A Musical Mystery

As we move into the warm days of summer, I know I always look around for those books I can read while lounging out in the back yard or sitting by the beach. What could be better on one of those beach outings than a new cozy mystery?  My guest today in My Writing Corner, Jill Piscitello,  has a new cozy mystery book out that sounds like it is perfect for reading on those afternoons at the beach or the backyard. 

Jill is a teacher, author, and, she says, an avid fan of multiple literary genres. Although she divides her reading hours among several books at a time, (a habit I can't seem to break) she says a lighthearted story offering an escape from the real world can always be found on her nightstand.

She is a native of New England, where she lives with her family and three well-loved cats. When not planning lessons or reading and writing, she and her family can be found trying out new restaurants, traveling, and going on light hikes.

Her latest book is A Sour Note, which is part of her Music Box Mystery series  is being published in late June but is available now for early sale. 

When murder provides a welcome distraction…

On the heels of a public, broken engagement, Maeve Cleary returns to her childhood home in Hampton Beach, NH. When a dead body turns up behind her mother’s music school, three old friends land on the suspect list. Licking her wounds soon takes a back seat to outrunning the paparazzi who spin into a frenzy, casting her in a cloud of suspicion. Maeve juggles her high school sweetheart, a cousin with a touch of clairvoyance, a no-nonsense detective, and an apologetic, two-timing ex-fiancé. Will the negative publicity impact business at the Music Box— the very place she’d hoped to make a fresh start?

Want to know more? Let's get an excerpt:

With his mouth set in a grim line, he waited.

If anyone else had enough nerve to presume she owed them an explanation, she would respond with a solid mind your own business. Instead, the seventeen-year-old still inside her refused to tell him to get lost. “He was hiding money in his office.” This was one of those times when learning how to wait a few beats before blurting out inflammatory information would come in handy. Each second of passing silence decreased her ability to breathe in the confined space. She turned the ignition and switched on the air conditioner.

“How do you know?” His volume just above a whisper, each dragged-out word hung in the air.

“I found it.”

“When were you in his office?” He swiped at a bead of sweat trickling down the side of his face, then positioned a vent toward him.

“Last night.” When would she learn to bite her tongue? Finn’s switch from rapid-fire scolding to slow, deliberate questioning left her unable to swallow over the sandpaper lump in her throat.

“Where was Vic?”

She stared at the back of the building, wishing she’d kept her mouth shut. “He’d left for the night.” If she averted her gaze, she could pretend his eyeballs weren’t bugging out of his head, and his jaw didn’t need a crane to haul it off his chest.

“You were at the town hall after hours? Did anyone see you?”

“A custodian opened his door for me.” She snuck a glance. Sure enough, features contorted in shock and horror replaced his boy-next-door good looks.

Want to read on? You'll have to buy the book!  Here are the  Pre-Order Links:

Amazon

Amazon Kindle

Barnes and Noble

Here are her Social Media links:

Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Instagram ~ Amazon ~ GoodReads ~ BookBub

Thank you, Jill, for being my guest today.  Any comments or questions for Jill?

Setting A MysteriousCourse

The time has come to start putting together those vacation reads--you know--the books you want to take to the mountains or the beach to read this summer. Our guest today in My Writing Corner has just such a possibility to offer. My guest is Diane Weiner, and her latest book is A Stormy Corner, another book in her Sugarbury Falls Mysteries series.

Diane is the award-winning author of the Susan Wiles Schoolhouse Mysteries, The Sugarbury Falls Mysteries, and The Sara Baron Tuned-In Mysteries. She tells us she is  an animal lover as well as the mother of four grown children. She says she shares her Florida home with her husband and 3 precious cats. In her free time, she enjoys running, spending time with her family, and watching scenic British and Scandinavian mysteries under a cozy blanket with the air conditioner cranked down. 

Tell us about your road to publication.

I was very fortunate to have my first and subsequent mysteries published by Cozy Cat Press. It’s a small press headed by Patricia Rockwell which specializes in publishing cozy mysteries. I sent the full manuscript and within weeks received a contract. That was in 2014 and I am still with them.

Diane, what do you enjoy about being an author?

I love the creative outlet it affords and the challenge it presents. Plotting and making the clues and pieces fit together in a logical way keeps me on my toes and it’s a thrill when my readers enjoy figuring out (or can’t figure out) ‘who dunnit.’

How do you come up with your plots?

I get plot ideas from the news (stand your ground, real estate fraud, scamming the elderly, smuggling) or from conversations. I once sat next to a woman at a dinner, and she told me about a friend who lost her hair because of a toxic hip replacement. It inspired the plot for Murder is Medical in my Susan Wiles series. 

What is your latest book and how did you come up with the idea to write it?

My latest book is book 9 in the Sugarbury Falls mystery series and the title is A Stormy Course. The amateur sleuths in this series are semi-retired and live in Vermont with a teenage daughter. In this book, Henry and Emily take a cruise to celebrate their anniversary and get embroiled in a murder investigation. My husband and I love cruising and have been to the Caribbean several times (easy access since we live in Florida). Of course, that was a big influence on the desire to write this story. Also, an unusual story in the news called to me and is the motivation for the murder. I can’t tell you more because it would spoil the book!

Let's get a blurb:

Turquoise water, rum punch, and fun in the sun. What better way to celebrate 35 years of marriage. Emily and Henry Fox go on an anniversary cruise to the Caribbean expecting nothing less, but when Henry’s old med school buddy turns up dead in his cabin, it’s anything but smooth sailing. The captain chalks it up to an unfortunate accident but Emily and Henry know better. The deadly tarantula didn’t crawl from the Puerto Rican rainforest to the ship on its own furry legs. With the help of a retired detective, they search for the killer. Why did the victim and his wife have separate cabins? Who is the elusive girl in the fuchsia bikini? Was cheating at the casino the motive for murder? When crew members turn up missing and dead, the Foxes discover the ship itself is harboring secrets deeper than the sea. Secrets worthy of murder.

Want more? How about an excerpt:

       “A Pina Colada never tasted this good.” Emily leaned over the cruise ship railing. An orange pink sun sank into the Caribbean while white  ripples bubbled like champagne below.

        Henry stood behind her, arms wrapped around her waist, equally mesmerized by the purring water and the pastel horizon. “This is a perfect way to celebrate our anniversary. I don’t remember the last time we went on a vacation, just the two of us. Not that college tours with Maddy aren’t fun.”

        Emily laughed. Adopting a teenager in their fifties was never part of the plan, but Emily counted her blessings. She took another sip, stabbed the cherry with the sharp end of the paper umbrella and popped it into her mouth. Henry kissed her cheek and leaned his head against hers.

        A gentleman in Burberry patterned bathing trunks and a Miami Marlins t-shirt tapped Henry on the shoulder. “No way. I knew it was you.”

        Henry said, “Anson? What the...? What are you doing here!”

        Anson said, “Shelby and I are taking a much- needed vacation.”

        Henry put his arm around Emily’s shoulder. “Em, this is Anson Seavers, from med school. Anson, my wife Emily. How long has it been?”

        “Too long. We said we’d keep in touch after we ran into each other at the AMA conference, but you know how it goes. Life manages to get in the way. Are you still practicing?”

        “Semi-retired,” said Henry. “We moved to Vermont a few years back. You?”

        “Gonna keep at it a few more years. We live in Ft. Lauderdale, so it’s not like I’m itching to escape cold weather.”  

        “Nothing like leaving the beach and sweltering heat for more beach and sweltering heat,” said Henry.

        “Not my first choice. I’d have preferred Alaska, but I couldn’t convince Shelby to take a cross country flight when we’re a hop, skip, and a jump from Port Everglades.”

        “Happy wife, happy life,” said Henry. Emily glared at him. He cleared his throat and continued. “Hey, I saw your article in JAMA. The one about treating glioblastoma using interventional radiology.”

        “Yeah. FDA approved as of last year.” He looked over toward the pool. “It’s saving lives. Used it last week to save a thirteen-year-old girl who would have been dead by now. Nothing like tooting my own horn, right?” He looked behind him. “I gotta go.”

        Emily said, “Why don’t we have dinner together? I’d love to meet your wife, and you and Henry can catch up.”

        “Yeah. We’ll be there.” He looked over his shoulder, as if he were trying to avoid something. Or someone.

        “8:00, Taurus dining room, deck 4,” said Emily.

        “Um, sure. See you then.” He hustled down the deck and disappeared behind sliding glass doors.

        Emily said, “Did you catch him scanning the deck while we talked? Do you think something’s wrong?”

        “Nah. It’s getting late for dinner. He’s probably worried his wife is wondering where he is.”

Emily said, “See that young lady?” She nodded to the left.

        Henry turned his head and looked both ways. “I see lots of young ladies. None as pretty as you, though.” He kissed the top of her head.

        “No, look at the one with the fuchsia bikini.” Emily pointed to a slim girl with long blond hair. “She’s got a pool towel tied around her waist. See?”

        “Yeah, what about her?”

        “She kept looking over here the whole time you and Anson were talking.”

        “Em, give your crime writer intuition a vacation this week, please?”

What advice do you have for beginning writers?

Make the time to write most every day, even if it’s only for 30 minutes before work or after the kids are asleep. Learn about the craft of writing. There’s a lot of free information online. Go to writing conferences. Many now offer a virtual option (though going in person is a lot of fun.)

Join an organization such as Mystery Writers of America or Sisters in Crime for information as well as support. And simply, just do it. If you want to write, write! If you love it, you’ll find ways to keep improving.

What’s your next project?

I am currently working on book 4 in my Sara Baron Tuned-In Mysteries. This series features an oboist who returns to her hometown in New York when a health crisis threatens her career. She helps with the family business and winds up falling in love. In Eerie Echoes, there’s a murder at a gender reveal party. At the same time, I’m polishing and querying my domestic thriller/mystery The Hit and Run. 

Here's the buy link for A Stormy Course:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BW248SLF/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?keywords=the+stormy+course+by+diane+weiner&qid=1676585341&sr=8-2

Also, download a free ebook when you visit Diane's website and join her mailing list! 

Click : http://www.dianeweinerauthor.com/

Follow Diane on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/dianeweinerauthor/

Thank you, Diane, for being my guest today. Any questions or comments?

Sweeping Into A Story

As we head toward summer, if you're like me, you're probably searching out books to read that have plenty of action and keep you on your toes. Today's guest in My Writing Corner, Alicia Dean, brings us a book that sounds as though it might be perfect summer reading when nights are short.  Her latest book, Mister 13,  is book 3 of A Friday the 13th Series. Before finding out about the book, though, let's find out more about Alicia.

Alicia hails from Oklahoma where, she says, the wind not only "comes sweeping down the plain," but sometimes gusts, twists and ravages down the plain.  She is from Moore, which she says, is affectionately known as "Tornado Alley," though she now lives in Edmond.

She says she has always wanted to be a writer and wrote her first romance at the ripe old age of ten. In fact, she says she still has the tattered, pencil-written copy of the book, 'Just Pretend', titled after one of her favorite Elvis Presley songs. It featured a hero who looks JUST like Elvis. (Have you guessed, she's an Elvis fan?)

Other than reading and writing, she says her passions are Elvis Presley, MLB, NFL (she usually works in a mention of one or all three into her stories) and watching (or re-watching) her favorite televisions shows like Dexter, Vampire Diaries, Justified, Seinfeld, Friends, Everybody Loves Raymond, King of Queens and Breaking Bad. Some of her favorite authors are Michael Connelly, Dennis Lehane, Lee Child, Lisa Gardner, Ridley Pearson, and Jonathan Kellerman...to name a few. 

Alicia, tell us about your road to publication.

I’ve been writing since I was 9 or 10 and I wrote my first romance. As the years went on, I dabbled, then I got married and raised kids and put my writing aside. Then in 2001, I took a writing class and renewed my drive to write. I published my first book in 2007 with The Wild Rose Press and have published many more since, with various publishers, including Indie Publishing.

What do you find is the most challenging part of being an author?

I love writing, but the most challenging part is finding time to write with my busy schedule. And being disciplined enough to actually write when I do have a few spare moments. I’m trying to get better about that. 

How do you develop characters?

I like to base characters on real people, mainly celebrities. Sometimes I just use that person’s appearance and sometimes I use their personality, traits, mannerisms, etc. I usually base them on a role the actor has played rather than the actor themselves. Then I get to know them within the world of my story as I go along. I can’t really get to know a character than well until I’ve written at least a third of my story. I wish I could say the characters are ‘real’ to me and I know them up front, but I’m more a plot driven writer.

What is your latest book and how did you come up with the idea to write it?

My latest release is actually a horror short story called Mister 13. It’s part of a Friday the 13th Series of short stories where myself and 12 other authors (get it, 13 authors… set 13 stories on Friday the 13th?) each wrote a stand-alone story. They have various shared elements but are not otherwise related. I got the idea for Mister 13 because I’ve always found it interesting that there are people who suffer from a phobia called triggatriskaidekaphobia, which is a fear of Friday the 13th. My story is based on that phobia.

Let's get a blurb:

Psychologist Giselle Bishop is treating a patient who suffers from friggatriskaidekaphobia, a fear of Friday the 13th. When he was younger, his family was murdered on Friday the 13th by an unknown killer dubbed Mister 13 by the media. Since then, he’s been terrified to leave his house on the dreaded date. She understands his fear because years earlier, her roommate fell victim to Mister 13.

With another Friday the 13th approaching, Giselle convinces him to overcome his fear by facing the very day that paralyzes him, so he reluctantly ventures out. But when she sees a news report that a young woman was found murdered by someone with the same MO as Mister 13, she understands she has made a grave error and her patient is right to believe he is in danger. But he’s not the only one, because now Mister 13 is coming after her.

I don't know about you, but I want to know more! Let's get an excerpt:

      He nodded. “But not just any Friday. It’s Friday the 13th. Today is a special day. And you are going to be remembered forever.”

      His meaning sank in, and her heart stopped, then began pounding so loudly, she could hear it booming in her ears. “No, please, no, please. Oh my God. I don’t want to die.” Tears and snot ran down her face and warm liquid rushed between her thighs as she peed herself, but she was barely aware of it. Her brain was overtaken by pure, unadulterated fear. 

“Shhh…shhhh… No one is going to help you. It’s just you and me now.” He reached into his hoodie pocket and pulled something out. Her eyes widened when she saw the knife. “Here’s what I need you to do for me. I want you to count to thirteen. Loudly but slowly. Can you do that for me?”

She shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut. “No, no, no, no, no…”

He slapped her, hard, and her eyes shot open. “That doesn’t sound like counting to me.” He held the knife against her cheek and poked the tip in far enough to draw blood. She gasped. “Now, try again, unless you want me to carve your face up.”

“Wo-one…two…three…” A sob caught in her throat, and she couldn’t speak. He jabbed the knife more deeply into her cheek, and she cried out. “F-four…five…”

With each number, her heart hammered harder, and she wondered if she’d die of a heart attack before he killed her.

She reached thirteen, praying he’d go away and leave her alone. That it was some kind of sick game he liked to play, but he didn’t want to actually hurt her—at least no more than he already had. But that thought had barely formed when he lifted the knife and plunged it toward her chest. 

The pain was like nothing she’d ever felt—ever imagined. Her last coherent thought was that, in all the horror she’d seen and read, nothing had prepared her for the agony of her own death. 

Want to know more, dear reader? Don't worry, the buy links are below. Alicia, what are you working on now?

I am working on another story for our upcoming Friday the 13th series. (We release new stories on each Friday the 13th) and I’m also working a police procedural/suspense novel called Dead Red, the first in a new series.

Here’s the buy link for Alicia’s book, Mister 13 followed by the link for the entire A Friday the 13th Short Story Series.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BKY7H2VK?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_calw_tkin_8&storeType=ebooks 

A Friday the 13th Short Story: 13 authors ~ 13 suspenseful stories. Murder and mayhem on Friday the 13th... Find each story in the series here: 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BLCZ8W66?binding=kindle_edition&ref=dbs_dp_rwt_sb_pc_tukn 

Alicia, what advice do you have for beginning writers?

My advice for beginning writer is to write, as much and as often as you can. Don’t worry about making it perfect, just get the words down. The more you write, the better at it you’ll get. 

Thank you for appearing on my blog today. Find Alicia’s social contact information here:

Email: Alicia@AliciaDean.com

Social Media Links: https://linktr.ee/AliciaDean1835

Any questions or comments for Alicia?

A Fantastic Journey

When I read the biography for today's guest in My Writing Corner, a good part of it spoke to me! She says she writes to overcome the fact that she was born a middle child with a tendency to daydream, just like I was. I hear you, Kitty!

However, that's were the similarity ends. She  lives outside Philadelphia, and she also says she was born  with hobbit feet and vampire skin. Don't know about that, but I know her books sound engaging. 

She says in her spare time, she  binds books, takes bad photos, and tries to avoid the death traps her cat sets for her. She earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Arcadia University in 2015 and has been published in several journals including The After Happy Hour Review, Furious Gazelle, and Sick Lit among others.

Kitty, tell us about your road to publication.

Like most people, the road has been curvy, strange, and often in the dark. In 2013, I applied to a writing grad program with no expectations. I was honestly pretty shocked when I was accepted. Grad school, though, was brutal. I think the culture of grad school, specifically writing programs, is designed around this toxic notion of “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” There’s a ton of over-critiquing, tearing down, and weird favoritism. As readers, we all like what we like, and as writers, rejection is part of the trade. But this was at a level beyond constructive criticism and I came out uncertain that I wanted to publish. 

It took me a while to move beyond it, but I did. I spent two years publishing short stories and an essay. Then I hunkered down and worked on connecting with an agent. I had several books completed, but despite hundreds of queries, nothing clicked. Then the pandemic hit. 

At the time, I was working at a Trader Joe’s, and the situation became dangerous very quickly. There were physical assaults, constant aggression, verbal abuse, and, of course, the ever-present threat of getting Covid. I didn’t think I was going to survive. Plus, I didn’t have health insurance, so if I got sick and survived, I’d be in medical debt for the rest of my life. And I thought, “Screw this. If I’m gonna go, it will be with no regrets.” So I self-published my first novel. And then a couple more. 

I found my way to Wild Rose Press more from the prompting of one of my writing circle than anything. She had beta read my book, Stone Heart, which is releasing in August 2023, and urged me to submit it. This time, I bypassed agents and submitted directly to presses and publishing houses. And Wild Rose Press loved it. As I said, it’s been a strange, curvy, and often times dark road.

What is your latest book and how did you come up with the idea to write it?

My latest book is The Second Pillar and it comes out next week, May 16, 2023. It is the second installment in the urban fantasy series Pillar of Heaven. This series follows Kate McGovern, a recent college graduate who, in the first book, struggled to find her first proper job. When she finally finds work as a telepathic executive assistant, it’s for this billionaire jerk who she can’t stand. Think The Devil Wears Prada mixed with urban fantasy. On her first day, someone tries to kill her evil boss. While that might be a good thing, Kate finds out if he dies, the world ends. So the first novel is Kate navigating all these threads - new job, new telepathic abilities, evil boss, and the mystery of who is trying to kill him. 

By the time we get to the second book, Kate finds out what she did to save her boss (and therefore the world) was a stopgap measure. Someone is still trying to end the world and Kate has to figure out who is behind these fresh attacks and why. She travels to beautiful Bali in pursuit of bad guys and beach time.

Let's get a blurb:

Kate McGovern has survived her first job long enough to get fired from it. But she has not come out empty-handed. Now a Pillar of Heaven, Kate bears the weight of a quarter of the sky. And she is looking forward to her next chapter, whatever that is. But the world is still in danger. 

When another Pillar of Heaven is killed in a natural disaster, Kate must travel to Indonesia to locate the body and pass the Pillar on before the sky teeters and falls. Soon enough, Kate and her team realize the natural disaster was, in fact, supernatural. As powerful enemies strive to destroy the world, Kate, with the help of some new friends, fights to restore the balance. Oh, and she needs to find a new job too.

And now an excerpt:

    Kate McGovern did not work for Mr. Waites, billionaire businessman, evil overlord, and general pain in the ass anymore. She had yet to sign a short-term contract he’d offered her as a consultant on an artifact retrieval mission because, well, the delay annoyed him. She knew it annoyed him because she could read minds and she was very practiced at reading Mr. Waites’s mind. He called her into a meeting at his office last week to discuss the contract a.k.a. demand that she sign it so they could get on with finding the missing Pillar of Heaven. Kate had very happily told him she was still considering her options, and then delighted in his chagrin.

    However, she wasn’t reading his mind right now. No, she was standing in a faded Starbucks t-shirt and flannel shorts, leveling a Medusa-style death glare at Jack, who did work for Waites, evil overlord that he was, as an executive assistant. Jack had also woken her up at 2 a.m. He grinned then winced, clasped his bandaged ribs while shifting on her pea green couch uncomfortably.

    His face was fully healed from the beating he’d taken at the hands of the bad guys, who’d tried to steal a Pillar of Heaven. There was a scar on his temple where a steel-toed boot had nailed him, but Jack had survived. He walked slowly, shuffled really as he battled the pain. The bandages around his trunk secured his fractured ribs, and the gunshot wound in his side was now a scab. He was alive, but not quite whole.

 

    “Why are you out of bed, let alone bothering me on a Monday of all days?” Kate demanded, crossing arms over her braless chest. Any other male would have immediately stared. Her assets were quite lovely. Jack didn’t notice her breasts. He did, however, spot her unshaved legs and made a mental note to send her a coupon for a good waxer. His waxer did excellent work. 

    For her part, Kate thought that if it had been anyone else knocking on her door at 2 a.m., she would have shut it in their face and gone back to bed.

    “That’s why,” Jack said, referencing her thoughts. Jack was a telepath too. Annoyingly so. “He knew you wouldn’t answer for anyone else.”

    Kate narrowed her eyes. “That still doesn’t explain why you’re out of bed.”

    Jack ignored the question and petted her pea green couch instead. “I think this is the ugliest couch I’ve ever seen,” he murmured.

How do you develop characters and your plots?

For me, developing characters and plots is inherently connected. I usually start out with a scene. The spark of inspiration could come from anywhere. Kate’s story is fairly autographical. I hated working at the coffee shop I was stuck at post college. The scene I began with was Kate plotting coffee espionage — which is her daydreaming about acting out at her job. For example, spilling every single gallon of milk across the floor or squirting the customers in line with syrup flavors. The kind of retail hijinks everyone who’s ever worked retail has entertained on soul-crushing days like Black Friday. The character was an easy leap for me. But the main conflict, which is what the plot is built on, boils down to — what if you get an amazing job after struggling so hard and it turns out to be a nightmare? And then I thought, okay what’s the most cliched move a diva boss would pull? The answer: expecting employees to read their mind. The story builds from there.

When I wrote Stone Heart, I had this really clear vision of this guy full of regret, trying to right a wrong he’d committed and that journey started with getting on a boat. But he was afraid that the weight of his regrets would physically sink the ship. And he was afraid if he fell off the docks, he’d never surface. So that was the basis for what became the opening scene in Stone Heart. From there I worked forwards and backwards asking myself questions. Okay, what if I made his regret a physical object - what would that object be? The heart of his former lover, who he wronged. But he can’t walk around with like a bloody muscle because that’s gross. What if it was a heart made of stone and because we’re talking lovers, let’s make it a diamond. And, one step further, we all know you can’t glue a diamond back together once it’s been cut. So if this diamond heart was shattered, how is he going to fix it? 

As a character, Edward was extremely difficult to write. He’s so arrogant! He’s got this excessively narrow viewpoint of the world coupled with his high station and breeding, which has him convinced that he knows best in all things. When I’m writing characters, whether they’re English lords or exhausted baristas, I start with my initial idea of them in that scene and as I write, I look for ways to challenge them. That tells me who they are becoming. That informs who they were and what made them that way. 

What’s your next project? 

In August 2023, Stone Heart is coming out. This is a departure from my usual urban fantasy. Stone Heart is a sweet, historical romance with a splash of fantasy. Here’s the blurb:

What if the woman you loved gave her heart to you in the form of a perfect red diamond? And what if you were an absolute imbecile and broke that heart into pieces? Edward, the Marquess of Winchester, doesn’t believe in nonsense and he certainly doesn’t believe that the woman he cast aside six months ago was true to him. But when the death of a famous actress leads him to realize he’s made a grave mistake, Edward sets out across 1790s Europe to save his love, battling jewel thieves, demons, and old family foes along the way. The question remains: can he put the pieces back together and heal a stone heart?

What advice do you have for beginning writers?

Put something on the page. Contract ass-in-chair syndrome because you can edit bad writing but you can’t edit a blank page. It does not have to be perfect the first go round. Find what works for you. I have three or four stories open at a given time. When I get stuck on one, I don’t blink, I move to another. And don’t be too hard on yourself! Writing is difficult. Finally, allow yourself to daydream and your mind to wander. 

For craft books, I recommend Bird by Bird by Ann Lamont, On Writing by Stephen King, and Steering the Craft by Ursula le Guin.

Great advice Kitty! Thank you for being my guest. Here is the buy link for The Second Pillar and Kitty's contact information

Buy Link: 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BQFZ6984?notRedirectToSDP=1&ref_=dbs_mng_calw_1&storeType=ebooks

Social Contact Info:

https://www.kittyshieldsauthor.com/
https://www.facebook.com/kittyshieldsauthor
https://www.instagram.com/kittyshields/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20635303.Kitty_Shields
https://smile.amazon.com/stores/author/B08GJWZKTP/about
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/kitty-shields

Any comments or questions for Kitty?