dahlia dewinters – Dahlia DeWinters

Old Characters Made New

Sometimes it’s okay to look back. I’m doing an author’s challenge on Instagram, and day 12 asked me about my protagonist. Now, I’m currently working on three stories, editing and updating them for publication. Not such bad work, especially since I’ve been living with these characters for a while. I do best with writing when I’m the most familiar with my characters, at least for a few months. I guess I’ll never be that writer who can pump out a new book every month, and I’m okay with that. I’m working with characters I’ve “known” since 2011-2012 For those of you who have read Second Chance Christmas, know that Naomi and Zach had a story before their Christmas story. Yep. They were the very first story that I submitted for publication. Unfortunately, it was rejected. I then wrote Kitty Wishes, and I never went back to the story. However, I… Continued

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Three Halloween Books for Scary Reading

Yes, we like the movies, but there’s nothing like a scary book to curl up with on a dark, blustery night. When I lived alone, I used to scare myself to death with the sounds that I thought I heard when I was reading an especially scary book. And the dog didn’t help when she jump up and ran out of the room for no apparent reason. (Sometimes I think dogs do that on purpose to scare the mess out of us. Then they go drink out of the toilet and laugh at us.) Anyhoo, here’s my top five books to read around Halloween, or any time. These are presented in no particular order. Pet Sematary – Stephen King: I can’t tell you how much this book frightened me. I discuss this in more detail over at my blog, if you care to take a look. Suffice to say, while

photo of rainbow colored painting on canvas

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Anxious? Get Those Creative Juices Flowing!

Oh, anxiety. We’re all too familiar with that nagging beast, aren’t we? It rears its restless head at the most inconvenient times, leaving us tense and overwhelmed. Not fun! But don’t stress, lovelies. You know by now I’ve got a trick up my proverbial sleeve just for you. Let’s talk about creative playtime. That’s right! Tapping into your creative side can whisk those worries away. Remember “whistle while you work”? I’m talking art, music, dance…anything that sparks the inner muse. Trust me, anxiety doesn’t stand a chance against an actively creative mind. Now I know what you’re thinking… Did he fire six shots or only five? ….wait, that’s not what you’re thinking. What you’re really thinking is: “But I’m not artistic or talented…” My friend, come on, that’s so not true! We ALL have that creative flair within; we just have to reconnect with it. In fact, let your

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The Write Way: Self-Care for Romance Authors

As a romance author, I truly understand the demands and pressures that come with the craft. Writing all these captivating love stories (and sex scenes if you’re spicy!) requires immense creativity, emotional investment, dedication as well as perseverance. Lots of perseverance. However, amidst the chaos of deadlines and plot twists, it’s crucial for us romance authors to prioritize self-care. In this blog post, I’m going to talk about the importance of self-care for romance authors and look at some ways to incorporate it into our writing routines. The Heart of Self-Care for Romance Authors As romance authors, we pour our passion into every page and to entertain and excite our readers. But such an investment can drain our own hearts if we don’t prioritize self-care. When we do not nurture ourselves, the creative flames can dim from fatigue and burnout. I’ve seen too many posts on social media about self-published

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Horror Movie Review – Wrecker

Title: WreckerGenre: HorrorDirector: Michael BafaroIMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4227282/ This movie almost WRECKED my marriage. (See what I did there?) My husband had the day off and I suggested we watch a movie. “Hey, we’ll watch this movie. It’s terrible, but it’ll be fun! We’ll have a few laughs!” Famous last words. I’ve seen some horror dreck in my lifetime. I’ve watched the Friday the 13th movies and stuff that I can’t even recall I’ve seen because it’s been so terrible. But I’ve been able to laugh and point and giggle about the director and/or writer being awful. Or awful acting. Sometimes, the movie is bad, but you can see the actors are having fun, so it makes up for it. This was not the case with this movie. This movie was just bad with no redeeming qualities. None. Wait. I did love the red Mustang and some of the shots were gorgeous.

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Blogtoberfest – Horror Movie Review – Unfriended

Title: UnfriendedGenre: Horror, Thriller, DramaDirector: Levan Gabriadze (as Leo Gabriadze)IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3713166/ Synopsis according to IMDB:A group of online chat room friends find themselves haunted by a mysterious, supernatural force using the account of their dead friend. I might be getting too old for this, I admit this up front. I did not enjoy this movie on any level. Though I thought the story and the premise was excellent, the thirty year olds playing high schoolers did nothing to elicit my sympathy. I couldn’t even enjoy it on the “so bad it’s good” level because there was little to no physical action. You couldn’t say “don’t go in there” or “stay out of the basement”. Nope. The entire movie took place on a laptop screen. As I said, this was an interesting concept and on some level, it was well executed. Since I watched the movie on a laptop, it