5 STEPS Advocate

“Solving” an Archaeological Mystery in Fiction

As I near the end of my current work-in-progress, The Clay Sustains, the third book of The Clay Series, I have arrived at the chapter wherein I will “solve” one of the greatest archaeological mysteries from the Hohokam era in the Tucson Basin.

In 1949, a man by the name of Ray Romo was hunting in an area of what is now Catalina State Park, near Tucson, Arizona. When the ground collapsed beneath…

It was one of those moments when time slows and details become more pronounced, a rather macabre tableaux vivant, burned indelibly in my mind. My father, outside, trying to break the door down; my mother inside with the shotgun; me standing helplessly to the side. Nearly sixty years later, the image presents itself from time to time, triggered, perhaps by something on the news, in a movie, or…

A Writer’s Relationship with the Reader

Two Indispensable Tools for Writers and Editors

The Clay Endures Coming Soon

Finally, I have a firm release date for Book 2 in The Clay Series, The Clay Endures. Well, sorta.

I anticipate offering pre-sales somettime around mid-July, with the full release coming at the end of July. I will be at the Clay Festival in Silver City, New Mexico, on July 30 and will have the book, hot off the presses, for sale there.

This book goes back in time from the first book, The Clay…

A Reprise of “The Donald” and His Hair

I published this blog entry w-a-a-a-y back in 2011 when The Donald was the conductor on the Crazy Train, promoting his theory about Barack Obama’s birth. He was, then, no less a joke than he is today. It’s frightening, though, that today he has again boarded the Crazy Train, this time as the Engineer, trying to establish himself as the best candidate for President in 2016. He has drawn in the…

I have added a new blog to my repertoire of writing activities–as if I needed one more . . .

But, really, I do need this new one. At least, that’s what I read and hear authors need to do. The conventional wisdom is that an author’s blog address must not include “wordpress” or “blogspot.” Having your own domain apparently ups your street cred, and I need all the cred I can get.  It’s linked to my

PressPublish at the Heard in Phoenix

Sunset in Phoenix Friday night was spectacular from the sky deck at the Clarendon Hotel. Not only was the view spectacular, but the complimentary goodies, including hand-shaken margaritas, were really good. Didn’t even need to get dinner.

Friend and fellow writer/editor, Heather Severson, and I were in Phoenix for the WordPressPressPublish event, and believe me it was worth every mile, every…

On the Anniversary of Melissa’s Death

Recently I received congratulations from a high school friend who had learned of my forthcoming book, The Clay Remembers. She said she was looking forward to reading it, but that it was very hard for her to read stories that dealt with domestic violence. It’s no wonder. Her beautiful daughter, Melissa, was the worst kind of victim of domestic violence–the kind we hear about on the news. I…

Tell, Don't Show: A New Convention in Fiction?

I must be hopelessly behind the times. The last few books I’ve read do not adhere to conventions I thought were appropriate to writing fiction. I am still a member of the “show don’t tell” school of writing, but apparently there is a movement afoot to change that to “tell don’t show.”

One book, purported to be the hidden diary of a sixteenth-century courtesan, is an interesting view of the…

Here it is. My cover for The Clay Remembers. There are still some minor tweaks necessary, but it is very close.

Final cover design for The Clay Remembers

Everyone knows a good book cover can help sell books, and I’m hoping this cover does the job.

Finding a designer who can do a worthy book cover is not always easy. Nor is it cheap. Generally, your options are to find a good cover designer to…

Is Romance Devolving?—50 Shades vs. No One Puts Baby in a Corner | Kristen Lamb’s Blog

You have to read what Kristen Lamb has to say about the book, the movie, the cultural phenomenon it has become, and how it could (will?) affect the way women and men see themselves and their relationships from this time forward. She is spot on with everything she says. And it’s scary.

Is Romance Devolving?—50 Shades vs. No One Puts Baby in a Corner | Kristen Lamb’s Blog.

Someone posted this image…

A Beautifully Rendered Story @WendyBarnes6 And Life Continues #humantrafficking

Wendy Barnes tells a compelling story in And Life Continues: Sex Trafficking and My Journey to Freedom. It is not an easy book to read, and, without question, it was not an easy book for Barnes to write.

She details her experience as the victim of a sex trafficker, a man devoid of compassion, humanity, and morals. In the preface to the book, she says, “Through a childhood of poverty, neglect, and…

Mediocre movie is merely 50 shades of abuse, degradation porn

David Fitzsimmons is the brilliant editorial cartoonist for Tucson’s Arizona Daily Star. In addition to his cartoons, he regularly publishes a column about something of local or national import in which he uses his comic talents to lampoon the issue. It is interesting that this column does not use humor to analyze the movie, 50 Shades of Gray. He apparently recognizes that the topic of this movie…

Graduation would soon be here. Who would have thought? Maggie Jean was graduating and nothing had happened yet to stop it. All of her life, whenever she was looking forward to something, she feared that it wouldn’t, it couldn’t, happen. Something would stop it—something would interfere. Whether it was a school field trip or an upcoming dance, she was sure that it would never happen. Something…

Read about my blog title.

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