Articles & Reviews
Articles about my books, writing, and the writing life, plus book reviews.
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Legends of Lairheim Series
Love Knows No Boundaries
Posair Culture - Sexuality and GenderHow my stories represent the LGBQT+ communityRecently, a reader asked me if there were transgender people in my world of Lairheim. The simple answer is no. The more complicated answer must examine the Posair culture. For them,...
How I came up with the idea for The Legends of Lairheim Series
Authors are often asked where we get our story ideas. For me, they come from many different sources; mythology, dreams, or an interesting character or incident. My series, The Malvers War, had its start while I was watching Syfy Channel’s Face Off TV series. The...
Weird Things Researched for The Legends of Lairheim Series
As a writer, I need to research and look up things. Thank heavens for Google! I can find both articles and images of what I need to learn about. Even though I write fantasy, I can’t just make up everything. If I have the facts right, then it adds verisimilitude to the...
Sentinel Witches Series
Meet Granny Eileen
EXCERPTSean parked in an empty parking spot and joined Jade and Charlie in the back of the Sentinel’s black panel van. They had a good view of Catlyn’s apartment. The door slid shut and Sean blinked. All the gear and gadgets inside would make a police surveillance van...
Meet Sean
EXCERPTSean’s knuckles whitened from his tight grip on the steering wheel. The only reason the captain would call him to investigate a murder on his day off was if it was another Iron Maiden killing. “Do you think the victim is our missing person?” Jerry asked from...
Meet Catlyn
EXCERPTCatlyn took a sip of her Dr. Pepper. “How do you think you’d react if you started seeing weird shit?” “Define weird.” Bri crunched on a chip. “We’re in Southern California after all. We see weird shit all the time.” “No, I mean metaphysical weird … like...
Tora’s Book Nook: Reviews
Intuitive Writer Review
TITLE: Dear Writer, Are You Intuitive? (QuitBooks for Writers)AUTHOR: Becca SymeGENRE: Nonfiction - WritingWHERE TO PURCHASE: At Your Favorite Reailer (Kobo, Amazon, Apple, B&N, etc.)Dear Writer, Are You Intuitive? (QuitBooks for Writers)AUTHOR: Becca Syme and...
We Are the Origin Review
TITLE: We are the Origin (Wrath of the Gods Book 1)AUTHOR: C.M. LockhartGENRE: Science-fantasyWHERE TO PURCHASE: Direct from Author: https://shop.writteninmelanin.com/ At Your Favorite Reailer (Kobo, Amazon, B&N, etc.)I loved that this story blended elements of...
Wolf’s Bane Review
TITLE: Wolf's Bane (Moon Marked 1)AUTHOR: Aimee EasterlingGENRE: Urban FantasyWHERE TO PURCHASE: At Your Favorite Reailer (Kobo, Apple, Amazon, B&N, etc.) Also Available in AudiobookI haven’t started and finished a book on the same day for quite some time. But, I...
Writing Life
Trust the Flow
I’m working on a prequel story in the Sentinel Witches series. When I first started writing the series, I’d planned on Jade, Catlyn’s godmother, to not be in a relationship. She was supposed to be holding a candle of unrequited love for Catlyn’s father, Ian. Even...