Knowing why you write before, during, and after self-publishing a book is important. The reasons why you write determine what story you tell and your chosen genre. It also tells you who your audience is, essential to marketing. I’m narrowing it down, and I published it in November. I merely fell into what I wrote and was lucky it is something I’m enjoying. My book series Sophia of the Bright Red Sneakers grew out of a short story I wrote as part of a group healing process. It

First-time self-publishing Author | What I Would Do Differently (a series). Part 1: The Business of Writing. Are you prepared?

Meet Zelda Screech Cat

The aria speaks of life among the destitute in 19th-century New York City. That time is returning all over this country because women are being forced to have children even if they can't afford them. All "those preaching moral reform" do little or nothing to see that a child that is born is given a chance to lead a self-sustaining, productive life. My mother was one of those children. Her mother died in rural Colorado during childbirth in the depression, leaving several orpha

From Sophia of the Bright Red Sneakers Series | Mission 1: All in a Day's Work He looked around his home with pride. “My, my, my, I have an eye for décor.” The shelves held his prized shiny objects, such as an antique French parquetry and gilt clock. It was a surprise gift from Christie’s Auction House. As it was being unloaded, the antique had attached itself to his talons as he flew away. What was a gentleman raven to do if he liked pretty objects? Birds, no matter how dapp

Late Bloomer | Sassy Senior | Mary Wesley (1912-2002)

From Sophia and the Bright Red Sneakers, Mission 1: All in a Day's Work. Meet Ella Cru "As if to remind Sophia of her status, standing in front of the door to Mrs. Dumfries’s classroom was Ella Cru, a.k.a., Cruella the Creep. Ella was the prettiest and the richest. Her highlighted chestnut locks always glistened. The ugly bag dress even looked elegant on her. Though Ella instigated her share of evil, she always appeared to be one step from sainthood." Meet Suzy Snodgrass "Suz

"The Cult of Domesticity" or "True Womanhood," was established for the wives and daughters of the white American middle- and upper-class power-hungry during the antebellum period. Proper, partially educated wives became status symbols for their husbands. At the opposite end of the spectrum, women, married or unmarried, lacked the means to remain "pure.” Many servant girls were impregnated, often against their will, then tossed out the door to a workhouse or hyper-religious mi

Pedro Gonzalez is Sophia’s best friend and co-conspirator in sleuthing and improving the world one mission at a time. He is ten years old, almost eleven, and a scholarship student at the James Samuel Calder Academy. He has two strikes against him—low income and he’s Brown. But this does not stop him from always being positive and kind. Plus, he’s about as smart as Sophia, which also does not go over very well with the reigning Cru Crew in the eighth-grade honors class. Sophia

The myth of the Three-Part Goddess has many sources and traditions, many associated with the phases of the moons or changing of seasons. I love this tradition because it is non-ageist in honoring each of the different phases of a woman’s life. From child to maiden, to mother, to crone, each must feel secure in and own their own time. Contrary to some opinions, the word “crone” actually comes from the word “crown.” She is the carrier of knowledge and held in high regard, for s

Sophia MacGregor, a.k.a., Boss-In-Chief, is a precocious ten-year-old who is in the eighth-grade honors class at the posh James Samuel Calder Academy on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Her best friend and co-conspirator is Pedro Gonzalez, who lives in the building next door and who also attends JSCA. In my Friday posts, I am going to be writing about different aspects of my upcoming books. Today’s blog introduces the main character on a typical day at school. In an encounter wi