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Why Didn’t They Go to Jail?Crime, Aliases, and Opportunity in the Gilded Age
I have been reading The Talented Mrs. Mandelbaum, because who wouldn’t want to read about a Gilded Age woman who rose from immigrant housewife to the leader of New York’s largest crime syndicate? As I read, I’m thinking: Geez, this woman makes Catherine look like small potatoes. (For those who don’t know, Catherine Seeley is…
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Things That Make Me Twitch: Unconfirmed Birthdates
NOTE: I am cross-posting this to my other platforms as the topic may be of interest to all. I am on the very last read of my forthcoming novel, Countess of Cons: The Story of a Gilded Age Grifter. Yes! The last read before I hand it off for one final round with my beta…
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In Honor of April Fools’ Day… Let’s Play a Dangerous Little Game
It feels only appropriate, given my subject matter, to celebrate April Fools’ Day with a bit of deception. After all, if anyone appreciated a well-executed ruse, it was Catherine, the protagonist of my forthcoming novel, Countess of Cons. She was also my husband’s great-grandmother. Below are five “facts” drawn from her life. Some will sound…
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New Cover, New Format, Same Story That Refuses to Let Go
I redesigned the cover of Nothing Really Bad Will Happen—and yes, I did it for the most modern, unromantic reason possible: I want people to actually notice the book on Amazon. Not because the story needed a makeover. The story is the story. It’s lived in my family for generations, in silences and fragments and…
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Where I Am Now: Restructuring Countess of Cons After Beta Reader Feedback
It’s been almost a month since I received all my beta readers’ feedback on Countess of Cons. You know that moment when you realize you weren’t as close to the finish line as you thought? Not exactly a surprise, but still… The gist: readers needed neck collars to recover from the whiplash caused by too…
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