Today, I turn the coveted blog chair over to a wonderful woman I've met at Killer Nashville and didn't get to spend as much time talking with as I would have liked. Today she honors me by stopping by my place on her blog tour to promote her latest endeavor, Murder In The Worst Degree. So be nice to her or I won't let you play in my neighborhood…

I was going to title the next two weeks' worth of material Attack of the Marylins, but then I realized that this week my guest's name is spelled Marilyn so...

Actually, this first week is another in the award winning (or so to be award winning, or rather, deserving to be known as award winning) series Around the Globe with...

This week I pick up my featured…

<a href="http://stephenbrayton.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/computer_dependency.jpg"><img src="http://stephenbrayton.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/computer_dependency.jpg" alt="computer_dependency" width="279" height="229" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-776" /></a>I know, I know. I didn't post last week. First time in years.

Well, all I can do is humbly ask for your forgiveness and explain the reason. I didn't have a computer from which to post. Why? Because for a…

<a href="http://stephenbrayton.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/coming-soon.jpg"><img src="http://stephenbrayton.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/coming-soon.jpg" alt="coming soon" width="300" height="218" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-773" /></a>This week I wanted to let you know about two upcoming series of blogs to be put into the semi-sort of rotation that I have and to ask for some input into them.

1. Complaints. I believe I saw these on Facebook or maybe somebody…

“I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any change to.”

Yeah...I get this a lot on my documents. I'm tempted to hit Control-Z so it will erase any change I supposedly had made, but that scares me even more.

This truth made me think of note taking and how I change not only…

I love authors, I really do. However a very few of them...well, let me explain

I'm sitting in front of my computer this morning wondering what topic I wanted to discuss. Should I throw up another Adult Truth? Or another taekwondo life theme? How about I introduce my new series of blogs on Tourist Complaints and how they relate to my life. Or maybe even the new series of restaurant reviews featuring some of my books' characters.

Suddenly, (and I know an…

So, I have to watch it on the roads this morning because (and this will be no surprise to many readers) it snowed again! Blech! This is why it took me so long to get home and be able to hop in the transporter to pick up this week's featured author. Where are off to? Anywhere there isn't snow, which omits most of the continental United States.

Ms. Ransdell manipulates…

One of the early blogs I wrote (on another blog site) discussed a certain college (that shall remain nameless) who refused my offer of an author appearance. One of the reasons mentioned in the person's email was the fact that my first two books were eBooks and the quote was: “Ebooks don't count”. This was a statement saying that eBooks weren't quality material. I suppose as opposed to the…

I grew up in a small town and think it was the best option for schooling and a friendly, safe community.

I still live in a small town but it’s…

(Written in September before the move to Carlisle)

Driving to work one night I kept scanning the radio stations trying to find something worthwhile. The AM side of my radio has gone kaput so I don't get to listen to the talk shows like I used to. The one FM station has sports talk during the drive so I usually end up listening to music. Taking Care Of Business by Bachman-Turner Overdrive…

This week, my featured author said, “We're going on a cruise.”

I was excited. A cruise. The Bahamas, Hawaii, Fiji. Warm sunshine, sandy beaches...

“No, we're going to travel the Bosporus,” she said.

“But I want to go to Tahiti. Come on, you'll love it.”

However, as with some of the more insistent authors I interview, in the end, I don't get a say in…

“Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.”

And I don't even have a DVD collection. I have VCR tapes. I also have movies I download. Yes, folks, I admit, I download movies from the Internet. Illegal, you say? Let's not get into that particular issue. And let's totally stay away from my downloading television shows, about…

(This was written a few months back. I've since moved on and hope I can avoid this kind of experience in the future)

I know. Everybody has bad days but don't you feel some people have more than their fair share? You may even think this about yourself.

As writers, bad days can turn into opportunities for story content. So, feel free to use any of my experiences in one of your…

As October rolls on...wait just a second. Today is October 11. You fans know someone celebrating a birthday today. Not that I'm looking for gobs of well wishes (but any presents you want to send will be accepted), but today, yours truly is 47.…

Yes, it's back! Once again, I get to dust off the transporter's controls and visit with another series of authors to discuss writing, books, and a few surprises along the way.

This week I went to pick up Elise Warner and take…

Let me start at the beginning which is as good of a place to start as any. Last year, around October or November I was in the midst of promotion for my third book, Alpha, as well as continuing promotion on the first two books. Part of my strategy was to contact different companies and businesses related to fitness and martial arts. So I came to look online for various martial arts related magazines.…

“You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.”

I have to credit Todd Stone for inspiration on this discussion. Stone is the author of The Novelist Boot Camp, a how-to book geared to help writers not only develop ideas but in laying out a schedule and a process for writing and editing…

I need Mallory Petersen!

Actually, I need a Mallory Petersen. This is your time to step up and be noticed. I'm looking for a person to be my representative Mallory Petersen.

Who is Mallory? Well, if you've been reading my two books, Beta and Alpha (and if you haven't, get to it already) you'll know I'm talking about my heroine who is a Fourth Degree Black Belt in taekwondo…

"What? You're posting on a Saturday? What's up with that?"

Yeah, I know, but some of these authors are so high maintenance (just kidding!) that I had to acquiesce. Sigh!  Anyway, now that summer is here I thought this week's featured guest would love someplace cool to visit while doing our interview. Guess what? She takes control of the transporter and soon…

By Sue Star

http://www.dmkregpublishing.com/

Plot

On the day Nell Letterly is supposed to meet her new employer, Arlo Callahan, and start as an instructor in his Boulder,…