Oh crap, it’s over! Much as I enjoyed this year, I’m looking forward to next year as it looks to be just bust-a-gut full of good times. For example, I think I may be able to pay off my mortgage next year. That’s the kind of wild and crazy lady I am. Might even make …

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I usually spend my time looking forward, making resolutions, planning my next adventure. Reflection is not typically part of my repertoire. Taking a minute to ponder what the last twelve months taught is nice, though. My experiences as a debut author were much the same as other debut authors. In addition to all that, this …

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When reading a book, I like a terse cryptic Acknowledgement page, myself. Something like: I’d like to thank Jim for cleaning up all that blood. or Here’s to Laura’s wooden leg. or This one is for Julia’s very touching husband, wherever he is. I hope he gets what he deserves. When they asked me what …

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I don’t especially think of myself as a girly girl, but gender differences come up every time The Spouse and I read war books. We’re both interested in wars. We’ve read extensively about the wars of the Roman Empire, the American Revolution, the Elizabeth-era naval battles, and WW2. He’s always interested in the tactics, the …

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My fellow Night Bazarrees are doing an admirable job discussing the whys and wherefores of book signings and reading, so I thought I’d provide a revoltingly accurate example of how things can go. Sadly, these are in no way fictional accounts. My first reading was at World Science Fiction Convention. I’ll just admit it: I …

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I remember vividly the first time I ever thought about the characteristics inherent to an appealing main character. It was Halloween 1981. I was five years old and my Mom, a school teacher, was complaining that most of the boys in her school came to the Halloween party dressed up as Darth Vader, a few …

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It is a truth universally acknowledged that all the best parties happen on those two most glorious of holidays – Halloween and New Years. Labor day and Memorial Day aren’t bad for barbeques, but Halloween has it all – costumes, candy, spooky crap, and an excellent excuse for a really crazy bash. I like to …

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First, let us attend to the formalities: Thomas Roche! Panama Laugh! Tell all your friends! (I fell out of the world last weekand forgot to do my bit.) Now, with the name calling and the slinging of mud and so forth: What’s in a name? As much as you can put in it. When you …

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Science fiction technology is practically what gets me up in the morning. I really hope the future is going to be as awesome as I think it is. It would be a total bummer if the world just turned into one big suburb or the pollution really did kill us all. Even alien attack or …

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So, there’s that meme floating through the Ether about how romance novels can be written by a computer because the plots are so formulaic. I know when I wrote Revolution World, I thought I’d just start out with ‘a basic science fiction plot’ and then elaborate from there. It sounded easy, but it really is …

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