Hey all, I haven’t been online much lately. Sorry for the hiatus, but I’ve recently had abdominal surgery to remove a cyst the size of a softball, and I’ve been out of it for about a week. I will be back to normal soon, and I’m part of a Book Blog Tour the week of April 29, so stay tuned for more info and giveaways! Always remember – no matter where you are, you can always learn something from other people. The 1 night I spent in the hospital, there was a tornado warning which forced us to sit out in the hallway with the nurses until it passed. Great chance to chat with the nurses about their jobs, life, daily routines, etc. Hey, I don’t have a nurse character planned out yet, but some day I might! Thoughts & prayers going out to those in Boston today.

Hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Easter weekend :))))

This has been a productive and great weekend for me. I’ve been on a #writing retreat, the kind where you hole up with other writers and you crash-write all weekend long. Of course, there are breaks in the evening, etc., but otherwise, the focus is WRITING.

Happy to report that I did 10,160 words = that’s approximately 40 pages, in one weekend. This is a great way to jump start that creativity or tackle that mid-book-slump hurdle.

Hope everyone has a great weekend and look for more posts soon!

Happy weekend, all! I know, based on tweets and emails from friends, that many of you have snow on the ground right now. And it’s SUPER chilly in the South, a rare thing for this time of year. But the good news is, we can always write indoors or do something fun and creative on the weekend :) I’m guest blogging today about writing and music over at my Twitter friend Keri Neal’s blog. You can read the post here. What type of music do you like when doing tasks, or do you prefer silence?

Many thanks to those of you who were able to visit Keta’s blog yesterday and leave a comment. Della is our lucky winner and she wins a free copy of Water’s Blood in digital format :) What does everyone have planned for the week and weekend? Wednesday, known as hump day, is the marker between the Monday blahs and the Friday excitement. Looks like warm weather is *trying* to come to the South, so I am hoping the weather will be nice. I’m going on a writing retreat and will be pressing my little fingers to the keyboard all weekend to get mucho work done on RAGING FIRE, Book Two of the Elemental Clan Series, which is due out this summer. Writing retreats, whether done alone or with other writers, are a great way to pump up the creativity. You learn each other’s patterns and what works and what doesn’t, and it’s helpful to have others there to brainstorm. So…for this Wednesday and weekend, what are y’all doing?

Hey all, I love Indie Authors. I think it’s because we all know how tough it is to find an audience for our books, and we crave telling stories that will make our readers feel emotion. Many thanks to Keta Diablo for hosting me today on her blog. Read the post here, and leave a comment on her blog for a chance to win a #FREE ebook! Elaine