The recent Senate Bill # 8 in Texas, banning abortion for women at six weeks, before many even know that they’re pregnant, is outrageous! In the past year alone, more than one hundred laws restricting birth control and abortions have … Read More »

Writing a Historical Novel Forty years ago, I had a dream in which Blanche Ames told me to write her story. I’d read about Blanche while I was working on a team to write a massive women’s history reference book, … Read More »

Focus  Once I retired at age 65 from my salaried position as a major gifts officer for an independent day school, I got to focus on my passion: writing historical fiction. I’d started writing my first historical novel at the … Read More »

Lust: At what Point Does Lust Become Adultery? Jimmy Carter said, “I’ve looked on a lot of women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times.” Do you believe that if you’re married and you feel lust for … Read More »

I fell in love with the comic operas of Gilbert & Sullivan while I was creating one of the narrators for my novel Eleanor’s Wars—Nat is a musical young adult who adores H.M.S. Pinafore and Pirates of Penzance. He may … Read More »

It’s interesting that novels about World War II continue to attract readers. I like them because the war feels pretty close to me. I was born only three years after the Japanese surrendered . My father enlisted in the Army; … Read More »

I hate that question! It’s a great question but it’s impossible to answer. Are you asking for a plot summary or a dissertation about the meaning of the book? If I could answer the question in one sentence or one … Read More »

After spending four months working with a wonderful copyeditor from Beaver’s Pond Press, going over the manuscript chapter by chapter, word by word, punctuation mark by punctuation mark, she sent it on to the proofreader. A week later, the proofreader … Read More »

Here’s another thing that authors published in New York probably don’t have to worry about: finding their own reviewers and others to write glowing blurbs for the back cover of their book. This is a problem because I don’t personally … Read More »

One of the challenges with independent publishing is figuring out for myself what’s in the public domain and what’s not as well as how the concept of fair use applies when it comes to the poems and songs I wish … Read More »