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Writing, Whiskey, and the Hill of Witches
Today was the first full day of writing at the Family History Writing Studio Retreat in Sligo, Ireland. So far, we’ve been incredibly lucky with the weather. Yesterday, on our trip west, we stopped at the so-called Hill of Witches—actually a Neolithic cairn on Knocknarea. I had no clue what we were going to see…
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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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