We’ve often heard the phrase, “Life is a journey, not a destination.” While I do believe there is a final resting place, I also know that the road leading there can be rocky and smooth, curvy and straight, treacherous and safe. No two paths are the same, even if we share the road from time to time with others.

It’s sometimes too easy to look at someone else and think their path is smoother or rougher than it really is. And even if we share the journey for a few miles, the way we view the terrain is filtered through our experiences.

These last few months I’ve shared a journey with ten amazing writers for an anthology inspired and led by my former critique partner Edie Ramer and her pal Misty Evans. The cover art and formatting were also donated by Laura Morrigan and Lori Devoti. Stacia Kane wrote the forward.

It’s not simply the quality of the stories that make it stand out, but the spirit in which the stories were written.

I don’t know what the political or religious leanings are of the other authors in the anthology, and I honestly don’t want to know. I’m sure we are all over the spectrum from right to left, devout to non-believing. But we all agree that helping others is something we can rally behind, and we all agree that cancer is an insidious disease that needs more time and resources to stop.

All proceeds from the digital-released ENTANGLED will be donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. http://www.bcrfcure.org/ What makes this amazing is that we are united; we all donated our time and talent to benefit a cause we believe in. No one tossed out a story thinking it didn’t matter because it was for charity; every author took the time to craft a tale to please their readers, as well as new readers.

The women involved are truly amazing in their generosity and enthusiasm for this project. We all know women who have had this dreadful disease. We all know women who have survived. We all know women who haven’t.

ENTANGLED is a paranormal romance/urban fantasy anthology of 11 short stories that aims to give what we can to fight this disease and hopefully save someone’s mother, sister, daughter. That person could be someone we know. It could be us.

I especially want to single out Stacia Kane for her poignant forward. In part:

“What we can do, though, is hope. We can hope that one day our children or our grandchildren will be able to think of breast cancer the way we think of illnesses like typhoid fever, that once killed thousands but are now essentially eradicated and/or curable. There are doctors and scientists and really scarily smart people out there working hard to try to make that so, to re-write our world so “breast cancer” becomes maybe a little more serious than a cold, but with the same prognosis: Yeah, you might feel kind of tired for a couple of days, but you’re totally going to be fine after that.”

Here’s the summary of the anthology:

HALLOWEEN FROST by USA Today bestselling author Jennifer Estep (author of the Mythos Academy, Elemental Assassin, and Bigtime series) — It’s Halloween at Mythos Academy, but Gwen Frost and her friends are in for more tricks than treats when they run into a mythological monster intent on killing them.

THE FAT CAT by Edie Ramer (author of Cattitude, Galaxy Girls) — In a battle for the souls of seven women, a wizard has the god of war on his side; all the witch has is a fat, black cat.

MEDIUM RARE by Nancy Haddock (author of the Oldest City Vampire trilogy) —What’s spooking the spirits of St. Augustine? As the witching hour of Halloween approaches, ghost seer Colleen Cotton must team with a by-the-book paranormal investigator to locate the one ghost who can save the city’s specters. If she fails, her own great grandfather’s spirit may be lost forever.

SWEET DEMON by Misty Evans (author of the Witches Anonymous series) —When Chicago’s vampire king insists Kali Sweet join his empire, the vengeance demon must rely on her ex – the half-human, half-chaos demon who left her at the altar three hundred years ago – in order to escape the vamp’s clutches.

SIAN’S SOLUTION by Dale Mayer (author of the Psychic Visions series) — When a vampire discovers the human man she loves has been captured and hung in a blood farm, she goes against her own kind and risks everything to save him.

A BIT OF BITE by Cynthia Eden (author of NEVER CRY WOLF and ANGEL OF DARKNESS) — A killer is stalking the streets of Crossroads, Mississippi, and it’s up to Sheriff Ava Dushaine to stop him. But when suspicion falls on werewolf alpha Julian Kasey—Ava’s ex-lover and the man who still haunts her dreams—Ava knows that she’ll either have to prove his innocence…or watch the whole town go up in flames.

SINFULLY SWEET by Michelle Miles (author of the Coffee House series) — When Chloe bakes a little magic into her pastries, she attracts the attention of Edward, the sexy half-demon, half-witch, who’s come to warn her those who murdered her sister are now after her.

A NIGHT OF FOREVER by Lori Brighton (author of A Night of Secrets and To Seduce an Earl) — Who is Aidan Callaghan? Mary Ellen James is intent on uncovering the truth about the mysterious man, but as she soon finds out, some things are best left buried in the past.

FEEL THE MAGIC by Liz Kreger (author of the Part of Tomorrow series) — Jenna Carmichael’s magical attempt to rectify Jessica Manfield’s birth identity takes an unexpected turn when the past comes back to haunt her.

BREAKING OUT by Michelle Diener (author of the Tudor-set historical suspense novel In A Treacherous Court) — Imprisoned in a secret facility, powerful telekinetic Kelli Barrack and two other ‘special’ inmates grab a chance to escape, only to confront their worst nightmares on the outside.

GHOSTLY JUSTICE, an all-new Seven Deadly Sins novella by New York Times bestselling author Allison Brennan (author of the Seven Deadly Sins series) — Demon hunters Moira O’Donnell and Rafe Cooper are dragged into the dangerous world of nocturnal predators to find “Ghostly Justice” for a virgin sacrificed to an ancient blood demon.

If you like paranormal romance or urban fantasy, you can’t go wrong with ENTANGLED. I’m giving away a digital copy of ENTANGLED to one lucky commenter. If you’d like to check it out, you can buy it for your e-reader or computer at Amazon, BN.com, or Smashwords.

Tell us about the one charity you are passionate about, that you’d donate your time, treasure and talent to support.

On Monday my kids start school. I’ve already had two orientations (on Tuesday for my second grader and on Wednesday for my third and fifth graders.) On Friday it’s the high school orientation, with a special meeting with just the seniors. Yes, I have a senior. I don’t feel old enough to have a daughter who will be 18 in a few months. :/

I’m VERY excited about the start of school because I get my regular schedule back. Having the kids around is one thing, but summer is also full of playtime, sports practice, summer day camp, shopping, and (of course) boredom. They want mommy time, but mommy has deadlines! So balancing it all is a chore because no two days are the same. Worse, because it’s summer, the kids stay up later so I can’t get back to the computer until later. When school starts I know that I have my 9-3 writing time and my 9 pm – midnight writing time. While I am not an organized person in most of my life, I need a set writing schedule. When I see something on my calendar for, say, 1:30 in the afternoon, it’s much harder to focus because I know I have this obligation. During the school year, I rarely schedule anything during my writing time.

The other night we had a scare–my boys came back from football practice and my youngest ran around the side of the house to tell me he was home, and came across a rattlesnake. Dan decapitated it and it continued to slither around, which is downright creepy.

I know there are snake lovers out there, but I’m not one of them. I can handle small snakes (King snakes, garter snakes) if they don’t surprise me, but rattlers terrify me. And terrified my son. He turned and ran and was crying so hard he couldn’t talk–it took several minutes for my husband to get out of him that he saw a rattle snake that hissed at him. When Dan found the snake, it was coiled. Snakes don’t generally attack unless they’re cornered, and this one was definitely cornered.

Here’s the video my daughter took of the snake 30 minutes after it’s demise:

We didn’t take a vacation this year. Next year, because RWA is in Anaheim, I’m planning on taking the family to Disneyland before the conference. Then maybe they can stop by the literacy signing so they can see what mom does when she leaves for a couple weeks every summer.

I also have two exciting projects. I’m dipping my toe into digital self-publishing. This won’t replace my traditionally published books–but hopefully help me find new readers and also give my current fans some fun, inexpensive stories to read!

The first is an amazing paranormal/urban fantasy anthology called ENTANGLED. All the proceeds are benefiting the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. The stories have been donated, as well as the cover art, the formatting, and the press. I wrote a Seven Deadly Sins novella, which will hopefully tide my paranormal fans over until I know what’s going on with the third book in the series, Mortal Sin. It’s a meaty story, nearly 30,000 words. And the cover is absolutely gorgeous. ENTANGLED will be available wherever digital books are sold on September 12.

Demon hunters Moira O’Donnell and Rafe Cooper are dragged into the dangerous world of nocturnal predators to find “Ghostly Justice” for a virgin sacrificed to an ancient blood demon in Allison Brennan’s all-new Seven Deadly Sins novella.

The other project is four short stories in a single-author anthology. Two of the stories were previously published in anthologies, but many of my fans haven’t read them. And two are completely new and original, including a novella I’d originally “almost” sold to Arabella Magazine as a serialized story before the mag went under. I just got the cover that I hired Hot Damn Designs to design and am SO thrilled with it. I don’t know when it’ll be out–but I hope later this fall.

Now, I’m in the middle of writing SILENCED (Lucy Kincaid #4.) I put it aside this week to read the page proofs of IF I SHOULD DIE (Lucy Kincaid #3) and can’t wait to get back to it. I’ll admit, it’s a little scary having a new publisher and a new editor after 17 books with the same people. Scary and exciting and nerve-wracking!

This year is full of beginnings and endings. And now that the end of summer is here, I’m eager to dive into all my projects with 110%.

I’ve been reading some YA mysteries. I read ALL UNQUIET THINGS by Anna Jabaz coming back from Thrillerfest, and now I’m in the middle of THE CHRISTOPHER KILLERS by Alane Ferguson. You can draw your own conclusions

What are you reading right now? Let me know and I’ll several people will be getting some free books! That’s right, my daughter Kelly and I are purging our bookshelves. We’re putting together 3-4 boxes of books–whatever can fit into the flat rate postal box. A mix of YA, thrillers, mysteries and romance. If you win, you can read the books or pass them onto a friend! I’d much rather give my books to the loyal readers of MSW than strangers in the library And every box will also have one of my backlist titles as I go through my shelves and re-organize.

And finally, for those of you who have been frustrated by our Murder She Writes site going up and down for no apparent reason … our wonderful hosting company is moving our site to a new server this weekend, so we hope that the problems will be over next week.

Have a great end of summer!

I’m nearly done revising a digital-only, self-published novella for a charity anthology benefitting breast cancer research. ENTANGLED (9.12.11) has a great group of paranormal romance and supernatural thriller writers and I’m thrilled to be included. Because we’re self-publishing it, and because all the royalties for the first year will be donated to charity, I’m not going to see any money on it. And that’s okay because it’s for a good cause. I’ve written other free stories–for International Thriller Writers and for my website–so I’m just happy to do something that contributes back.

I decided to write a Seven Deadly Sins short story — originally, it was supposed to be 10-15K words, but right now my “short story” is novella length at 27K words. I’m editing it down tonight and revising. (I’d hoped to cut it to 20K, but I think it’ll end up being 22-23K.)

For “Ghostly Justice,” my Seven Deadly Sins novella, I hired my former editor to read and offer editorial advice. I could have submitted the story as I wrote and edited it and it wouldn’t have been bad. But I’m used to a certain level of editing, and I know that every one of my books has been better because of editorial input. In fact, I’ve written seventeen full-length novels and each one I have done one or two rounds of editorial revisions. I would panic without editorial input. And ultimately, if my name is on it I want to make sure it’s as strong a story as possible so that fans of the series won’t be disappointed. I don’t work with beta readers–my editor has been my first reader since book #4. (Books #1 and #2 I had a critique group, and then an agent read them; then book #3 my agent read first.)

There are two types of editorial — story and copy. Story is the editorial that I care most about. Yes, I want the copy clean (and honestly, I’m very spoiled ibecause most of my copy editors have been wonderful) but for me, story is king. The story has to be there–well-paced, great characters, organic conflict. Plus, I want the suspense to be as strong as I can possibly make it.

As the creator, I am so close to the story that I often can’t see the flaws. I know what I was thinking when I wrote a scene or chapter, and sometimes I think something isn’t clear and I over-explain. Or I think something is perfectly clear, because I know what I mean, but it’s not clear to the reader. A good editor can read the book and not only know what’s wrong with each scene, but how the book works as a whole. She can identify the small issues that take the story for good to great, and the big picture ideas that take the story from “this doesn’t work” to “this totally works.”

The Seven Deadly Sins series has two full-length novels, a novella and a short story all in the world I created. Because MORTAL SIN is delayed, I wanted to give fans a meaty story in this charity anthology, so I took a scene from CARNAL SIN where a witch (Julie), when on the astral plane, encounters a ghost at the L.A. County morgue. The ghost is stuck there because she’s a Jane Doe–no one knows her identity. She tells Julie who she is, and Julie’s dying wish is for her boyfriend (a cop) to find out what happened to Amy so she will no longer be trapped at the morgue. “Ghostly Justice” is the investigating into Amy Carney’s murder–it’s my take on vampires.

Charlotte identified some minor things through–confusing sentences, repetition, and some dialogue and character decisions that didn’t ring true. All easy fixes. But there were two big story issues that need fixing, which is what I’m doing right now.

1) Backstory. Some was easy (making it clear that Moira and Rafe are demon hunters) and some is more work (removing some of the unnecessary backstory.) As Charlotte pointed out, only the backstory relevant to the current story should be included, and that needs to be clear as soon as possible. But I’d included information about Moira’s mother Fiona and what happened in Santa Louisa and talked about characters that have no role in this story. All that is going, while making the relevant backstory clearer.

2) Why was Amy Carney not ID’d for six months?

The second one is the hardest. Because they have a recognizable body, she’s from a family who reported her missing, why didn’t they ID her? That’s what I’ve been thinking about all day. Because the whole story hinges on her being a Jane Doe–that part was already published in CARNAL SIN.

I think I have the solution, but it’s taking a bit of time to work it through. But this is what I love about revising–it makes me dig even deeper into my fictional world, my characters, and pushes me to be a better writer, and ultimately a better storyteller.

But writing is not just about WRITING, it’s about editing, a essential piece of the writing process. Which is why when I hear that some people don’t think they need editing, I cringe.

The other night, I retweeted a comment by agent Jessica Faust:

“It concerns me how many times I hear a self-pubbed author talk about taking on marketing themselves, but never once mention an editor”

This stuck out to me because I’m paying for an editor for a story I’m not getting money for because I think that editorial is the single most important component of writing a book after the first draft. EVERYONE can stand to be edited. SOME writers need less editing than others, but ALL writers benefit from editorial input. (And there is the issue of editors who aren’t a good match for the author and that creates creative conflict, but that’s a completely different issue.)

After I retweeted that comment, a fellow writer/teacher said yeah! She wished she could convince her students of that–that one guy said he’d hire a marketing person, but not an editor. Which prompted me to respond with a flip, “If I only had $1000 to spend on a self-published book, I’d spend $800 on an editor and $200 on a cover designer.”

That was an off-the-cuff comment, but as I thought about it I realized I truly believe that. Cover = package (the package reflects the type of story the reader will get in a compelling and graphically intriguing way) and editor = quality-control (does the content support the package? Is the story worth the readers time and expense?)

I recognize that not every editor on the planet is a good editor. And every editor has a different way of working–and sometimes, finding the right editor is like finding the right agent. The first or second person might not quite fit with your style or needs. But when you find that golden editor and you click — you will never want to give her up. A good editor shines a light on the flaws, but doesn’t tell you how to fix it–she leaves the story in your hands. You may not always agree with the editor — and that’s okay. Sometimes, I leave something as is, or tweak it because it was obvious my editor didn’t understand my intent. But I consider every editorial comment on the manuscript.

The other writer/teacher said her student planned on using free cover art from someone he met on-line. Great … if they’re good. But if they’re good, why are they designing covers for strangers for free? Cover art is something else I’m willing to pay for because that draws in readers of the genre who may never have heard of Allison Brennan.

If you’re going to put your name on a book and want to build a readership and go the self-published route, paying for an editor is worth it, IMO. Not just a copy editor, but a story editor.

Now, for something (sort-of) completely different … I’ve written several short stories recently. When I wrote my first short story for the KILLER YEAR anthology, it was one of the hardest things I ever did (and it wasn’t all that great, either–too much going on in six thousand words.) But after writing several short stories and novellas, I’ve discovered the joy of writing short. (Meaning, stories between 10-30k words. Much shorter than 10K is very hard for me!) Writing short helps me write tighter and more focused stories, but it also lets me explore ideas that wouldn’t sustain a full-length novel. (Though, I’ll admit, “Ghostly Justice” could easily have been a 100K word book. I had to consciously remove secondary story threads to keep it as focused as possible.)

Some readers don’t like short stories or novellas because they don’t feel like they have enough story. My mom isn’t a big fan of short stories, for example. However, I grew up reading Stephen King’s novellas and short stories and loving them. For the last decade or so, there’s been a contraction of the short story market — particularly magazines which were the main places for short story placement. I think there’s a resurgence of short stories in the last couple years, not in magazines, but on-line and in multi-author anthologies. I think this is a great thing, but what do you think? Do you like reading shorter stories? What’s the last short story/novella you read that you’d recommend to Murder She Writes readers? Or do you not like short fiction?

. . . I’m not talking about your children!

There’s a phrase writers use in the revision process: Kill Your Darlings. That a descriptive paragraph or scene, no matter how well-written or poignant or suspenseful or romantic or just plain stunning . . . if it doesn’t fit in the story . . . if it can be taken out without changing anything . . . has to go.

Kill it.

It’s the hardest thing a writer can do.

Because killing your darlings goes well beyond a well-turned phrase that may be repetitive, or a scene that is unnecessary. Sometimes in the slash and burn process of editing, characters need to go. And I don’t mean just killing them off in the middle of the book. I mean editing them out of the book completely.

Somehow, editing a character into nothing–completely erasing them–seems so much worse than murder.

I’m wrapping up my final round of revisions for LOVE ME TO DEATH, my January 2011 book starring Lucy Kincaid. Last night I had two major story decisions to make. The first was a series of scenes related to a character that my hero, Sean Rogan, has a confrontation with who subsequently ends up dead. The confrontation scene was fabulous–I loved the scene because it showed Sean being a hard-ass, and because Sean is a bit of a playboy and charming and always in a good humor, I wanted to show him being tough when it was warranted. And there was some great dialogue, too, a great back-and-forth that doesn’t always come easy to me. Then there was the discovering the dead body scene and being interrupted by the FBI. I really enjoyed the back-and-forth between Sean and FBI Agent Noah Armstrong as they butted heads, and then Lucy’s conflict of being in the middle of a crime scene while in the long FBI application process.

But . . . these scenes took up over thirty pages and while well-written and good, they didn’t truly advance the plot. There was no specific reason that Sean needed to talk to the dead guy before he was killed–he didn’t learn anything specific; and in fact, storywise, the guy needed to be long dead before Sean found him.

So . . . I cut all those scenes. And in cutting such a big chunk, I had to edit other scenes that were affected. But nothing changed storywise, and the revelations near the end of the book as Sean and Noah continue their parallel investigations (Sean is a private investigator) make so much more sense now! It’s as if subconsciously, I knew that these scenes weren’t necessary.

Sometimes, we don’t kill our darlings. One scene my editor identified that she felt didn’t advance the suspense plot enough, I decided to keep. I rarely disagree with my editor. In fact, I think the last time I kept an entire scene that she didn’t think was necessary was in THE KILL. But I understood what she meant, so I whittled the scene down a bit, and changed the lead-in to heighten the suspense even though the scene itself is not very suspenseful. But what it reveals about both my characters is, in my opinion, the best way to show the readers who Sean and Lucy are.

But . . . the book isn’t printed yet. The scene may end up on the cutting room floor.

I’ve had to get rid of characters, too. Take Max Revere, a true crime writer who was supposed to be a major character in ORIGINAL SIN. I love Max so much I even bought the URL of his name so he could blog. (I’m not kidding!) I wrote him into the first draft, and my editor told me that she didn’t feel he contributed enough to the story. But I was determined to make him work because I Really Like Max. So I spent a lot of time reworking the story so he had a bigger, more pivotal role. And sent the revisions in, and my editor said he didn’t have a pivotal role, and that he detracted from the story. Reluctantly, very reluctantly, I edited him out of the story. When she read the final version, she said, “I know you don’t want to hear this, but Max was removed easily.” And he was. I’d spent so much time working on his scenes that he wasn’t integral to any part of the story. Just one more character in a large cast of characters.

I argued about it. I tried to convince her that Max was essential. That he was important. That I couldn’t cut him out with messing up the story. But she was right and I was wrong. He wasn’t missed, except by yours truly.

But I was determined to write him into CARNAL SIN. And I did–he had three scenes. They are fantastic scenes. He’s smart and shrewd and intensely loyal–and he doesn’t believe in anything supernatural. He’s also a flirt, in a quiet, soulful eyes kind of way. He just has to look at you and you melt. And he has an agenda, and you know it, and even though you know he’s not all one-hundred-percent good, you’re willing to go along with him because he draws you in in his search for the truth.

And my editor said that he didn’t contribute to the story. I didn’t even argue this time, because she was right, and I knew she was right even as I wrote the scenes. But I wrote them almost defiantly because dammit, I wanted to prove that he was important!

And now he ceases to exist, except in my mind.

Max Revere will be re-born, just not in the Seven Deadly Sins series. Because I had an epiphany the other day. Max doesn’t fit in a supernatural story. He needs to be the lead character in his own story. He’s too strong a character to be secondary to anyone. I’d had a couple ideas over the years, and when I read a snippet of something completely unrelated in a publishing e-newsletter, Max just clicked into place. I have his backstory, I have his first (and maybe only) book, and I have the set-up. It just . . . works.

So not every darling killed will be gone forever. While most of the scenes and snippets I cut from my book during the revision process I’ll never use again, they often give me ideas for future stories. Cutting doesn’t bother me. I’ll slash and burn my manuscript if that’s what it takes to make the story the best I can make it. I love the revision process, even when I have to make the very difficult decision to excise a paragraph, a scene, or even a character, out of my book.

Now for a blatant piece of self-promotion . . . CARNAL SIN will be released on Tuesday, June 22! Yes, book two of the Seven Deadly Sins series is almost here. As regular visitors to MSW know, I loved writing these books. I needed to take a break from romantic thrillers, and writing two supernatural thrillers with a large cast of characters in a classic battle of good versus evil gave me what I needed to reignite my love for writing. I am particularly pleased with the blend of police procedure and the supernatural in CARNAL SIN. (For my fans in Australia, CARNAL SIN will be released down under on July 1.)

RT Book Reviews gave CARNAL SIN four-and-a-half stars and said: “Carnal Sin kicks butt!”

The weekly book buzz at Mania said in their review of ORIGINAL SIN: “Original Sin is yet another new series that is definitely more promising. Original Sin is much more grounded in the supernatural and mystery elements and other books of the same ilk. . . . Brennan masterfully builds suspense and horror in this genre-bending story. . . . All in all this was a strong start to this new series and one I’d recommend.”

I’m giving away a copy of CARNAL SIN. The winner will be announced this weekend. And if you don’t win? You can buy CARNAL SIN pretty much anywhere books are sold come Tuesday . . . or pre-order from Amazon, BN, Borders, or wherever you liked to shop! (Note to last winner of CARNAL SIN–I just got my books in, so yours is going out tomorrow!!)

Come out of lurkdom just to say ‘hi’ . . . or tell me what actor and/or actress you picture in the roles of Moira O’Donnell, Rafe Cooper, Anthony Zaccardi and Sheriff Skye McPherson . . . just for fun

Here’s one idea for Max Revere . . .

In December of 2005, I received my box of author copies of THE PREY, my first book.

There is nothing as exciting–except maybe holding your child after birth–than holding your first book. Months, sometimes years, of work to create a story that someone loved enough to published . . . and there it is, right in your hand. A story that started with an intangible idea, a spark of an idea, now a real book.

Long ago, a multi-published author–I can’t remember who–told me to savor each moment of publication, not just for the first book or the second, but every book after that. Because eventually, I may become complacent, or disgruntled, and I won’t take the time to simply enjoy holding a new book for the first time.

On Friday I received two copies of my fourteenth book–CARNAL SIN. It didn’t matter all the anguish that went into this book both during the writing and during production; it didn’t matter that we had cover changes and ended up with something I didn’t particularly want; I love this book. Holding it reminded me of everything I loved about writing it; I remembered my characters, the storyline, the decisions I made and the characters made. And even though this is #14, it feels like the first time.

I turned in my revisions for LOVE ME TO DEATH, the first Lucy Kincaid book, this weekend. A completely different story than CARNAL SIN. Not forgotten the book or the fact that it goes on sale in less than three weeks, but I’d put the world I’d created out of my head. Maybe that’s why seeing CS in print was so exciting–I was so immersed in my latest story that I’d put aside the paranormal.

I was probably more excited–at least I showed it more–when I received a box full of THE PREY. But my heart still pounded and I couldn’t help but smile when I held the first physical copy of CARNAL SIN.

Sometimes, the business of writing is almost unbearable. And there’s a lot of things about the business–everything but the writing part–that is frustrating or completely out of your control. That’s why enjoying the simple things–like holding the first copy of every book–is so important. It reminds us why we write, what we love about this story, and that even with all the pain and anguish of writing and production and the business of writing, the most important thing IS the story, exemplified in the final book.

What’s one thing you do that always feels new and wonderful? No matter how small . . .

Comment for a chance to win an early copy of CARNAL SIN!