First Word

Since we have to stay home and weather this "storm" it's time to get to things you can do without leaving the house (and two of them benefit our industry) - write and read. You can treat this indoor lifestyle as an opportunity to get caught up on those things you can't always focus on.   Time to get back to writing, especially if you're accustomed to flying by the seat of your pants. Take this as an opportunity to lose that commute time to write. Most industries are asking their workers to work at home. When you lose that commute time, you'll find more time to do other things. How about using that extra time to finish your book?   I like to write in the late afternoons after I've finished my main project work. I used to commute at least 60 minutes total a day. Why not use those same 60 minutes as time just to sit down and work on your book. You can do it in the morning or late afternoon like I do.   If you already write as a ca...

This the third book in the California Girl Chronicles series. Brea's Big Scandal is coming soon. Chapter 1 Book 3 Leaves off From Book 2             My name is Brea Harper, and if you read my last two books then you know I am chronically challenged when it comes to men and relationships. Yes, I came to Hollywood to break in as a screenwriter only to be distracted by hot men. Sigh, it’s hard being single in La La Land – home of the beautiful yet often crazy people. Am I crazy? Some might think misguided and creatively wacky, but not certifiable. Although on any given day my sanity might actually be debatable among my many past lovers and even a few friends. I’m okay with it, though. You have to really know me to love me. Just as a reminder if you’re coming into this book first, I am tall, blonde, blue-eyed and a very tasteful dresser. I arrived in Hollywood when I was fresh out of college, having f...

I had a dream last night. I was walking through a local library and spotted California Girl Chronicles , book 1 and 2 on the shelves. They had been well worn and read. I also noticed that they had a hard copy of book 2, Brea’s Big Break . I wondered, “Who got this printed?” What a strange dream. I felt proud the books had been obviously read a lot since they were tattered up. I’ve always called California Girl Chronicles like chewing bubble gum – it’s sweet, fun and a way to pass time, especially on the beach. Both books are sexy, funny and frivolous in many ways. I was in a different frame of mind when I wrote these books. Today five years later after so much in my life has changed, I’ve considered whether or not I need to get a little more frivolous again. I was driving UBER and put the books behind the seats in the little pocket. A passenger picked up the second book, which says “It’s Sex in the City meets Entourage.” The girl says, “Oh cool!” Now that is an i...

Violating my own rule of being an author, I have been caught many times now without any of my books to sell. Driving UBER as a quick way to bring in cash, many riders have asked me, "Why don't you have your book in the car?" OMG! Why don't I? My imagination went wild. I need a magazine-like rack on the back of my car seat. Yeah, you know ... like the doctor's office. If they browse the book and want to buy it, I can sell books via my car. Is this just crazy or what? Then I thought, "Man who am I to lecture authors about having their books on them all of the time when I'm not carrying mine?" You know what everybody, I had to stop and wonder about my card-carrying author rights about then. Good question. Well, I need some "braggadocio" going on here. Yes, I am not really an UBER driver. I'm a publisher/author pretending to be an UBER driver. It's like Halloween year-round. See my easy costume? Sweater and pants -- just need...

I see Linked-In posts in the writer's and editor's groups, and sometimes the discussions inspire this blog. Today, one group asked whether or not you should read your own reviews. Let me start this by saying that I've never met a single author who doesn't read his/her reviews. Call it vanity, self-interest, or pure curiosity, but let's not act like we don't want to know what people are saying about our books. I'm certainly not going to act "above it all" here and say, "Nooooo, of course not!" LOL Okay, BUT here's the rub. When you read your reviews be prepared for whatever it says. Here's the even bigger piece of advice: whether good or bad, don't take it personally !!! Now, one problem with Amazon reviews are those reviewers who do take a run for the jugular and personally say nasty things about the author. In my "book" we don't call those folks reviewers! We call them HATERS!  When I released my first fic...

11 The next day, Kale summoned me to the office – early again. He said he wanted to talk about something important. When I arrived, he was dressed in a button-down, light-blue, short-sleeved shirt that matched his eyes and jeans. He looked happy to see me. We seemed to be making progress – our relationship had mellowed into a comfortable ambiguity. It felt so warm and nice to be around him that I thought I would take what time I could get alone with him and enjoy it. I also suspected he called me in early to ensure quality alone time before the staff arrived. It seemed like Monica had made it her habit lately to interrupt us. I didn’t know if Kale had noticed, but I sure had. I had completely avoided any discussion that would define their relationship because I held out hope that their intimate closeness was in my imagination. A California girl could hold out hope anyway. Kale walked straight over to me and hugged me. To my utter shock, he leaned ove...

Purchase on Amazon ( Click Here ) 10 I walked into Bardot and immediately spotted Ryan sitting alone in a corner, drinking what looked like gin and soda with a twist of lime. He was wearing a thin royal blue long-sleeved shirt that hugged his biceps and made me horny just looking at him. His shorn sandy-colored hair had light gel running through it. He waved me over, and I moved with a sexy sway to my hips. I was wearing a low-cut, leopard-print, long-sleeved blouse with a silver-and-cream-colored beaded choker and matching earrings. Ryan stood right up and hugged me. I felt his warm, hard body against mine. He was handsome, rugged and built. He kissed my cheek, ordered a margarita for me (I supposed to pay homage to our tryst), and then we settled down and sat across from each other. An awkward silence fell between us, and I finally looked down and asked, “Are you sure Johnny would be okay with this?” “Johnny moved out,” he said bluntly. “I don’...