaving on vacation the very next day. Oops. Real life! Thankfully, my trusty writing assistant (who I call Scripty McPromptface) helped me map out a plan — launch soft now, with more buzz later in August when I…
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A True Story for Young Readers – Coming June 22
I’m thrilled to announce the upcoming release of my newest book, Doris’s New Home, launching June 22! This illustrated children’s book is based on the true story of my mother, Doris, who left Vienna with her own mother in 1938. Together, they escaped the growing threat of Nazi rule and made a new life in…
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Postmarked from the Past: A Message from Catherine
Today, Scott, one of the members of my writing group, the Daily Sprinters, gave us an assignment: Write a postcard to yourself from an ancestor using exactly 100 words. I chose to “receive” my message from Catherine, the protagonist of my forthcoming novel, currently titled Draped in Deceit: The Story of a Gilded Age Grifter.…
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Using AI Art to Illustrate a Children’s Book: Confessions from a Reluctant Collaborator
When I first started working on Doris’s New Home—the illustrated children’s companion to my novel Nothing Really Bad Will Happen, about a young Jewish girl fleeing Vienna in 1938—I didn’t expect to have so many sleepless nights over the pictures. Words? Sure, I know how to choose a verb, tighten a paragraph, untangle a timeline.…
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“Done-ish”: That Time I Finished My Book—Until Catherine Seeley Said Otherwise
I typed “The End,” pushed back from my desk, and smiled. My manuscript was done. Complete. Finished. I even told people so. Silly me. I was about 75% through reviewing my “finished” manuscript—one final read before sending it off to my writing coach for a developmental edit—when I decided to double-check a small fact. You…
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Three Times NOT the Charm: When AI Illustrations Go Off the Rails
When I set out to improve an illustration for my forthcoming children’s book, Doris’s New Home, I wasn’t expecting a breakdown of logic, perspective, and anatomy. I expected a quick revision. Just a few tweaks, really. I just wanted a warm family dinner scene. So I gave ChatGPT a clear prompt: “All the family members…
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