My Muse's Musings

I don't think about the afterlife very often. I keep busy so unless I'm writing about it, or something happens to someone I know, I keep it an abstract thought pushed far back into the recesses of my brain. If something does happen to me, I have had discussions about what I'd like done with my physical remains with my family members.(Got to get that will written.) I'm hoping that by the time I croak and wave good-bye to this plane of existence, they'll be shooting peoples remains to the moon or just out into the cosmos.  Perfect last trip for a die hard Trekie. I'll be able to go where no woman has gone before, mixed up with several other people.  But in the meantime two friends discovered the first two interesting things you can do with your CARBON BASED LIFE FORM remains. I just had to share them and others I've discovered since. A BOX OF PENCILS   Perfect last gift to your loved ones to remember you by, a pencil made from your ashes. With your name...

Love is Timeless is the theme for my book TIMELESS.  Though it's a romance, it's also a paranormal mystery suspense book and has elements of science fiction as well. Because of all that it was difficult to categorize. Blurb: Archaeology student, Regan Stanhope, lands the chance of a lifetime when she’s chosen to work on a summer dig in Loch Maree, Scotland. The ancient monoliths hidden beneath the loch are the most important discovery since Stonehenge. And for seven hundred years, they have been waiting—for her. Saturation diver Quinn Douglas is contracted to recover some of the megaliths from the loch’s bottom. The job will breathe life into the struggling salvage business he and his brothers are building. But from the moment he arrives, Quinn is plagued by dreams and feelings from a past he did not live. Or did he? Regan and Quinn are drawn to each other as they research the monoliths and the reason behind their shared visions. But both sense something mysti...

I recently finished the second half of my trilogy of short stories for To Capture A Highlander's Heart. THE COURTSHIP ended up being a novella just a few words shy of 20,000 words. It will be out in a few weeks. But I wanted to share the cover for the story, and the blurb, and give you a small excerpt to wet your appetite. THE BLURB: When lady’s maid Grace MacNab captures the eye of fierce warrior, Gabriel Campbell, the man she has loved for more than a year, she hopes she may one day wed the man of her dreams. But Grace holds a secret about her past that may stand in the way of their happiness. Gabriel Campbell desires Grace with a passion just as fierce as his loyalty to the Campbell Clan, but she wants marriage and he’s not ready to lay down his sword to raise babies. Gabriel can’t reject Grace’s love and hurt the woman who’s penetrated his defenses, but neither can he dishonor her with less than a commitment. --> Can trust end their doubts and sea...

Steampunk is a genre inspired by a mixture of the real industrialization of Victorian and Edwardian England and the science fiction literature penned during the period. Authors such as Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle are all considered influences of the genre. Ask anyone who has written a Steampunk story and they'll admit to having read some or all of these authors. I have. AN AUTOMATED DEATH The term Steampunk came about in the 1980's Until that time, the genre was called cyberpunk or just Victorian Fantasy. Writer K.W. Jeter was given credit for the Steampunk moniker. It was an apt description because of the steam powered engines developed during the Victorian Era and the manipulation that writers of the 1980's through today use to hype the history to include more and more fanciful inventions that pushed the genre. Because the stories written during the real Era were so imaginative and built around that grain of truth t...

When I started writing Captive Hearts in 2005 I had it in my head I wanted to try something different in my book than the Regency Romances I had read.  Most of the Regencies I'd read at that period were light fare. Drawing room dramas with romantic conflicts that though entertaining were not dark. I wanted to write a DARK Regency.With touches of humor here and there. I wracked my brain for several days trying to figure out what kind of story line I could do that would satisfy my suspenseful craving. And decided I needed a serial killer. I had just read several books on Jack the Ripper. One of the best I've read to date is titled THE COMPLETE JACK THE RIPPER CASEBOOK BY DONALD RUMBLELOW Rumblelow is a retired Scotland Yard Detective and I was fascinated by his book. It goes into depth how the lower class lived during that period, what London was like, and of course the murders there in White chapel. (It is not available on kindle but is in print and well worth the read.) ...

I've been very, very busy this month. I did a 1000 and 1000 challenge with Kerry Nelson of writing 1000 words a day and reading 1000 words a day.  The reading part is never a challenge. I read over 1000 words every day anyway. But the writing 1000 words is a little more work.  By the end of the month, I had done 21,500 words. I had broken the 32,000 word mark on my latest SEAL book and I've written 4500 words on the next short story in my To Capture A Highlander's Heart short story series.  So I'm closer to 25,000 total. I'm determined to break that 1000 words a day thing though. So, that is going to be my goal for the month. Write at least 35,000 words for the month. I'm on the down hill slide of finishing my 10th year with Eastern Kentucky University. I teach Art Appreciation at one of the satellite colleges here in Kentucky.   Next, I have just re-released my Scottish Historical Romance HIGHLAND MOONLIGHT . If you haven't read it here's...

In 2007,  I accepted my first contract with The Wild Rose Press and my Scottish Medieval Romance, HIGHLAND MOONLIGHT  was released.  I've recently gotten the rights back to Moonlight and done revisions, rewrites, and updated the cover.  I'm calling it The Author's Cut because it's a new version of the book.  In honor of it's pending release, I'm revealing the cover. My BEAUTIFUL, GORGEOUS, EXCELLENT NEW COVER!! Done by my wonderful cover artist,  Tracy Stewart (Yes that's a Scottish Name which is very appropriate.) She is the  owner of a one stop shopping, everything you could need for your book company called  Simply Bookish,  And also Tracy was able to find a picture of the castle I wrote about, dreamed about, and studied while I wrote the book and we have put it on the cover. The castle is Kilchurn Castle in Scotland, now a ruin but in the day.... It is located in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It was actually constructed in 1450 (a litt...