Sheila's Guests and Reviews

Some authors change their names when they write in different genres. Some change their publishers. Some publishers have subgroups for different genres. And some just ... publish ... write ... go for it. I think I was trying to be "organized" when I "went for it" and tried to get different publishers for each of my genres. I didn't want to change my name - it's mine! But I didn't want to confuse readers, so I sent my children's Bible stories to a Christian Publisher, Cape Arago Press (actually, they asked me for them, which still fills me with hope). My contemporary novels went to a literary publisher, Stonegarden.net, who closed down. Then they went to a contemporary publisher, Second Wind Publishing, who slowed down. Now they're with another contemporary publisher, Indigo Sea , and I'm wondering if book 3 will ever be released. Meanwhile my speculative fiction went to Gypsy Shadow , who "released" me for lack of sales. Then they ...

My publisher sent me this picture and I just had to share it. Bethlehem's Baby is here, in print, on real paper with real pages! I guess it's not "here" technically--not at my house, in my hot little hands, but "there" at Cape Arago Press. Still, I'm sure you can see why I'm dancing with joy again. The first print proof of the first printed book from the Five-Minute Bible Story TM Series. Hurray! May it be the first of many, I pray. I'm so thrilled my publisher believes in the series, and now I'm eagerly dreaming that my readers will agree with him. And I just had to share!

Have you read the Brotherhood of Dwarves ? (Click the link for my review.) If not, you're missing out on a great fantasy series with gritty blue-collar workers struggling in a world that's no so different, not so strange... just perfect for that touch of earthbound reality which makes great fantasy so engaging. Between Dark and Light is the fourth book in the series ... The Great Empire has surrounded the Kiredurks and are preparing to conquer the kingdom, but unknown to them, Kwarck, the mysterious hermit of the plains, has his own plan in action. To the east, he has summoned an elven army and charged Crushaw with leading them into battle. To the south, Roskin will gather an army from the fractured Ghaldeon lands. But to the west, an ancient and powerful evil stirs. The Great War is about to erupt, if Roskin can overcome the Dark One... and Roskin is a great character, as you'll soon learn once you start reading. Scroll down for synopses of the rest of ...

Our local writers' group decided sometime in Spring that it might be time to produce another journal. It's only three, maybe four years since the last one, and we'd like to make it an annual event. So we worked out a schedule, we called for submissions, and... Anyway, we really are going to produce it, and it's going to be printed in time for Christmas. We're feeling very proud of ourselves, though I'll feel more confidently proud when we actually have the printed copies to hand around. Meanwhile, just in case I end up "helping" again, here are my notes on how to create a writers' group journal. Make a schedule but don't expect anyone to stick to it. Just because you don't get any submissions on time, don't assume people aren't interested--they just don't believe in your schedule. Work out the absolute latest date for submissions and guilt people into submitting by pointing out how much older your oldest member is getting....