When asked by Karen to do another guest blog on overcoming the hurts sustained in my own experience with an abusive childhood, my response was, "I guess I never thought about it." The human spirit is truly amazing. It has the ability to triumph, not even realizing it is, in fact, triumphant.

My novel, The Boots My Mother Gave Me (An Amazon Breakthrough Novel Quarter Finalist) is a Dysfiction inspired by a true story, about a young girl coming o...

Gabino Iglesias of the Austin Post said, “Vigilare walks the line between a thriller and a supernatural adventure while safely anchored in a scientific discourse around blood that James put together so well that it's reminisce...

I’m going to tell you something I don’t often repeat. 

I love nightmares. 

Oh, a dream about swimming in a lagoon by a tropical island has its place, but rarely do those dreams stay with me. Like an orgasm, the moment is wonderful, yet fleeting. 

All my life, I’ve had nightmares. I’m sure you’ve had your share, too. The difference with me is, at a very young age, I made peace with those nighttime visions of terror. As soon as I learned to embrace them, to dissect the patterns of...

We are fortunate to once again welcome talented author Toby Neal to our blog as a guest writer. Toby's book, Blood Orchids, is free April 28 and 29 on Amazon Kindle. Be sure and grab a copy of this fast-paced suspense. Now, we turn over the "podium" to Toby.

Toby Neal, Author

Ten Things I've Learned About Life by Toby Neal

·        Niceness: it DOES matter. What kind of world would this be if we all gave into our nasty, jealous, greedy, murderous, slanderous impulses? So, when in doubt be N...

MS Free Images

I was an asshole. I can admit that now. But I had to come very close to losing everything before I was able to face the truth about myself and my behavior. On the verge of losing my wife and children, I had to take a long hard look in the mirror. I didn't like what I saw.

To get a really accurate picture of myself, I had to wait until I was sober. If I looked at myself when I had been drinking or smoking, I got a distorted image. In a state of mild or even advanced inebria...

I may have unknowingly created a new literary genre. But don’t take my word for it. Read on and let me know if you think that is the case.

It all started when I saw a picture of a “sun zebra.” Unfortunately I can’t tell you what a “sun zebra” is without spoiling the title story of my book. Then, after I saw this animal, a little girl named Nell wandered out of my mind and went to tell her dad she had found a “zebra.” Since the story takes place in a farm in the middle of Pen...

by Brooklyn James (Author of The Boots My Mother Gave Me, An Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Quarter Finalist)

I enjoyed reading Robert French’s guest blog about depression and its correlation to writing. His blog got me thinking about my own relationship with writing.

The completion of my first novel, The Boots My Mother Gave Me, was a New Year’s resolution. I had no intentions of completing a book. The coming of age Dysfiction is about a young girl overcoming an abusive childhood. Growin...

Robert French

When Karen invited me to do this guest post, I was really pleased because I had a great subject in mind but as I was writing away, I got an overwhelming desire to embark upon an entirely different subject, one that is a little more personal and a lot more painful.

If one reads the biographies of writers through the ages, a common theme is that many writers, especially those who may deal with darker subjects, are victims of depression. According to health.com writers are #5 in ...

by Kirkus MacGowan

Kirkus:  Kirkus MacGowan here. I’m at an undisclosed location with John Reeves. He agreed to answer a few questions for the fans of The Fall of Billy Hitchings. Keep in mind, he’s a secretive individual. My goal is to give the reader some insight into just who John Reeves is. There may be questions he can’t answer, especially those relating to his involvement in Secret Ops.

Kirkus:  I’l...

Guest post by Mimi Barbour

My Cheeky Angel
(1st book in the Angels with Attitudes series)
by Mimi Barbour

So here I am, having a rant again. Those of you who know me probably know I have a rant blog – Somebody Has To Say It – because, well, somebody does! Strangely, it often seems to be me…

Many of you have even expressed your delight at my wide-ranging and entirely justified vitriol. I have touched on Twitter etiquette previously, in my early days on Twitter, but we’re going to revisit the topic again, with some new and exciting pet peeves of my own and some contributed by my Twee...

Pono

My daughter found a neglected 6 pound scrap of elderly Pomeranian wandering outside our neighborhood in the dead of night. He was not appealing: his collar had to be cut out of (color indeterminate) matted dreadlocks, his toenails were so long they looked like curling Indian slippers, and something was VERY wrong with his hind legs so that he listed and bobbled like a sailor under the influence.
     I was smitten. Utte...

Advisory: This post contains graphic adult content.

The coolest review I've received to date for any of my books, delivered a mere two out of five stars… from an author, no less! Bar-none, it's my very favorite review of all time. In fact, I use it to sell books!  I'd take 1,000 such reviews over 1 Million reviews from 5 star fans telling me how fucking awesome I am. Ripped directly from Amazon, here's what it says:

First, before I begin, I would like to thank the duo authors known as Wodke Hawkinson for giving me the opportunity to write on their blog, and for their support.

I was given the honor to write this article in regards to my new book The Four Letters of Love soon to be released on Amazon, strategically before Valentine's Day.

Why poetry and love? I asked myself the question.

As a poet, I have been recently aske...

             


Author Christine Cunningham

Guest post by Christine Cunningham:

This year is dedicated to gratitude, grace, and generosity! In that spirit, I release my new book 30 Day Guide to apply Eternal Beginning!

30 Day Guide to apply Eternal Beginning is a work book created to help apply the lessons interwoven in the book Eternal Beginning. Each day is divided by a quote from Eternal Beginning, the lesson to apply, a paragraph to motivate, and an action step that will cement the less...

Guest Post by Author, Scott Bury

Thanks to PJ and Karen for inviting me to write about my editing process. This is what works for me, and it has also worked for hundreds of students I taught it to when I was a college English professor.

My editing process

What’s the most erroneous myth about writers? The scene in TV shows and movies, where the writer types an opening sentence and immediately rips the page out of the typewriter, crumples it in rage and throwing it into an overflowing waste-bask...