I just received my presentation schedule for the Pikes Peak Writers Conference and am very much looking forward to attending again as faculty. They put on a terrific and well-organized conference. This year's dates are April 17-19, Colorado Springs, CO.
You can read more about it here:​ https://pikespeakwriters.com/ppwc/
​
My schedule:
Friday, 4/17:
o 2:40 p.m. – 3:40 p.m.: Short Fiction Submissions: A Study in Dealing with Rejection
Sunday, 4/19:
o 8:40 a.m. – 9:40 a.m.: How do the Tough Keep Going When the going gets Tough
o 11 a.m. – Noon: Horses in Fiction - Getting it Right

This month in Speculations: A Borrowed Hell on sale, a beautifully written story of a vampire seduction in 1569 Istanbul by Isabel Cañas, some newly released novels to check out, and an animal video of a sexy dancin' otter.
You can check out this month's newsletter here:
Speculations: January 2020

Would you like to keep up with my writing news? Hear about sales and releases on books by myself and other authors? Get a monthly link to a free-online short story I've enjoyed reading as well as a link to an animal video that'll give you a smile? You can sign up for my monthly newsletter "Speculations" here: SIGN UP

I just saw that the ebook of A Borrowed Hell has been marked down to $2.99 by the publisher.
​I never know how long it might stay on sale, so check it out soon! (Contemporary fantasy/dark fantasy/metaphysical fiction)

Fate has dealt July a lifetime of nothings; no happy childhood, no lasting relationships, and now, no job. His mantra of perseverance has gotten him through it all, but faced with losing his home, he finally sets foot on the same road of self-destruction the rest of his family followed.
An accident changes everything. When two colliding cars send him diving from a San Diego sidewalk toward safety, he lands somewhere far from safe—in a bizarrely deserted version of San Francisco. Though he wakes in his own reality, he continues to pass out, dragged back to that strange world each time.
July is willing to do anything to end his world-hopping, right up until he learns the price: reliving a past he's tried his whole life to forget. He’s not sure his sanity can take it. Not even to get back to his own world, a woman he’s falling in love with, and a life he finally cares about.

5.0 out of 5 stars very, very good
Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2018
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
Wonderful book, intense characters, great pacing and compelling plot, leading to an ending that still rattles around inside my head weeks later.

I recently had the song Yellow Ledbetter by Pearl Jam stuck in my head, which made me think of this YouTube video by MisheardLyricsGuy. This has been online nearly 12 years and has almost 1B views! If you haven't seen this video (and especially if you know the song), I think it's worth a few minutes of your life. My favorite, "Make me fries." 🤣

Whatever I want to say, Neil Gaiman always seems to say it better. So for my New Year's post, I'm just going to link to his blog and quote the last bit. It's not as warm and fuzzy as I wish it could be because, while I feel very fortunate in my life, many other things aren't warm and fuzzy at the moment. Australia is on fire while Jakarta floods and other parts of the world are experiencing extreme cold. There are things that need solving and people and animals who aren't in a place of safety, but there are also wishes and hopes here for things to be what we have the potential to make them. So here's to making 2020 be what we want to see in the world and in ourselves.

"And I hope in the year to come you won't burn. And I hope you won't freeze. I hope you and your family will be safe, and walk freely in the world and that the place you live, if you have one, will  be there when you get back. I hope that, for all of us, in the year ahead, kindness will prevail and that gentleness and humanity and forgiveness will be there for us if and when we need them.

And may your New Year be happy, and may you be happy in it.

I hope you make something in the year to come you've always dreamed of making, and didn't know if you could or not. But I bet you can. And I'm sure you will."
- Neil Gaiman
A New Year's Thought  12/31/19

I have yet again neglected my blog while the last couple of months went swirling by in a rush. All of a sudden Christmas, solstice, and Kwanzaa are behind us, Hanukkah is happening, and New Year's Day is right around the corner. Whatever you may or may not celebrate, here's a poorly-focused holiday pic wishing you health and joy and stars in your eyes and toy elephants on your tree.