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How much truth is in my fiction?
Writing what I knew as a teenager I loved reading when I was a kid, and I began writing as a teenager. The results of my early efforts were 7 handwritten “finished” novels, several poems (many of which are terrible), numerous essays, one random index card with a great idea, a notebook of not-so-great ideas, and a handful of false starts for a story that will never work. My finished stories were fabrications with a bit of what I wanted mixed in. For example, I gave all my main female characters a love interest because I wanted a boyfriend so badly as a teen. Along with the fiction was a…
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My So-Called Life: What the show meant to me then and now
Television habits before 1994 I grew up watching TV and movies rented on VHS tapes. As an avid reader, escaping into another world wasn’t uncommon for me, but there was just something about watching it on screen that evoked all my senses. When I was a little kid, I watched mostly cartoons: The Smurfs, Strawberry Shortcake, Rainbow Brite, The Care Bears, and of course, The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show. Later, I watched family-friendly shows with my mom, like The Wonder Years, Dr. Quinn, Home Improvement, and the TGIF line-up that included shows like Full House, Family Matters, Boy Meets World, and Step by Step. And I can’t forget the…
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Writing update: When Does Life Begin? publication and sneak peek
Writing update for When Does Life Begin? I’ve spent the last few months finishing and editing my fifth novel, When Does Life Begin? It’s been a long process from its original draft when I was still a kid to what it is now. As long as everything goes well with the physical proof, the novel will be available on September 23, 2023, in both paperback and Kindle formats on Amazon.com. Read more about my other four novels. History of the story I dreamed up Lydia Dawson (once spelled Dahson) in early 1995 when I was 13 years old. Officially, it was the first novel I started as a teen, but it…