Getting book reviews is often wonderful and even instructive for an author. You learn a lot by knowing what someone loved in your story and what they didn’t love as much. I especially value comments from fellow authors, who know how much goes into the writing and publishing of a novel. I was especially pleased when Suanne Schafer, editor, author, and regular book reviewer, read and reviewed my newest. Her full review and wonderful website… The post New Review of RETURN TO LERICI appeared first on RACHEL DACUS, AUTHOR ..read more

Great reviews of your book are compliments to be cherished and re-read while working on new books. Book reviews are hard to come by, so the good ones are valuable and can help a book’s visibiity. Here’s a link to a great review my new book just got. Writers need a team of well-wishing readers around them, and it’s easy to forget that you have such a team once the reviews have come and gone.… The post Great Reviews of Your Book appeared first on RACHEL DACUS, AUTHOR ..read more

I believe in having a happy, not a spooky Halloween.It was one of my favorite holidays as a child, because what’s not to like about candy, dressing up, and partying with your friends on a moonlit evening? Halloween’s named for spirits — All Hallows Eve, a time for remembering those departed from us. I was thinking about my late brother when I began a novel featuring a guardian spirit, two sisters, and a gently haunted… The post Trick-or-Treat! A Book Discount in Your Bag appeared first on RACHEL DACUS, AUTHOR ..read more

Warning — this is a rant about romance tropes that get under my skin and not in a good way. Plus recommendations for good romance reading. Did I get your attention when I mentioned billionaire? That category of fiction that’s blowing through old sales records, reinventing the romance genre, and — in my opinion — leading young readers astray. Because it’s the Cinderella formula that we all need to grow out of. We’re adult women… The post A Word About Billionaire (and Other Scummy) Romance Tropes appeared first on RACHEL DACUS, AUTHOR ..read more

“WELL, THAT WAS FUN!” – Editorial review from Readers’ Favorite. I can’t image a better book review than the one below. Reviews like this are what makes a writer keep on writing books. Reading the kind of pleasure someone had in my novel is my kind of fun! Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers’ Favorite. Here’s the whole book review: “In the novel Jane Austen, Time Traveler by Rachel Dacus, time traveler George St. James… The post “Well, That Was Fun!” – Book Review Makes My Day appeared first on RACHEL DACUS, AUTHOR ..read more

Why Art and Artists? My time travel novels often feature art and artists—you may wonder why. It’s because I grew up with an artist father who painted constantly and invited many artist friends to our home. He took us to working studios, local art exhibitions, and art museums in the Los Angeles area. The smell of oil paint and turpentine evokes childhood memories. Saturday afternoons, watching my father mix oil paints and dash paint onto… The post Art in My Life and Stories appeared first on RACHEL DACUS, AUTHOR ..read more

I’ve been thinking about my heart condition and looking at poems I wrote shortly after having a heart attack. Contemplating my mortality is a new thing for me. I’ve had to adjust my thinking about time and the future. It’s a subtle shift but a profound one to consider that my time to be, to write, and to love is limited. It’s unsettling in the most interesting way to think of the body as having… The post A poem on mortality & the heart appeared first on RACHEL DACUS, AUTHOR ..read more

I’ve been re-reading Emily Dickinson’s poems lately, one or two a day. Although her early editors removed her original groupings — the “fsaciles” or small booklets in which she grouped them — I enjoy the section “Nature” that groups together a major focus of her writing. Emily doesn’t write about nature as pretty or ornamental, though she certainly finds beauty and delight in it. But she writes more like a Zen monk, or like my… The post A clover and a bee .. a Zen Revery? appeared first on RACHEL DACUS, AUTHOR ..read more

I can’t help it. I’m a poet intoxicated in springtime, renewal and faith. Step aside, war and riot, prejudice run amok, mass shootings and atmospheric rivers, ignorance abroad and becoming endemic. Step aside, the ruin of the world — it’s like the ruin of winter. And I am a fervent believer in humanity and spring. Evrywhere, I find evidence to back up my faith. To celebrate (before the next bomb cyclone drops on our heads… The post A Poet in Spring appeared first on RACHEL DACUS, AUTHOR ..read more

Some authors interview their characters. I enjoy that idea, but I decided to put a spin on it, and have characters interview each other. This week: Jane Austen, 200 years in the future, interviews her host and superfan Will Fleming, while visiting his estate. JANE AUSTEN INTERVIEWS WILL FLEMING Will Fleming’s light blue eyes captured Jane’s curiosity. They widened and narrowed, gold flecks shifting like fleeting clouds, the nuances of his expressions changing through many… The post Jane Austen Time Traveler – Bonus Character Interviews, Part 1 appeared first on RACHEL DACUS, AUTHOR ..read more