It was around this time two years ago that I signed my first publishing contract. I think that anniversary makes me pause, just like the anniversary of my father's death makes me pause, my birthday makes me pause, etc.



I had a brief moment of panic this weekend. Am I releasing too many books too often? Should I back off? Should I wait?



Here's the scenario: I had 4 books release last year, two of which are in print now. This year I will have 4 more new books out and 5 total… Continue

My hometown was flooded in June, and it's preoccupied a lot of my thoughts for the last few weeks. It's a little town halfway between Waterloo and Cedar Rapids in Iowa. I grew up there and my 89-year-old mother still lives there. Luckily she's on the south side of town and the flooding was on the north side. She was without power for several days, and several family friends had homes damaged, but overall, she and they emerged unscathed.



It really made me realize how much we take for… Continue