When Alyssa was first introduced to the Russian rookie covered in biker tattoos, she could only roll her eyes. Thayer waltzed into her...

Sometimes a character can reside in a writer’s mind long before they come to exist within pages. Such was the case when I created Alyssa....

The ominous, droopy, bell-shaped flower that becomes a purple star is an enticing sight, growing on branches that reach out, almost...

Narcissist: “an extremely self-centered person who has an exaggerated sense of self-importance”, and also: “a person affected with...

Research, research, research. Knowledge becomes central to a story. Much of what a writer studies to make a story realistic never makes...

A story is written when many pieces and layers of inspiration weave together. It starts with something – a phrase, an image, a song,...

Becoming something new has uprooted what that kept me immobilized for so long. This is the first time in many years that I have felt an...

I drove until the morning light greeted my rearview, drawing fractures of my heart from beneath the night where the truth left shards of...

It was the night I set my heart down before you, in all it’s eloquent fragments; the night you stomped them to shards, saying it no...

Stop that. Stop telling yourself that having a partner in your life is the only thing that matters. After being in a couple of long term...

It floats; this singular heartstring, some sort of flow following beats upon wind. There’s a rhythm out there somewhere trying to drag me...

You don’t have to go vaulting off a cliff, wincing at the crunch of every bone to come back down to earth. Sometimes breaking yourself...

Runaway Bird A heart like a runaway bird flapping frantically, wings that can’t escape this town fast enough. A plumage hued like...

I am trying out this challenge for April that's circulating on Tumblr - a month of prompts inspired by the poetry of the amazing Maya...

It is the shade in which lovers see. A filter of that specific hue from their first summer sunset together lingers in their eyes; through...

Sometimes I'm living my life in a rearview mirror. There are so many moments here and now I should be living for. Soaking in. Because...

My First Writing Conference In the midst of my “Edge of Glory 1” edits, I am surrounded by my binder, three notebooks, three pages (and...

You stuck a pin through a butterfly, yet promised she deserved the best, a slight stroke along her delicate wings of velvet, she was...

You couldn’t give me shelter when a hurricane crumbled in with gusts irate enough to send solid bones trembling. Yet stoic you stood...

For the sake of staying caught up, I'm combining these two days - Cast Your Villain(s) and Cast Your Seconds. I'm thrilled to introduce...