Spiral bound. College ruled. Black cover. Seventy pages. I don’t know where I got it, because I didn’t like spiral ruled notebooks. The jagged edges when you pulled paper from them made my nerves do the jitterbug and my teeth itch. But I had one. And I distinctly remember the day I drew my first Continue Reading
Author Q & A
A Book by Any Other Title: or Something Like That
The incessant blink of the cursor taunts me as I stare at a blank page gripped by a rare malady known as "titler's block." Look. Everyone's heard of its cousin, "writer's block." He doesn't even bother knocking at my door. Why? Because I have enough book ideas to last me a century. And that Continue Reading
A Few of My Favorite Things: #MFRWauthor
"...brown paper packages tied up with strings. These are a few of my favorite things!" I don't often get involved in the many challenges that are out there. The reason is that I love so many and could, literally, spend every second of my waking hours keeping up with them. But when I found this Continue Reading
Author Q & A: Characters & Writing Order
One of the things I like most are the questions I get from readers about my characters or my process. Megan G sent an email last year that addressed both! I thought I'd share it. Megan wrote: ... one more thing, do you always write your books in chronological order? For me, it's hard to write Continue Reading
Author Q & A: Stick-to-it-iveness?
I get lots of questions from readers, but some of them are perfect for my Q & A segment. This one on "stick-to-it-iveness" really struck home for me. Note: links in this post may be affilliate links and clicks on them will provide me a small commission at no extra cost to you. From Continue Reading
Just What Is/Are Deceptive Appearances about Anyway?
Did you know Deceptive Appearances was the original title for Justified Means? Yep! I really loved the title, but as the story developed, so did the underlying struggle of whether or not the end ever justifies the means. Is committing one crime to prevent a worse one ever acceptable? Can Continue Reading
What’s the Big Idea? : Or 5 Ways I Get Inspired
I love getting emails from readers, and this week I got one from Kim asking about where I get my ideas. She wrote: I loved your Past Forward series - I was hooked from page 1. I have all the books in the Hearthland series so far but just started reading it last night. I hated having to wait for Continue Reading
Why So Many Books? : Author Q & A
Many Books Make Much Work? People often ask how I get so many book ideas, but Lisa S had a slightly different question. (Note: this is a revision of a post made January 8, 2015) She sent me this question in July: Dear Chautona, Have enjoyed your books, but notice you seem to Continue Reading
Q & A & Stuff
I've had a few questions via email, in person, online, chatting, etc. So, I thought I'd share them for the rest of the folks too! Q: What is Everard? When will it be available? A: Everard is my second in the Not-So-Fairy Tales Collection. It is started, planned, and it's unlike any fairy Continue Reading
Readers Ask Questions: Part 4
This post has been updated! The original was for a contest that is long gone, but I thought you might enjoy the questions and answers. Original post date was Independence Day of 2010!!! Sharon B- Do you enjoy reading your books? Is it full of myself to say yes? What I don't enjoy is seeing Continue Reading
Author Questions Bonus (Take Two)
Sharon B- If you could change one thing that happened in Shadow and Secrets what would it be? Why? I'd have created a place that never existed. I feel guilty for messing with history the way I did. If there was an island a few hundred miles away from Ireland, it would have solved the problem, Continue Reading
Readers Ask Questions: Part 1
This post has been updated! The original was for a contest that is long gone, but I thought you might enjoy the questions and answers. Original post date was Independence Day of 2010!!! Frankie C: Can you write a book about someone who goes back in time? Well, technically I did write one like Continue Reading
