Note: This post first appeared in my newsletter on 1 May 2024. *** When Vanessa Kinley first popped into my head, I had no idea what her setting would be. Crossville, GA, the fictional bedroom community of Atlanta, where the series is set, developed naturally during the writing of the first book, Between a Witch and a…Continue reading Building Crossville
Tag: Vanessa Kinley
Crossville Supernaturals: Power Dynamics
Note: This post first appeared in my newsletter on 1 April 2023. *** Writing Black Witch Rising has led me down some interesting pathways. The interactions between Puck Aefre and Nessa, for example, have been incredibly illuminating. While writing a particular scene in which Puck demonstrates some powerful magic, I realized that Nessa had no true, consistent role model for…Continue reading Crossville Supernaturals: Power Dynamics
Rune Magic
Note: This post was first published in my newsletter on 12 January 2022. *** When I was creating the magic behind the Vaness Kinley, Witch PI Series (and let’s face it; that’s a continual work in progress), I had to decide what kind of witchcraft to include. There’s really no rhyme or reason behind Nessa being a…Continue reading Rune Magic
Seth Rhone Character Interview
Note: This interview was published in the 6 January 2022 issue of my newsletter. *** I’m excited to bring you a brief interview with Seth Rhone, who plays a pivotal role in the Vanessa Kinley, Witch PI Series. No, he is not going to tell us what he was thinking during that scene in Book 1. I…Continue reading Seth Rhone Character Interview
Preorder Black Witch Rising
Black Witch Rising, the third novel in the Vanessa Kinley, Witch PI Series, is up for preorder at Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and other online retailers. Here’s a little more about it: A few weeks ago, my brother and I found our mother, the criminal chaos witch, locked in a cage under the…Continue reading Preorder Black Witch Rising
The Single Witch’s Guide to Online Dating is on sale now!
You can now purchase the ebook edition of The Single Witch’s Guide to Online Dating (A Vanessa Kinley, Witch PI Story) at your favorite online retailer! When I planned the Vanessa Kinley Series, I intended this prequel to be exclusive to the newsletter and Facebook group for no more than a year, just until I…Continue reading The Single Witch’s Guide to Online Dating is on sale now!
Online dating is the pits
I’ve been single since about 2015, and let me tell you: dating over 40 is not an experience I would wish on anyone. Over time, I’ve noticed a steady decline in the, shall we say, quality of single men posting profiles on dating sites. Not that the average single male over 40 is a bad…Continue reading Online dating is the pits
The new Vanessa Kinley, Witch PI novel is here!
After a year-long wait, A Witch and Her Familiar (Vanessa Kinley, Witch PI, Book 2) is finally here. I was in the middle of writing this one when I hit the burnout wall hard and had to take time off to recover. Over the past year or so, I’ve discovered quite a bit about my…Continue reading The new Vanessa Kinley, Witch PI novel is here!
Intentionality and World Building
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been pondering what stories I may want to write when the Sunshine Walkingstick and Vanessa Kinley, Witch PI Series are completed. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, it takes a while to build a solid story world; if I want to pick up a new series when these two are finished,…Continue reading Intentionality and World Building
The Speed of Rune Magic
Rune magic in the Vanessa Kinley, Witch PI Series world (Crossville Supernaturals) is, naturally, based on runes used historically by the Germanic cultures of central Europe and Scandinavia. Runes alone are not enough. The magic is activated by special marks (called incantation lines or marks) drawn in certain key points along the rune. Accuracy is…Continue reading The Speed of Rune Magic