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July Wrap-Up & August Goals
While I had high hopes for finishing the first draft of Earth and Water in July, I’ll admit my track record for the past 2 years hasn’t been the best with these aspirations. Then the spouse went to Puerto Rico for work, and I decided last minute to take a week off and join him.…
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Con Report: Confluence 2023
According to my records, I had not attended Confluence in 5 whole years! (Even though they have been kind enough to repeatedly invite me back.) This year, the stars aligned, and I finally was able to make the trip out to Pittsburg for this fantastic event. Friday Since I didn’t have anything on my schedule…
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Confluence 2023 Schedule
I’m heading back to Pittsburgh for the second time this summer, this time in celebration of science fiction and fantasy! It’s been a minute since I’ve attended this particular convention, so I was pleased that the stars aligned for me to return this weekend. Confluence 2023July 21-23, 2023Sheraton Pittsburgh Airport HotelPittsburgh, Pennsylvania I’m driving in…
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June Wrap-Up & July Goals
I hit a great productivity groove this past month! It’s amazing how much you can get done when your cats insist on waking you at 6 AM every morning. And your spouse is on another continent for 3 weeks. Okay, I guess I missed him. And I do love the cats, even when they are…
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Con Report: StokerCon 2023
Funny story: I don’t actually read horror. I can do hauntings and serial killers and a little bit of cosmic dread, but overall, being uncomfortable isn’t relaxing for me. I also don’t write horror (though this might eventually change since I actually come up with some pretty decent ideas). However, I do publish with a…
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StokerCon 2023 Schedule
I was supposed to be at StokerCon in Denver in 2022, but unfortunately, it occurred less than 2 weeks after the only time I came down with a certain illness. Therefore, I’m thrilled to return this year for the first time since 2019 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I’m incredibly excited to see a lot of…
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May Wrap-Up & June Goals
I did so well in May! I wrote! I read! I adventured! Not as much of all of those as I would have preferred, especially since the day job ate me for the solid week before I left on my vacation at the end of the month, but I suppose we can’t have it all.…
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[out of office]
Book reviews are on hiatus for a week, and my next monthly wrap-up & goals post will be a few days later than usual. Because I’m going on vacation! The spouse and I are hitting the high seas, accompanied by our Atlanta friends. Funny story: close to 15 years of friendship, and we’ve never actually…
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April Wrap-Up & May Goals
In the spirit of full transparency, I rode the struggle bus for the first half of April, without much productivity other than keeping up with reading ARCs and writing book reviews. Then, the spouse and I spent a lovely long weekend with our besties down in Atlanta to join them for their local Renaissance Faire…
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March Wrap-Up & April Goals
I had grand plans for last month, but got caught up in the intersection of physical and mental health issues that reduced my productivity output to a few book reviews and way too much time playing World of Warcraft. It’s more than a bit frustrating, but I’m trying to be gentle with myself. I didn’t…
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February Wrap-Up & March Goals
I mocked fate hard with last month’s blog post. Remember how I said I might be coming down with something? One of the worst colds I’ve ever had in my life knocked me out for a solid week. I may joke that napping is my Olympic sport, but sleeping 18+ hours a day is not…
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Con Report: Farpoint 2023
Last weekend I attended Farpoint, a pop culture convention local to the Baltimore area, as a panelist and presenter on the writing and fandom tracks! As I explained to a handful of authors that I met for the first time during the event, I don’t generally attend conventions for the primary purpose of selling books.…
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Farpoint 2023 Schedule!
This weekend, pending the status of the terrible cold I’m currently experiencing at the time of this posting, I’ll be at Farpoint 2023 for my first convention of the year! Farpoint 30February 10-12, 2023Delta Hotel by MarriotHunt Valley, MD Friday 5:00 PM: Drive to Finish (panel, Salon E)Do you have the drive to finish your…
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January Wrap-Up & February Goals
I think I’m coming down with something, so obviously, the answer is to ignore it and power through, right? We’ll see what wins, my to-do list or my motivation! Do you use to-do lists? How do you keep track of your goals? About 6 months ago, acting on inspiration from a fellow author, I expanded…
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Destination Research: Israel
In the past few years, I have participated in virtual panels on multiple topics for Con-Tinual: The Con That Never Ends. Yesterday, I also contributed to their weekly #DestinationResearch about my visit to Israel in October 2022. The content of those posts is included below, but if you’re interested in a great Facebook community with…
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A Year in Reading: 2022
Every year, Goodreads invites me to its annual reading challenge with a helpfully suggested goal of 12 books. Every year, I bump that goal up to 50, because I figure that’s always doable unless the apocalypse occurs. In the last few years, I’ve more than blown that number out of the water. Here’s my final…
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December Wrap-Up & January Goals
Happy New Year! Let’s approach 2023 with caution, offer it treats, and hope only good things come of it. I’m home from my fantastic holiday vacation, both wishing I was back at the beach and looking forward to everything I get to do in the months to come. Lots of authors have shared some truly…
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Holiday Letter 2022
Welcome to my final* post of 2022! The blog will be quiet for the rest of the year because the spouse and I are once again hitting the high seas for a tropical holiday cruise with my extended family. We’re spending Christmas zip-lining in Honduras, and we’ll return to Maryland in time to spend New…
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November Wrap-Up & December Goals
You know how time seems to speed up the older you get? It’s a combination of math and perspective. You’ve lived longer, so a month is a smaller proportion of your life than when you were 8 years old and enjoying endless summer break. Between recovering from my epic adventure in Israel, friends visiting from…
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October Wrap-Up & November Goals
October vanished in a whirlwind of trying to get everything done before leaving for my 10-day trip to Israel, then the vacation itself. Did I get everything done? Of course not. But I had a fantastic time meeting many family members from around the world and checking items off the bucket list, so it was…
