Millions of Americans dutifully display the flag to help them celebrate our summer holidays such as Memorial Day, Flag Day, July 4th, and Labor Day. Throughout my own neighborhood I’ve watched some let their flags fly as our tropical wind and rain batters them while others are quick to remove them at the first signs of moisture. And …
4 REASONS TO DISCLOSE YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER
Staying in the same vein as my last two posts, I hope you find this as equally interesting and unnerving as I did. My research for Absolute Recall showed me how merchants generally try to extract as much information as possible from their customers so they can more precisely target offers to them. But that’s …
TARGET PREY
Only days after my last post, I received a call that began with a phrase not normally associated with pleasant news: “It is my obligation to inform you that this call will be recorded and monitored.” A quick glance at the caller ID tells me it’s Target; friendly store down the street in a boat-load …
IDENTITY THEFT MADE EASY
In my romantic suspense novel, Absolute Recall, Reagan Martin, a quick-witted young nurse blessed with an eidetic memory finds herself on a perilous journey, forced to assume fraudulent identities while struggling to stay a step ahead of the evil trailing her. When involved in my research, I was both amazed and appalled at the plethora …
POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT
Regardless of the genre, the insatiable passion to write fills notebooks with drafts, computer files with stories, and sleepless nights with revisions. That said, the thought of pushing our little darlings from the nest is daunting even for the most seasoned of writers. With the current status of the publishing industry demanding selectivity in today’s market, rejection is …
BE GRATEFUL FOR WHAT YOU DON’T HAVE
Patience has never been my long suit, so stewing for over an hour in the reception room of my hematologist/oncologist office was enough to almost make blood shoot from my eyes – until I took stock in my situation. To my right was a woman, young enough to be my daughter, who was void of …
BUILD A BETTER DOG MANUAL
I brought our new puppy into our house; a squirming, nipping mound of tri-colored cuteness we unanimously named Pennington after a soon-to- be traded quarterback. A beagle; pedigreed down to his waving white-tipped tail. Having committed to memory a plethora of award winning dog manuals, I felt ready to take on the task to acclimate him to …
TO DIE FOR!
Anything worth having is worth fighting for. Certainly this is true in our careers, the goals we set for ourselves, and never so true as with our children and family members. But to die for? We have all heard the term roll off the tongues of sales people and advertisers. “Eat at our restaurant. The …
QUERY TEST
To query or not to query, that is the question; or maybe just when. Once you have written, rewritten, edited, put it aside, had all your critics mull it over, began again, you’ve wallpapered the room – twice – and have endured that colonoscopy you’ve been putting off; is it finally time? And do you …
5 THINGS I LEARNED ABOUT WRITING A NOVEL SYNOPSIS
A synopsis may be your first and only chance to sway a literary agent or editor. You’ve been able to beat the odds by completing an entire manuscript. Don’t let the synopsis throw you; make it count. Here are 5 things I learned about writing a novel synopsis: 1. Use the same format you used …