I started last summer with the best of intentions. Despite, or maybe because of the pandemic, I was going to do ALL the things. We were in lockdown so there was plenty of time to redo the website and keep up with my blog. Yeah, well, if you look around here, neither of these happened.…
It has been a while
I hadn’t realized that it has been quite this long since I’ve updated the blog. Oops! I’m going to try to be more consistent, I promise! The world as gone a bit crazy since last I posted. My day job as a University professor was upended last spring when all classes transitioned to online and…
A Killer Time
Last weekend, I attended the Killer Nashville International Writers conference. I’ve been a number of times before but I think this latest was the best. I learned a lot, had fun, and made new friends. It was truly a killer time. Confession time: I have a love-hate relationship with conferences. Like many writers, I am…
New Year, New Goals
For those of you who looked at my title and said “But it’s only August! New Year’s isn’t for another four months. Did you miss schedule this post?”: No, because for me the start of a new academic year is really my new year. Traditional calendars and planners: For number of years, I tried to…
Typing “The End” on Summer
I can’t quite decide if I’m in mourning or in denial right now. Don’t panic. Nobody’s died or anything that serious. No, I’m just being a little melodramatic about the end of summer and the beginning of fall classes. Yesterday marked the official end of vacation with our University Convocation. This is always a slightly…
Forgiving Myself
Monday was the last day of my summer class and part of the reason that this blog post is late. When I sat down to write this blog post last week I was really struggling with the fact that I wasn’t going to complete my goals for the summer, so I set it aside and…
It isn’t hoarding if it’s books
Summer tends to be when I catch up on all the things that I haven’t had time for in the previous few months. Tops on my list has been tackling my to-be read books. I have lots of books to read. I don’t have a stack or a shelf, I have two full bookcases and…
The Not So Lazy Days of Summer
Like many, I entered academia hoping to spend my summers sipping boat drinks on a sandy beach while reading my way down the current bestsellers list. Something that my advisor neglected to mention (among many other things) was that academics really don’t get summers off. We might not be teaching full time in the summer…
Away From the Usual Haunts
My good friend Crystal once said that New Orleans was the city of her heart. I have come to recognize the Big Easy is the city of my soul. I visit every chance I get. In fact, I just got back from a research trip. My Under the Moon series is set in New Orleans…
Reading and Signing
I’ll be giving a reading and signing copies of UNDER THE BLOOD MOON at the Bleckley County Library on April 24 at 6:30!