From the author:
Mining Your Life For Your Fiction

A
writer must not forget to live life to the fullest, if we are to create
characters with rich emotional lives. All of our fiction comes from our
psyche and our spirit - even fantasy comes from some seed planted in
our life somewhere.
EDGES was borne out of very real personal experiences. I was transformed myself by
Moab, Utah.
Addiction/ recovery is a theme close to my heart as both a therapist,
friend and family member. I have put myself in others' shoes and looked
at my own tendencies to teeter over into addictive territory. I have
witnessed first hand the power of the 12 Steps
and the fallibility of personalities involved in any tradition. If
there is to be truth in story, then you must write about things that
matter to you. It's not important to necessarily write about what you
know, because you can always learn. But for a work to be compelling, you
must deeply care about what your characters care about, in order to
make your readers want to keep turning the pages.
I will be in
Richmond, Virginia at Fountain Bookstore
on Tuesday, March 22nd, doing not only a reading and a signing, but
leading a workshop with the very same title as this post. Both teens and
adults are welcome to explore character development with me from the
core of your being. Writing exercises and discussion will be
intertwined. I'm looking forward to seeing you there!