blog about the novel writing process
The goal of fiction is to entertain. Commercial fiction readers want an exciting, absorbing story. And for some readers, it’s is all the better if the story is subtly infused with an important and timely social issue. As an author drawn to writing stories about social justice and the consequences of climate change, I constantly […]
Science, Truth, Social & Environmental Justice, Fiction, and Entertainment Read More »
Here in California, in March, 2023 we’re experiencing another “Hundred Year Flood.” President Biden is flying in to inspect the damage and consult with Governor Newsom. We’ve heard that people in the mountains have been stranded in heavy snow and have lost their lives. There have been floods and landslides, collapsed roads and bridges. People
Hundred Year Flood Read More »
A Short History of the annual Native American Alcatraz Island Un-Thanksgiving Sunrise Ceremony This is a “rough cut”—an excerpt edited out of my novel, Fruit of the Devil, due to the fact that it was deemed too “history heavy” for a fictional read. It is important that we study history so we don’t repeat our
Rough Cut: Indigenous Thanksgiving Sunrise Read More »
Today I am bathing in a peak watershed moment of my life. After a lifetime of longing to “be a writer,” and twenty years of gestating the story of Fruit of the Devil, my first novel is being published this week. I was recently asked to write about “How I Measure Success as an
Measuring Success as a Writer Read More »
When my editor told me I should find ways to give my protagonist more agency, I wasn’t sure what she meant. I didn’t recall ever having heard the word agency applied to a quality a character should have, although I imagined everyone else must know exactly what it meant for a character (person) to have
It took me three years to write the first draft of my novel, Fruit of the Devil. Writing was ecstasy—the story poured out of me as if it were being channeled. The characters came alive. Then I found out the horrible truth—that “writing is rewriting”—and I embarked upon what has now become five years of revising, editing,
Rough Cut Resurrected: Watsonville Peace & Unity March Read More »
I’ve always loved the ocean. My mother used to tell me that the ocean will “cure anything that ails you.” My older sister taught me to comb the tidepools and to bodysurf in Laguna Beach, not long after I learned to walk. I rode my first wave at Huntington Beach pier, wearing an inch-thick neoprene
Why the Protagonist is a Surfer Read More »
No, it’s not the launch party for my novel Fruit of the Devil, but it’s close. We’re celebrating the publication of a new anthology of short stories, set in Santa Cruz, by Santa Cruz writers. Each story in the anthology has a bit of a weird twist, so the anthology is aptly named Santa Cruz
Book Launch Party on September 16, 2018 at the Santa Cruz Art Center Read More »
Best Berry Smoothie Magic ingredient: Coconut Water.It contains easily digested carbohydrates in the form of sugar and electrolytes. Low in calories, naturally free of fat and cholesterol, more potassium than four bananas, and super hydrating. Best Coconut Water? According to Portland Food & Drink it’s #1. Coco Community #2. Taste Nirvana, Real Coconut Water* #3. Harmless Harvest Coconut Water #4. Trader Joe’s 100{dd0cd34122dbae65783fecc72bd11557332a508703ea19fba02fcfd97aa5ece1} Pure (cold case) Use fresh
Weed It and Reap: What Should I Eat? Arthritis, Autoimmune Disease, and Diet Read More »
What? On June 30, 2018, in cities and even very small towns all across the county, tens of thousands of people turned out for Families Belong Together rallies to protest Trump’s sudden order, three months earlier, to tear all immigrant children, even breast feeding babies, from their parents’ arms at our southern border. For a timeline
Families Belong Together: A Dreamer Speaks Out! Read More »
What’s the connection between salmon and pesticides? It’s the water. Early on in my novel writing journey, an editor I met at the Santa Barbara Writers’ Conference sent my manuscript back to me with the comment, “You have a tight little thriller here, if only you’d cut out the romance, the pesticide story, and that
So you don’t think there were Grizzly Bears in California in 1999? You might be in for a surprise. To find out more, read this latest excerpt from my novel, Fruit of the Devil. (A short stand-alone thriller with a speculative twist, published in the Santa Cruz Weird anthology, available on Amazon.) The Fish and
Rough Cut: Grizzly Bears in California! Read More »
Years ago, in my first draft of Fruit of the Devil, I described my protagonist’s research into the multinational corporate persons who control global chemical-intensive agriculture. The passage is obviously too long and didactic to include in my novel, but a friend recently encouraged me to resurrect this buried limb of Fruit of the Devil,
Rough Cut: The Devil’s Family Tree & the House of Butterflies Read More »
Here’s a nice song to listen to if you don’t mind having a second window open while looking at the slides. I am an American Citizen. A Patriot. My family has lived, worked (mostly as coal miners, farmers, and teachers), loved and died on American soil for over 400 years. I love my country. I’m
March for Science ~ Washington D.C. Earth Day, 2017 Read More »
After the Women’s March, Women are Still Marching On Some say the WOMEN’S MARCH, which took place world-wide the day after Trump’s inauguration, marked a global transition in the consciousness of women and in the men who love and respect women. The Spirit of Standing Rock woke many to this new consciousness, to the realization