Tarot doesn’t behave the same way in fiction as it does in real life. That’s where things get interesting. In my previous blog post, I mentioned that The Wheel of the Year Mysteries really has four main characters: Maren, a witch Cyrus, her tech-billionaire partner A shadowy villain, who self-identifies as Alexander the Great, determined to keep them apart … and Tarot. Maren and Cyrus follow their instincts. Villains follow their ambitions. Tarot follows its own rules. When T

Maren Lilienthal, Cyrus Harper, and a mysterious adversary from The Wheel of the Year Mysteries hold Tarot cards that unveil their destinies and intentions: Maren with the Wheel of Fortune, Cyrus with the Knight of Pentacles, and the shadowy figure with the Magician card, foretelling a tale of magick love, and looming conflict. Fifteen years ago, I had an idea for a mystery novel. The sleuth would be a witch. The problem? I had no idea how a witch would actually solve the cri

I'm using organization as a theme to improve creativity and productivity.

Let me begin by saying that I am well aware of the controversy around AI-Generated art, and this post is in no way suggesting commercial use. The legal arguments are still rather murky on AI art, and some platforms will remove your work if you use it. Add to that, my own experience produced results that were often not commercially viable. I have, however, found a non-commercial use that serves me well. I think all writers want their descriptions to be both vivid and ring true

Advice in writer blogs goes in cycles. Lately, I've read several posts about villains and antagonists. They come with the usual admonition: don't stereotype your villain; humanize him/her. After all, even Hitler loved his dog. More succinctly: The Joker need not apply; Jack Torrance, come on down. It's good advice. Notice whenever someone commits an atrocity, the neighbors say how ordinary the perpetrator was. They would NEVER have guessed. Not in a million years. I am one of

A young neurosurgeon faced with a terminal cancer diagnosis attempts to answer the question: What makes a life worth living? in his posthumously published novel, When Breath Becomes Air. “I began to realize that coming face to face with my own mortality, in a sense, had changed nothing and everything,” he wrote. “Seven words from Samuel Beckett began to repeat in my head: ‘I can’t go on. I’ll go on.’” Paul Kalanithi was a neurosurgeon and writer. He graduated from Stanford wi