“By Divine Right,” the prequel to a longer series, starts out with a wonderful little mystery about the main character, Willet, then segues into a detailed description of the town — a little *too* detailed for my tastes, but hang in there, the story picks up after that in an entirely readable fantasy detective fashion. The real mystery is soon revealed as Willet follows his insatiable curiosity (and apprehension) in an attempt to discover who is stealing magical gifts. Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in this post are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link […]
QUILLS: What Makes Us Write?
Guest author H.M. Clarke joins A Drift of Quills as we talk about what makes us write.
Chocolate Fix: Cocoa-Coco Muffins
I don’t know about you, but I think it’s time for another chocolate fix! Wait. Belay that! It’s always time for a chocolate fix! Last time we made Black Bean Brownies. This time, it’s muffins! Hurrah! I love muffins, and the only “healthy” addition we’re making to these is coconut. This recipe has been in my collection for a long time, and the recipe card should probably be replaced is well used. We make them for breakfast, but sometimes we have them for dessert. They’re always good. My kids love them, and it’s one of the recipes they requested for […]
New FREE Story!
Are you excited? I am! Last week I promised a new FREE short story for my fabulous fans. All it takes for you to be reading it within minutes is subscribing to my once-in-a-blue moon newsletter, though if you’d rather pay for it, you’re welcome to do that instead! It is only available on Amazon at this point, but here is the link if you want to throw some cash my way: The High Roads. If you subscribe, it is available in mobi, epub, or pdf formats. Powerful official. Minor mage. Honor or justice…? A warrior with a steel will, Telic Ruan plans everything ahead, […]
Rockin’ Robin
This is Rockin’ Robin, coming at you live from — um — Well, I’ve been happily busy in the land of Tairenth, writing my fingers to the nubs. So … I’m late getting this post written because I completely forgot about it! I have a pretty good excuse. Really! In fact, I have a few of them: I’ve been hard at work revising The Sharpness of the Knife, Book One of Journeys of the Sira Na. I am making steady progress, but it feels slow. I want to say it’ll be out before Christmas, but I wouldn’t advise any breath-holding. Feel free, though, […]
Your Hoard: How to Care for Your Books
When I was a fledgling my wonderful mama taught me a lot about cleaning, but I do not recall a lesson about how to care for your books. Dishes, bathrooms, bedrooms, laundry, cooking—yes. Books? No. Maybe it was obvious to her. Or maybe she was so busy enjoying her stacks and boxes of books that it just slipped her mind. Or maybe I’m taking my book obsession to new heights. But really—how do you care for your books? They look marvelous lined up on the shelves, but I don’t have a magical force field to keep off all the dust. […]
Movies Made From Books We Love
It’s the first-Friday-of-the-month and time for A Drift of Quills! Patricia and I are talking about movies made from books we love—which did we like better and why?
Cover Candy #4
The Great Cover-Up is one of my favorite features to do. Great book covers, wonderful typography, amazing design — and when it comes on a book, it’s a win-win situation. I think the first cover I recall really falling in love with was the one Michael Whelan did for To Green Angel Tower by Tad Williams. The picture is incredibly detailed, fantastic, and realistic. I still want a print to frame and hang in my office. Creating covers for my own books has given me a new appreciation for the thought and the work that goes into them. I began […]
Just Goin’ With the Flow…
So there I was, innocently typing along — and monkey wrenches started flying! I grumbled when I put up my dukes, but I didn’t flinch. No, sirree, Bob! STUFF happens, and sometimes a body just needs to knuckle down and buckle down and do it. Then one of the wrenches hit me in the head. Ouch! Let’s back up a little bit. Before I went to Hawaii (I won’t say how long, but it was a while…), WordPress decided it would only publish some of the new pages I wanted to add and it would look the other way for the […]
You Had Me at “Aloha”
Does everyone dream about going to the beach, soaking up the sand and the sea? I have splashed in the surf of the east coast and the west coast, but never Hawaii — until now. My husband won a ticket for a free flight to anywhere the airline flew, and he (we!) elected the longed-for but never-before-realized dream to finally visit. Where did we go? Lovely, green Kauai. We rented a go-cart (my husband’s term for the little Nissan Versa) and went sight-seeing, hiked, swam, snorkeled, walked on the beach, got sunburned, and took a million pictures (okay, only about […]