Writing

The Queen’s Gambit: What’s Next?

Part of the serial story The Queen’s Gambit


Thank you so much to everyone who joined me on this journey. As a new author, I didn’t know what to expect, but you all have been amazing. I loved reading your comments as the story unfolded. :)

Thank you once again to my volunteer betas: Regina Brandt, Alex Curran, Julie Ferm, Amanda Larson, and Liv W. These brave souls helped make the final chapters stronger, and I appreciate their help so, so much.

So, what’s next? Now the novella will go through several rounds of edits to polish it from rough draft to final draft. After that, it will be posted up as an e-novella at your favorite retailers. …

TQG Book Cover Ideas

Love it or hate it, we all occasionally judge books by their covers. A great cover can cause me to click through and read a blurb I otherwise wouldn’t, while a terrible cover will most likely make me chuckle and move on.

And while I don’t care about bad covers for my favorite authors (because they’re already my favorites), new authors don’t always get that grace.

Now I’m a new author. I need to tempt people into checking out the blurb and giving me a shot, which means I need a decent cover. …

And So It Begins

I started working on Polaris Rising Book 2 today. I tend to title things after I’m done, or nearly done, so expect it to remain nameless for a while. Would you like a little peek at the opening scene?

I’m pretending you all said yes. :)

This is super early, first draft, subject to change, may get cut, etc, etc, etc, but here you go. As a reminder, book two focuses on a new couple, so Ada is not the heroine. For now I’m keeping quiet on who is. :)


Lady Taylor had bugs in her walls and not the kind with jointed legs and crunchy bodies. The tortured piano in the corner whined out something that vaguely resembled music as I fought the urge to pull out my com and track the signals to their sources. Three different broadcast frequencies meant at least three different agencies were interested in what happened at a Consortium ladies’ afternoon tea.

Or perhaps they were just interested in Lady Taylor. …

You All Are Awesome!

Thank you so much to everyone who emailed about being a beta reader! I thought I might get ten responses or maybe twenty if I really aimed high.

Sixty-one of you replied in the day the post was up. That’s amazing! ?

I’m a data nerd, so I broke people down into two categories: those who followed the directions and those who didn’t. I’m happy to report that fifty-three of you fell into the first category. [Please don’t email me and ask which you were, or ask for a redo, or whatever. Next time, follow the directions. Attention to detail is a good beta quality. :)]

Because I had so many extra people, I upped the number of betas to five. I read every email and picked two people, which was super difficult because you all are incredible, so I let the random number gods decide the other three.

All five have been emailed, so if you haven’t received an email, you didn’t get selected. I’m sorry. This won’t be my last beta call ever, and you’re welcome to try again next time.

I’ve received confirmation emails from three of you, but if your initials are J.F. or A.L., you might want to check your email. :)

The Queen’s Gambit Call for Beta Readers

I’ve finished writing The Queen’s Gambit. Yay! I’ll still post a chapter a week (go ahead and cue the sad trombone sound), so I’ll have a brief slice of time where I could make edits.

This is where you come in.

Have you ever wanted to beta read for a Real Live Author™? Now’s your chance! I’m looking for two or three beta readers to read the rest of the novella and share their feedback with me. Let me know what you loved, what you hated, and what made you scratch your head.

What you get: the rest of the novella weeks early, my gratitude, and the envy of your peers. More importantly, if you turn out to be a sane, reliable human who provides good feedback, then the odds that I’ll ask you to beta again (say for Polaris Rising or PR Book 2) go way up. …