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Showing posts from March, 2022

Imadjinn Awards News

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Woohoo! THE WATCHERS IN EXILE is a FINALIST in the Imadjinn Awards, and the winner will be announced at the Imaginarium Convention in July! Last year, the first book in the trilogy, THE WATCHERS OF MONIAH, won the Best Fantasy Imadjinn Award, so I'm excited to be a finalist again. You can watch my Facebook Live announcement and please forgive any flubs. It's not always easy going live--even for those of us who are accustomed to appearing live. On to other news. There's still time to vote for THE WATCHERS AT WAR in the Palmetto Scribe Awards , a part of the Atomacon convention in May. I have my schedules for JordanCon and Atomacon and will be sharing them next week, or you can find them on Facebook this week.

Spring Break and Why I Love Creeks

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The grands are on Spring Break, so this week will be a bit different for me. Luckily, I sent my completed manuscript to my editor and beta readers last week, so I can slide a little bit on the writing side. Not to say I'm not writing, because I am. More on that sometime soon, I promise! When Spring Break rolls around each school year, I find myself recalling my best break ever. No, it wasn't a wild time at the beach, although I did take a beach trip or two in college. My favorite Spring Break memory occurred the year I was in the sixth grade. Yep. When I was twelve. Our neighborhood ran along Eighteen Mile Creek, one of the many creeks that flow through the upstate of South Carolina. Someone in the neighborhood had created a bike path that ran from the cul-de-sac at the back of the development into the woods. It came out a few yards away from a sandy beach by the creek. A large tree did us the favor of falling across the creek, providing a bridge to the other side. The weather

Are You in Goblin Mode?

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Today I learned about goblin mode. Some of you know about it, especially if you spend a good bit of time on TikTok. I'm on TikTok but somehow missed this trend. Still, as a fantasy writer, once I saw the term, I had to find out more about it. What is goblin mode? This article showed up in  a newsletter called 1440  that I get daily with quick snippets of news around the world.  According to the article in The Guardian, written by Kari Paul, goblin mode has grown out of the extended pandemic and it "...embraces the comforts of depravity: spending the day in bed watching 90 Day Fiancé on mute while scrolling endlessly through social media, pouring the end of a bag of chips in your mouth; downing Eggo toaster oven waffles with hot sauce over the sink because you can’t be bothered to put them on a plate. Leaving the house in your pajamas and socks only to get a single Diet Coke from the bodega." I'm mentioning this for two reasons. One, I'm curious about the demogra

Do You Know Your Watchers in Exile?

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Last year, I created a crossword puzzle based on the first book, THE WATCHERS OF MONIAH. I've wanted to do one for each of the books in the trilogy, so today's post has the crossword puzzle for book 2, THE WATCHERS IN EXILE. If you haven't read it yet, this would be the perfect time to get the book. The puzzle is below. You can work it here, or if you prefer, you can download the puzzle and answer key . Missed the puzzle for the first book? You can find it in Do You Know Your Watchers? Enjoy! ACROSS 3. What Maligon's followers call him 5. Used in funeral pyres 7. Where Adana exiles 9. Lady Elayne's surprising gift 11. Watcher sent to meet Mal'tute 12. Innkeeper in Roshar 13. Young page in Elwar's court 14. Helmyra used to make these for Donel DOWN 1. Color of cloth Leera requested from Helmyra 2. Kiffen exiles here 4. Friend turned traitor 6. Quilla's powerful but confusing gift to Leera 8. Leader of the temple in Roshar 10. Location of G

Even Authors Need Continuing Education

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Even authors need to continue their writing education. Did you know that? At least, the ones who want to continue to refine their writing. This week, I'm participating in the Women In Publishing Summit , a virtual writing conference that runs through Saturday. I've attended four sessions already, and it's been well worth my time and money. They've planned well and managed to provide something for all levels of experience. I promise to share some tips next week, but, for now, I'll share the quote above from agent, Amy Collins. FYI, she's correct. Yes, you should edit your work first, but if you stop there, you're not refining your work. It will never be the best it can be. It's hard. I know. Remember my post from two weeks ago? Although this conference is closed to sales this year, there are plenty of writing conferences and workshops available to authors and writers. Feel free to share any you recommend in the comments.