FOUR YEARS AGO, I wrote a blog post about the little fixer upper I had bought. This post was written with a healthy dose of optimism, and an undercurrent of idealism. Me and my 70s-era fixer upper—we would go on an adventure together. I saw into her soul, saw who she once had been and... Continue Reading →
In my last blog post, I admitted to a secret. It’s one that I share with laughing chagrin… I imagine celebrities as my main characters so that I can keep straight what they look like when I write about them. When I describe Emmie Tunstall’s sunny smile or Ciaran Halloran’s intense gaze, it is easier... Continue Reading →
Math. I am no good at it. Nay—I suck. I’ve slipped below suckage at math and generally stagnate at the point below which suckage can eke its slurpy, slimy function. My newly-minted teenager, my “wee man,” on the other hand, is scary brilliant with numbers. Last year, when his class performed timed math tests, the... Continue Reading →
“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.” — Stephen King I read voraciously as a kid. From an early age, I indulged in the joys of immersing myself in words and the worlds they create. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry, The... Continue Reading →
Hot on the heels of my latest release, I am pleased to announce that my next manuscript is well underway. The last four of my novels - The Ghosts of Tullybrae House, Shadow, The Other Side of Dawn and The Haunting of Tess - explored difficult topics for each protagonist, and took them on a... Continue Reading →
I have been writing a blue streak over the past month or two, and this weekend, I took inventory of what I have left to cover in the story. It was a jarring moment to realize, "Holy crap! I only have four chapters left!" Four chapters! That's not much at all. In fact, it is... Continue Reading →
It starts by staring at your blank page, or at your daily task list, or at your calendar with its inalterable deadline, and acknowledging that you have absolutely no motivation to dig in and git’er done. So to the Google you go, in search of listicles and how-tos and productivity hacks that you hope will... Continue Reading →
It resides permanently in my basement, in a ten-by-ten nook parcelled out of the main floor plan behind the garage. It is squat, square and black. It is my new favourite thing on these cold, rainy spring nights. It is… my wood stove. My actual stove. I call her Delilah. Two years ago, I bought... Continue Reading →
It has been a strange night here at Casa Bale. Following recommended Federal guidelines for self-isolation due to the Covid-19 Crisis (willingly and without complaint, mind), my special someone and I have found ourselves inside and without the kiddies for the night. Without the kiddies and with no options for a fancy meal out means... Continue Reading →
Netflix Paralysis. That’s what I’m calling it. It is a state of existence in which there is simply too much to watch on my streaming subscriptions that I become overwhelmed with, and therefore paralyzed by choice. It’s not just The Big Bad N that’s perpetuating the cycle. It’s Crave. It’s Amazon Prime. It’s YouTube. And... Continue Reading →
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