Month: December 2017

This is why we can't have nice things, Christmas edition.So one of my mother's favorite Christmas desserts, and a holiday tradition in our house for many years, is red velvet cake with boiled buttercream.  I've never been a big fan; the frosting i......

Tis the season for ... frantic commercialism?  Perhaps not, but if you're looking for a gift to give to support a starving artist, perhaps consider:My contemporary fantasy novel FlowORThe traditional music of Rolling Of The Stone, from Scottish to......

Well another year has come and gone—it’s been a good one, though busy, with lots of words written and lots of books published. The end of the year also means that award season is coming into full swing, so I’m putting together my list of 2017 Award eligible books,...

I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.  Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world.  You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re doing something. —...

(It's been a crazy few weeks and my work schedule has been temporarily flipped around, which means I'm working my normal ten hour shift on Wednesdays ... hence the lack of a mid-week post.)I posted a few weeks ago about my recent short story publicatio......

A few weeks ago, I asked about favorite Christmas carols, old and new.  (And I would still love to hear the answers!)  I just have to share one of mine, a song that makes me grin no matter how much of a Grinch or Scrooge I'm feeling, and one...

So…. Based on my last post, one might think I was riding high in the saddle.  Not only did Pilgrimage get a stellar review but was also selected as Booknest‘s finalist in the 2017 SPFBO.  It’s quite an honor and I still keep waiting to wake up and realize it...

Greetings.  Yes, it has been a long time, and real-life, as it likes to do, has been kicking my ass in about five different ways. No matter.  Good news brings me back.  Back in May, I entered author Mark Lawrence’s 2016 contest Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO).  Essentially, it’s three...

What have I learnt on this globe of rock and water floating through the Cosmos? Not much about physics, obviously, but that aside, enjoy my wisdom, fellow humans, while you scoff at my high opinion of my opinions.   About the world There are more good people than bad,...

Surgeburnt is, in many ways, the protagonist against the world:  she's up against larger problems to which there are no solutions (or at least, there seem to be none).  But there are specific antagonists with which she clashes - and one ......