Category: Books

  • When the Law of Attraction Backfires

    When the Law of Attraction Backfires

    A cautionary tale from The Lost Teachings of Dead Monks on twisting desire into a cosmic boomerang We’ve all heard it: Visualize your dreams.Speak it into existence.The universe is listening. But what happens when the Universe listens not just to your dreams—but to your dread? In The Lost Teachings of Dead Monks, the Law of…

  • Why We Crave Secret Libraries

    Why We Crave Secret Libraries

     A love letter to magical archives, hidden collections, and the forbidden truths we ache to understand There’s a reason we’re drawn to the idea of secret libraries. Not the bustling public ones, though those have their own magic. I mean the other kind. The ones tucked behind false walls, or hidden underground, or revealed only…

  • Lost City Tropes and Ireland’s Cill Stuifin

    Lost City Tropes and Ireland’s Cill Stuifin

    I’ve loved “lost city” tropes for as long as I can remember, but it was probably movies like “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Tomb Raider,” “Congo,”  and “Jewel of the Nile” (“Romancing the Stone” sequel)  that cemented my love for lost city tropes in both fiction and non-fiction. But I think bigger, too!  We have…

  • What Happens When You Erase a Hero from History?

    What Happens When You Erase a Hero from History?

    I never dreamed that Pete Hegseth would inspire me to write a novel. Right after he took over as Secretary of Defense, I began hearing from former Department of Defense colleagues. Within a few weeks, they told me that some of the more inspirational stories featured on DoD websites had disappeared overnight. The rationale? These…

  • The Payback Archives: Where Revenge Meets Healing in Contemporary Fantasy Fiction

    The Payback Archives: Where Revenge Meets Healing in Contemporary Fantasy Fiction

    The Payback Archives is my world of quiet vendettas, emotional fallout, and hard-won redemption—with just enough magic to tip the scale. How It Started I grew up on weekly Star Trek episodes without a season arc, and by the time I was publishing with major traditional publishers, my TV appetite gobbled up Buffy the Vampire…

  • When AI Gets It Wrong

    When AI Gets It Wrong

    You can’t make this up–but AI can! AI is everywhere now—from writing advice to government reports—and like most tools, it’s only as sharp (or as silly) as the person wielding it. I’ve had a few moments lately that made me laugh out loud, shake my head, or just marvel at how weird things can get.…

  • 25 in ’25: May Wins

    25 in ’25: May Wins

    In my plan to release 25 new Intellectual Property (IP) products in 2025, May was a big win, though keep in mind that I was continuing my business book serialization that’s already been accounted for. Plus, I spent a lot of the month working on editing and revising some manuscripts I wrote a few years…

  • How a Green Cemetery Found Its Way into My Novel

    How a Green Cemetery Found Its Way into My Novel

    In the third installment of my Rites of Passage trilogy, Rite of Reckoning, Lauren’s two close friends from childhood — and her mother’s neighbors — own a “green cemetery.”  Virgil and Dixon have returned to their hometown after their mother’s death and have bought the homestead and land where their mother first fell in love. …

  • 25 in ’25: April Wins

    25 in ’25: April Wins

    In my plan to release 25 new Intellectual Property (IP) products in 2025, April was a win, though keep in mind that I was continuing my business book serialization that’s already been accounted for. I spent a lot of the month working on editing and revising some manuscripts I wrote a few years ago and…

  • 25 in ’25: March Wins

    25 in ’25: March Wins

    In my plan to release 25 new Intellectual Property (IP) products in 2025, February was NOT a win, and March was significantly less than desired, but for good reason.  Near the end of January, the DOGE and a bunch of Executive Orders put my life’s work in Acquisition and Contracting on hiatus, maybe permanently. It…