Watch the Trailer for "The Breaking"

15 Days

Until The Breaking begins. Six days early.

Wheee!

I'm so excited because my daughter is going to be embarking on a major, life-changing journey in a couple of weeks. She'll be living in a foreign country for a full year, studying and meeting amazing people. And plus, I'll get to visit her! I, too, feel like I'm on a life-changing journey. Discovering the power of Kindle has made a huge difference in my life, not just as a writer but as a reader. I think about all the self-published books and stories I've read on Kindle that never would have seen the light of day, otherwise. So my goal is always the same: I want to entertain people with my writing. If they go on a journey while reading my stories and feel like they got something out of it, then I'm happy.

Plotting, plotting & good reads

I'm busy plotting the next story in The Pandora Chronicles ... can't wait to start writing, probably later this week. In the meantime, I decided to venture into goodreads.com, and so far I think it's an amazing website. People who like to read, sharing that love of reading with other people. What's not to like? I started stocking my bookshelf there with books I've already read, and I rated each one (1 to 5 stars). Since I wasn't sure how to begin, I went to the list of "best books ever." It was fun to see how many of them I've read.

Just released: Story no. 2 of The Pandora Chronicles

Story 2: The Breaking

About to hit "publish"

"The Breaking," the second story of The Pandora Chronicles, is about to be published on Kindle. My heart's racing just thinking about it.

Read about what it's like inside a hospital during one of the autumnal plagues. What does it take for someone to administer Mercy? What does it do to them, inside?

And what can Hope discover while she and Jake wait for the plague to end, so they can go back to Arcadia?

Find out in "The Breaking," due on Kindle any day now.

Finishing the edits on "The Breaking"

As I've been writing the second story in The Pandora Chronicles, I've realized a couple of things. First, it's not so hard to imagine a world in which an annual plague claims thousands of lives, because it's almost the way it is now. How many people die of influenza each year? How many other illnesses have no cure and become epidemics or even pandemics?

The other thing is, it's very easy to become sort of immune -- pardon the pun -- to the dangers we're confronted with every day. We don't think twice about the risks inherent in our environment or our food supply. It's "just the way it is."

Do we need a reality check?

It's Tuesday, which means ...

I'm having my next story in The Pandora Chronicles edited, making sure it's ready for prime-time reading.

A few of my friends and I have been talking about the headlines regarding contaminated food. It's getting so that it's scary to eat these days.

What are we doing to ourselves?

Coming soon to a Kindle (or Kindle app) near you

I finished drafting the next story in The Pandora Chronicles. It's called "The Breaking."

It begins like this:

My white uniform has no stains, and there’s no human odor in here. Not anymore.

I take a deep breath, and I can smell the metallic instruments, the bleach and antiseptic, and the plastic curtains that are meant to separate the two examination areas.

Of all the plagues I can remember, this one and The Paralyzing have been the cleanest.

I take off my rubber gloves and feel the cool, then warm water rush over my bare hands, which have started to scab in places. The warm water slows my heart rate a little, but I can’t enjoy it long. I need to scrub again. ...

This one, too, is told from Hope's point of view. She's killing time, as it were, by working in a hospital with victims of the current plague, called The Breaking.

What will she discover at the hospital? Another clue to the mystery of the plagues?

I'll let you know the moment it's published. Stay tuned later this week.

Back to the gym tomorrow

I'm so excited, because tomorrow is "Back to the Gym" day for me.

I know, I'm weird. But I absolutely love my gym. The people who work there are super nice, it's a family atmosphere -- it's inside a community center -- and the facilities are wonderful.

I had a minor ailment that I've now recuperated from, and I can't wait to start working out again. This week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday. And I may throw in Tuesday, just for fun. I'll probably hit the pool twice, take one class, and use the regular gym once. So excited! I love the way I feel and the way my brain works when I get regular exercise.

Of course, living in NYC means I'm a pretty active person, anyway. No car, so everything is done by subway, bus or on foot. Seems like I'm always carrying heavy bags of groceries -- no weight-lifting needed in the gym!

Productive writing day

I'm having a great time writing the second short story in my series The Pandora Chronicles.

The adventure continues, giving you an inside look at it's like during one of the annual plagues that descend on the suburbs of Arcadia.

I'm shivering just thinking about it.

It's Friday, which means ...

I get to write.

I get to knit during my lunch break -- although knitting a sweater when it's 90 degrees may not be realistic.

I get to see my good friend Pierre for a drink at 6 pm.

I get to come home afterward to my fab husband and two beautiful cats.

I get to wake up to Saturday, which means ...

I get to go to the gym (which I really like to do).

I get to go to Maison Kayser (never been there before) and try one of their croissants.

I get ride my bike in the afternoon (if it's not raining).

I get to make a wonderful dinner.

I get to write some more, of course: the second story of The Pandora Chronicles.

Life is good.

Thanks, Tiff

I wanted to take a moment to thank Tiffany Dow, whose blog posts about publishing on Kindle gave me the kick in the butt I needed to get my work "out there" for people to read.

So thank you, Tiffany, and the others who have been commenting on her Kindle challenge blog. You've been a great support and excellent motivation.

The Pandora Pandemic

Pandora, the first story in The Pandora Chronicles, was inspired by several things. But the most pressing inspiration is the continual presence, all over the world, of diseases that cannot be contained. Shortly before I began writing Pandora, I read about yet another outbreak of Ebola virus in Uganda.

Ebola virus kills about 90 percent of the people who contract it.

There is no cure for Ebola.

I started thinking about how many of these viruses there are, including the obvious ones, like HIV, but also the influenza virus. According to the CDC, 200,000 people in the U.S. alone are hospitalized every year -- every year -- for flu-related complications. The actual death toll is unknown.

"Flu season" translated to "plague season" for me: A time every year when a deadly plague, for reasons unknown, attacks the people in and around the fictional Arcadia (and maybe later, the world ... shhhh).

Who or what is Pandora? Is it the key to stopping the plagues? Read short story no. 1, Pandora, to start your quest for answers.

Short Story Now on Kindle

My short story, Pandora, the first of The Pandora Chronicles, has just been launched on Kindle.

The question is, are you ready for Pandora?