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Stories, Strangers, and a Weekend in New York
Last week, I wrote about my idea of leaving a copy of my latest book, Lucky and Unlucky in Love, at various places around New York City as I traveled up there to perform at David Geffen Hall with my church orchestra and choir. (The performance was outstanding, by the way! Truly a once-in-a-lifetime moment.) Now I’m back to talk about the experience. And just wait until you read about Drop #3. I had two walking-around days: Sunday and Monday. Since each day was anchored by either a dress rehearsal and call time for the performance, my friend and I strategically aligned our days. Sunday was the South Day, meaning…
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What Happens If I Just…Leave My Book Places?
A “Let’s See What Happens” Marketing Experiment in New York City I’m trying something new this weekend that I’ve never tried before: marketing in the wild. And by wild I mean New York City. My church orchestra and choir are performing at Geffen Hall on Monday and the group is traveling up there starting today. Yes, we’re flying out of Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport—the place every national news outlet seems to be covering right now because of the TSA situation. I haven’t flown on a plane in seventeen years so I’ve spent that time ignoring airport news. Well, not this week. But it is what it is, so I am…
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You Never Read a Book Alone
You never read a book alone. You bring every story you’ve ever read with you.
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Leveling Up at Midlife: Learning to Write a Romance Novel
After nearly two decades of writing crime fiction, I thought I understood difficulty. Murder plots. Historical research. Layered mysteries. Turns out, none of that prepared me for writing about two divorced people learning how to trust again. This year, I’m writing a slow-burn romance. And it’s humbling me in ways I didn’t expect.
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What a Hockey Rom-Com Taught Me About Love, Fear, and Visibility
It started with a recommendation. A good friend at the office suggested I watch the TV show “Heated Rivalry.” I didn’t know anything about it but looked it up. Based on the second book in the Game Changers series by Rachel Reid, Heated Rivalry focuses on two rival hockey players—Shane Hollander (Hudson Willams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storie)—who fall in love over the span of multiple years. When I asked my friend why she thought I’d enjoy the series, she commented on my love of rom-coms, good stories, and great characters. Plus she knows how much I adore stories that elicit an emotional reaction. All true, especially that last one.…
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Jack, Janet, and June: A Love Letter to Sitcom Roots
Can a font and a dedication really sell a book? Yes it can. Last month, I hopped on Audible to purchase the latest Batman ‘89 novel from John Jackson Miller. (Last year, he published Batman: Resurrection, a direct sequel to the 1989 film that takes place in that universe. It was one of my favorite books of 2024 so the next book, Batman: Revolution, was a no-brainer.) But when I got to the site, a book cover caught my eye. Being a Gen-Xer, what struck me first was the font. It’s not just that the word “Different” is in the book’s title, but that went a long way. I instantly…
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Lights, Loss, and Love
Matthew Norman’s Holiday Novel Shines with Real Emotion As a reader, one of my favorite things is discovering a new-to-me author. But almost as soon as the discovery is finished, a question follows: will I read another book by the author? Back in 2023, I discovered Matthew Norman based on his then-new novel, Charm City Rocks. I devoured that book in only four days, one of my fastest reads in a long time. For the past two years, when someone asks me to name one of my favorite books, Charm City Rocks made the list. You also must know that I don’t re-read books. I just don’t. There are too…
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The Market Where I Found My Voice
How I Learned That Selling Books Is Really About Sharing Life I sold my books on the road for the first time this week and quickly navigated the nuances of in-person selling. A Holiday Market The event was the Hearts and Hands Holiday Market at my church. Vendors from around the city and state converge in the gym and fellowship hall of Memorial Drive United Methodist Church and sell products ranging from home decor, clothes, kids’ toys and games, and hand-made jewelry. It doesn’t hurt that the pumpkin patch is right outside. Really gets the fall vibe in your eyes…as you sweat under summer-like weather conditions. I’ve been a customer…
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Do You Want to Dabble in Writing?
Last week, I mentioned to a friend that my new book, Lucky and Unlucky in Love, is coming out on 30 September (preorder here) and he said the thing so many folks say to me when they learn I’m a writer: I want to write a book. After years of ingesting tips and tricks, reading countless books and blog posts, listening to hours of podcasts, and writing more than a few books, I have a pretty good understanding of what it takes to write. I boiled it down for him into two distinct ideas: start small and keep the critical voice out of your head as best you can. The…
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Lessons from a Surprising Summer of Writing
How’d your writing summer go? Long-time readers might remember my penchant for writing “seasons,” distinct pockets of time, with definite beginnings and endings, and there’s no better writing season than summer. Ninety-ish days, bookended by two holidays. So how’d you do? For me, it was the summer of surprises, and lessons learned. The Thing I Knew on Memorial Day As the summer started, I was writing my novel, Mid-Lives. It was in the final phase and I had given myself a deadline of 1 July (after I failed to meet my original 1 April deadline). I beat that July deadline by a week. Turns out having a box set of…