quirky romance

Do Sexual Harassment and Racism Belong in Fiction? Sexual harassment and racism…pretty taboo topics, right? That’s why I chose to tackle them. I don’t like to read, nor do I like to write mindless entertainment. Most readers nowadays want a fluffy romance with minor complications and a HEA. While I do concede to Happy Ever Afters, I make sure it’s a rocky road to get there. You will find sexual harassment and racism both in Afterburn. Having been an aircraft mechanic for eleven years, I was dying to write about a woman grease monkey. Nobody else is! And let me tell you something about harassment…it’s ugly, but it’s there. Sexual harassment happens to women in male-dominated professions on an everyday basis. So, it’s an issue in Afterburn. It’s a fact of life and fiction isn’t real if it doesn’t portray real life. Racism: Another ugly, but sadly, real life issue. Even in… Continued

I decided to try something different for my blog, focus less on the specific craft of writing and spend some time talking about the entire creative process.  I realized that creativity doesn’t start and stop when I type up my stories.   It’s no accident that crafting, writing, singing and other creative arts are often found in one person.  I grew up on a steady diet of broomstick crochet, macramé, knitting, crocheting, tatting, embroidery, piano lessons, vocal lessons and the like.  I love to read and I do love to write.  The only thing that I didn’t do much with was drawing/painting.  I can draw a tree and that’s about it.   Sparking creativity is a must if one wants to write and write well.  In former blog posts, you’ll see that I don’t believe in writer’s block.  Why should I believe in something that blocks my creative flow?  Why

Sister Suffragettes, my contribution to this awesome anthology is inspired by an incident in the life of Ida B. Wells-Barnett, a Black journalist, newspaper editor and leader in both the women’s suffrage and the civil rights movements. Because of her outspokenness and refusal to “play nice”, Mrs. Wells-Barnett often found herself at odds with the women’s suffrage movement. As a result, the leaders of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) insisted that she not march with the Illinois delegation at President Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration, where they were demanding the right to vote. The reason? A black woman marching alongside whites would offend some Southern women. But Ida had other plans. On March 9, 1913, she watched the parade from the crowd until the Illinois delegation had passed then joined in, protected from angry Southerners by white women sympathetic to the plight of all women, regardless of race. Please read on

I’m fortunate. I have an office to which I can retreat and type my little masterpieces. Let me give you a peek into what I look at every day. Enjoy!       A plant that I picked up for two bucks at the grocer’s.  Sale!!   A teapot that I fell in love with at a thrift shop. Had to have it for 5 bucks.    Coffee (or tea)  cup – one of many.   Makeup bag.  It’s pretty psychedelic!    And packed full.   Harley Teddy!  He doesn’t really have a name. Any suggestions?