Canadians often talk about ‘sleeping beside an elephant’ in terms of our relationship with the United States. As in, there can be dire consequences if the elephant rolls over. For the past few years, I’ve read and watched US news with increasing alarm as our friend and neighbour to the south experiences deepening divisions and groups intent on undermining democracy. To develop a deeper understanding, earlier this year, I read Madeleine Albright’s book Fascism: A Warning (published 2018), and more more recently, Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism by Anne Applebaum. Bo ..read more

As an indie author, I work with other professionals to create a finished product. Yes, I used the word product! In my case, this includes an editor, a marketing professional, and a cover designer. Many readers felt that the cover for The Admiral’s Wife was very eye-catching – so did I – and I asked the same cover designer, Jane Dixon-Smith of JD Smith Design to apply her creative talent to That Was Then, my upcoming novel. The first thing Jane asked for was a list of elements from the book that might work into the cover, and a handful of covers in the same genre which represent target readers ..read more

Back in November, I wrote a post on writing contemporary vs historical fiction and briefly introduced my latest novel That Was Then. The plan is to release this new novel – a contemporary thriller – in June. The excitement is brewing along with the realization of how much work needs to be done! In 2018, I attended a writers retreat and was assigned to work with one of the literary agents involved. Following a few sessions on building pitches, I asked the agent which of three ideas I should write next. “That one,” she said without hesitation, when I gave a one-sentence description of That ..read more

On Tuesday, I published the first article on BookBub’s marketing ideas from their post 140 Book Marketing Ideas. Today continues that post with further ideas that might have potential for my next novel a contemporary thriller titled That Was Then (stay tuned). Image source: BookBub Ask readers for a review in your novel’s back matter. Submit your book for editorial reviews from services like Kirkus Reviews, Booklife (Publishers Weekly), Discovery (Reedsy) Do a BookBub News Release alert – you need to have BookBub followers for this to work Brand your author and blog home pages with new releas ..read more

While on the March writers retreat, the topic of marketing and promoting our books – both traditionally published and self-published generated lots of conversation. And since my latest novel – the contemporary thriller – is soon to be released, I decided to look around for advice and stumbled on an article on BookBub titled 140 Book Marketing Ideas. For those of you unaware of BookBub, it’s a “free service that helps millions of readers discover books they’ll love while providing publishers and authors with a way to drive sales and find new fans.” Free to readers, that is! And you can get grea ..read more

Dear readers … forgive the less than stellar blogging performance from January to now. We – my husband and I – have been coping with a major water leak at the house. Apparently, while we were away over Christmas, 250 gallons of water an hour spread through our house for 18 days. The consequences have been enormous, required hours and hours of work and meant that we’ve been living like nomads for many, many weeks. Kitchen – post remediation for water and mold damage Four rooms in our house, including the kitchen, were seriously damaged not just by water but also because of the mold that grew fr ..read more

A group of four writers, including yours truly, gathered in Florida this week for a writers retreat. We’re sharing an AirBnb rental property because the original location, the home my husband and I have, sustained a huge water leak over Christmas and remains close to uninhabitable. In preparation we talked over Zoom about our personal objectives for gathering, discussed critical things like the kinds of wine we enjoy and foods we prefer to avoid, reviewed a potential daily schedule and decided that we wanted to be much less scheduled. After arriving on Sunday and enjoying some casual food and ..read more

Roaming around the web to spark your interest – yes, you dear reader – I discovered a number of articles on the challenges of writing historical fiction. In SouthWest Writers, Chris Eboch, who writes fiction and non-fiction, explores topics like research, character authenticity, and marketing. “The path to great historical fiction is clear: A spark of inspiration, months of research, carefully chosen details to bring the setting to life, and a dynamic character who appeals to today’s readers, while expressing the differences of her time.” Click here for more. In Five Top Tips on Writing ..read more

As mentioned in Monday’s post, Exsilium is author Alison Morton’s latest novel. Alison writes thrillers and has two ongoing series: Roma Nova, an alternative history series, and Melisende, a European crime series. Today’s post features Alison’s fascination for the history of the Roman Empire, both the known characters and time periods and the lesser known ones. ~~~ Writing historical fiction is a strange thing. Can we really understand what went through the mind of our grandparents, let alone the small tribe that founded Rome?  But having studied the sources and carried out our r ..read more

What if? We’ve all asked ourselves that question as our lives have unfolded. Author Alison Morton has made a writing career out of that question. Central to her Roma Nova series is the fact that over time the Roman Empire “localised and eventually dissolved like chain mail fragmenting into separate links, giving way to rump states, local city states and petty kingdoms all facing the dynamic rise of the new peoples of Europe particularly the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians and Alamans.” Alison’s Roma Nova series is based on the idea that a group of senators committed to the old gods and unwillin ..read more