Thursday, November 3, 2011

Arts Awards


       Really excited about the St. Tammany Parish President's Arts Awards Friday night!   I am very honored that Parish President Kevin Davis and the Commission on Cultural Affairs have named me the Literary Artist of the Year.
       These awards really bring home how are rich this area is in the arts, and how many talented people have chosen to live here. What makes this extra special is it is a chance to honor outgoing Parish President Kevin Davis, who has made promotion of the arts a big part of his legacy.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Secret Formula for Writing a Novel

 Some people (usually non-readers, almost always non-writers) say that genre novels are formulaic.  I've tried and tried to figure out what that means, and I think I've finally broken the code.  Here, at last, I'm revealing the....

Secret Formula for Writing a Novel

Create characters your readers care about. 

Develop a plot that keeps your readers turning the pages. 
Write in a compelling, consistent voice that fits your story.
Skillfully weave description, dialogue, narrative, action and internal dialogue together, while heightening tension, constantly raising the stakes, adding in your characters’ back stories, developing your theme, and illustrating how your characters are growing and changing.
Bring the conflict to a climax where your protaganists face their worst fears.
Create a black moment when all seems lost.
Surprise the reader with an unexpected reversal that shows the characters’ personal growth.
End the story in a way that ties up all loose ends, answers all questions and leaves the reader thinking,  “Wow!  What a great book!  I can’t wait to read this author’s next one!”






Monday, August 22, 2011

New e-book out!


I have a new ebook, Love and Other Surprises, available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble!  

Actually, it’s an updated old book-- the very first one I ever sold.  It was originally published as The Wedding Kiss by Silhouette in 1996 and it won the Golden Heart Award from National Romance Writers of America.  

When the rights reverted to me, I decided to modernize and update it, rename it, and put it back out there.   The new cover was designed by my talented daughter, Taylor.


Love and Other Surprises is a short, light-hearted tale that I hope will make you laugh.  At least the price should make you smile -- for a limited time, it’s being offered for just $0.99.  

Many of my other novels are available in e-book form, too -- including Still the One, which was nominated for this year's Rita Award-- so if you're an e-reader, look for me in Nook Books or the Kindle Store.

Happy reading!

Monday, July 18, 2011

RWA was a blast!

Photos from RWA conference in New York
Above:  With my agent, Steve Axelrod
  With my editor, Selina McLemore,  at the Rita awards 

Friday, June 24, 2011

link to interview

The Dawn Chartier interview didn't reproduce on my website very well, so here's the link:


  
 
 



Interview by Dawn Chartier





Tuesday, June 14, 2011

I hope everyone is having a great summer and enjoying some great reading! I just updated my website and added this blog/journal/news page.   I'm not sure how I'm going to use it yet, but I do plan to post some tidbits of my new work in progress-- so check back!