I’ve wanted to be a published author pretty much from the time I was published in Brown Middle School’s “Author’s Corner”, and had my short story (painstakingly copied, in pencil, on yellow legal paper) stapled to the wall outside the principal’s...
I am a writer, I can tell a story – a good story – actually an excellent story. What I cannot do is grammar. I wrote an essay in 10th grade, and won third place. The essay came back with the words, wonderful story, but atrocious grammar. Things have...
Joseph Wambaugh, an ex-cop turned #1 New York Times bestselling writer, forged a new kind of literature with his early police procedurals. When asked about two novels that marked the beginning of his legendary career—THE NEW CENTURIONS and THE...
Brick-By-Brick: One author's approach to series writing
Free Food for Millionaires
Some Glad Morning
Tainted Hero
If I Were an Eagle: Book 1
If I Were an Eagle: Book 2
Writing as a Small Business
The Shaman and the Rose
Hollywood Crows
Names My Sisters Call Me
A Guitar and a Pen: Stories by Country Music's Greatest Songwriters
Scream for Me
Seafood Without a Doubt
I wrote AFTER HOURS AT THE ALMOST HOME in three days—and spent the next eight years revising it.
In 1988 the superintendent decided that the nurses working for the school system should have a four-year degree.
More J. Kelley CarlsonFree Food for MillionairesSome Glad MorningIf I Were an Eagle: Book 1If I Were an Eagle: Book 2Writing as a Small BusinessThe Shaman and the Rose
Girls in Trucks
The Lost Dog
Lady and the Vamp
Pursuit
My journey to publication is one of persistence. DANCING WITH THE DEVIL was the fourth book I’d written, but the first book I actually believed might have had a chance of being published. Unfortunately for me, none of the publishers I submitted to liked it. It was a paranormal romance, and written at a time when paranormal romance wasn’t the ‘it’ genre. Getting a publisher to take a chance on such a story when the author was an unknown was...
My road to the publication of THE SHAMAN AND THE ROSE was anything but average. The framework of the novel came about from two self-published titles where I explored the depths of Dante’s Inferno. Those first two books were a valuable learning experience. The most important lesson I learned was that as an author, I had a great deal to learn about publishing and writing. I discovered that working with an editor can be a godsend to any writer. 
I soon realized that they were the wrong type of competitions to enter “The Grandmaster.” They were literary competitions; “The Grandmaster” would normally be considered as a genre work. Specifically, it was a supernatural thriller. . . .
The summer before I started high school, I filled a loose-leaf notebook with the tale of an overweight girl who wanted to find a prom date, so I guess you could say I always had some book dreams.
Among the first writing I did was a child's letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt while he was president. Already I have given away my ancient age. From childhood, however, I have enjoyed writing and got some in during that period of my long life. However, there were always obstacles inherent with blessings.
The funny thing about SLEEPING WITH WARD CLEAVER is that it came about when the title came to me. I didn't have the story, but the title came into my head and it felt "catchy". So that meant I had to brainstorm an actual book. No problem, right?
It is quite surprising what the age of fifty will do to your motivation levels in actually finishing one of those numerous incomplete manuscripts that have been filed away deep within your hard drive over the years....
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