Tag: writing
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Fable 5 Saved My Fables
A beta reader stole this novel in the early ’90s, so I shelved it for thirty years. When I finally finished it, something still felt off. Then Claude’s Fable 5 named the problem in seconds.
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Input CliftonStrength: The Joy of Collecting Pieces That Matter
The Input CliftonStrength isn’t hoarding—it’s building a reservoir. As a writer who collects books, ideas, and half-formed concepts, I’ve learned to treat gathering as fuel, not clutter. Here’s how honoring that instinct changed everything.
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If You Understand Your Patterns, You Understand Your Productivity
Almost a year of logging her own creative workflow — and letting AI find the patterns. Here’s what she learned about building a productivity system that adapts to you, not the other way around.
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Energy-Based Workflow: Creating While Ill
For the past couple of weeks, my body has been calling the shots. Sinus infection, throat infection, vaccine fatigue—it feels like I’ve slept more than I’ve been awake. I’ve lost whole stretches of days to rest, naps, and doctor visits. And still, the work goes on. Not in the full-force way I love. Not in…
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When the Author Limped, So Did the Character
“Jeez,” a new-to-me reader complained, “couldn’t you have skipped the main female character’s knee problem? I mean, great story but who cares about her bum knee?” Of course, I checked the reader’s age next because this particular story was advertised as paranormal women’s fiction. It even, at the time, had Midlife in the title. Yep,…
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Living in a Faraday Cage and Writing Conspiracy Theory Novels
I don’t need a tinfoil hat to protect me when I’m writing my conspiracy theory novels. No, I have chicken wire in my walls to keep out those sneaky signals. I’ve said for years that I wanted to live in an adorable historic bungalow but that, since I’ve sold my house and can live anywhere,…
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Writing for the Fourth Turning
There’s a quiet kind of writing that doesn’t chase trends: it listens for what’s coming next. It’s like anticipating the seasons of next year. Not the next trope. Not the next genre wave. But the next emotional need society hasn’t quite named yet. The deeper ache beneath the headlines. The psychic fatigue that’s been building…
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I Asked 5 AI Models to Analyze My Workflow—Here’s What I Learned (and Why You Might Want to Try It)
It started with a simple question: Could an AI help me understand how I actually work? I’m a high-output writer—fiction, blog posts, audiobooks, formatting, metadata, cover art, automation, the whole publishing pipeline. I’d been logging my work habits for 2 months, watching myself churn through chapters and marketing, edits and uploads, sprints and stalls. So…
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Chasing Joy, Not Chasing Sales
When I left my former career in Federal Acquisition, I carried with me a long history of deadlines, performance metrics, and being on call for everything and everyone. Retirement was supposed to feel like breathing room—but for a while, I still found myself chasing numbers, even as an author. Until I stopped. Not because I…
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AI-Assistive for the Win: Organizing 63 Pieces in a Minute
I’m not sure when I first started blogging, but there was a 19 in every day’s date. I’d already been published by a major traditional publisher and had hit a bestseller list under a pen name, but my very first regular posts—raw, reflective, and homemade—had a following of 70,000+. Indie publishing was just taking root,…
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Haunted Houses and the Ghosts of Tampa
When I first moved into a remodeled 100-year-old bungalow in Tampa, I wondered if it was haunted. After all, that’s a long time, and I do believe in ghosts. It took a year and a half before “something happened.” I’ve seen a couple of ghosts over the years, plus two angels (that I know of),…
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In Life, I’m a Regular
At this stage in my life, I’m a regular. Not a small. Not a large. Not that kind of regular. Not average, either. From the Bookshelf Rite of Awakening — Southern Gothic with bite, Book One of the Rites of Passage. Available direct from the author → I’m a regular like the kind of regular…
