Darlene's Digest

I Love Google! Yesterday I talked at another blog about Googling myself, and mentioned that I have Google set up to give me a daily digest of mentions of my books. Today's digest included a listing from a library in Estonia showing the circulation record for Salakaubavedaja pruut, aka Smuggler's Bride. I don't get nearly enough email from fans in Estonia, but it's good to see they're reading my books.

Image via Wikipedia Jenny Graman Meyer Bookwormed me, so I'll play along--to a point. I'm afraid I'm not going to pass this meme along to five other people because friends have gently told me in the past they wish they wouldn't get these little nudges. However, if you're reading this and you want to play along, feel free to copy the rules and credit me. The Rules are: 1) Open the closest book- not a favorite or most intellectual book- but the book closest at the moment, to page 56 2) Write out the fifth sentence, as well as two to five sentences following 3) tag five innocents [or more] 4) do the same for your manuscript I'm going to go first to my manuscript, Sea Change . Here's what's on page 56: "He’s a bright fellow and enough time with us may change his loyalties.” “You know best, Captain. As I said, it’s good for the men to have a surgeon aboard. Knowing he saved Henry’s life will help the men accept him as part of the crew.” ...

Why Writing Is Good For You, Body and Soul I've mentioned elsewhere that my treadmill finally broke down after 20+ years of excellent service. I'm anxious to get another, but haven't found a model I like that will fit through the doorways of my house. Seriously. So in the meantime, I do it the old fashioned way. I take a two mile brisk walk around out neighborhood each day. I carry weights while I'm walking, to increase the benefit, burn more calories and help tone and strengthen my arms. I started with 2.5 lb. wrist weights, then increased to carrying a five pound weight one mile with a 2.5 lb. weight on the other hand, then switching off at the one mile mark. I also carry a small notebook and a pen because as I mentioned in a previous post, rhythmic walking frees up my imagination. Today I was so caught up in thinking about my WIP, working title Castaway Dreams, that I was within sight of my house before I realized I was still carrying the heavy weight in my ri...

Image via Wikipedia 10 Practical Writing Tips I did a talk last week to a group of high school students on the joys of writing. Given that most days I feel like my writing would best be accomplished by banging my head on the keyboard until blood flows onto the page, I wasn't sure I was the best person for the job. But I like to think I managed to say a couple things they could use. To make it easy on myself and on them, I said I'd give them 10 completely practical tips they could use to become better writers, and I'll share them here as well: 1. Always remember my favorite quote: "You can fix anything but a blank page." Write something. Write anything. You can fix it later, but if you don't write it, you can't fix it. 2. Shower often . Good advice for high school boys under almost any circumstances (I know, I raised two of them), but in this case it was about writing breakthroughs. I know quite a few writers who say they get their best ideas while ...

Cover via Amazon I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on television. I am fascinated by the history of modern medicine. My most recent manuscript, Sea Change , featured a surgeon aboard an American privateer. My WIP (work in progress) features a secondary character from Sea Change, Dr. Alexander Murray. Dr. Murray is a phlegmatic (at least until he meets the heroine) scientist, a surgeon in the Royal Navy who's devoted his life to trying to keep people alive under the most trying of circumstances. Researching this new book has reminded me all over again why I find this study fascinating. For example, I needed to know when the stethoscope was invented, and serendipitously, it's credited to Dr. Rene Laennec in 1816, putting it right into my era. I was also researching in the book Medical Firsts by Robert E. Adler and found this passage on the germ theory of disease: "Germs cause disease. This simple idea is so much a part of our thinking that it seems as self-evident...

Kindle Editions All three of my books in print, Captain Sinister's Lady, Pirate's Price and Smuggler's Bride , are now available in Kindle editions from Amazon . And they're still available from Fictionwise and via my publisher, Amber Quill Press. So if this is the year Santa brings you an e-reader, you've got some great options for leisure reading available to you.