I have a lot of hobbies beyond my writing. My family and friends joke about it. And even to me, it sometimes feels as though I might have too many. But I have a curious and adventurous spirit. And I can't help myself!

For the active writers among you, I hope you find this list helpful. If you have discovered other tools that you love, or find invaluable, I encourage you to reach out and tell me about them! And, for everyone else, I hope you enjoyed a little visibility into my process!

I am sometimes asked if my characters are based on real people. For those who know me well, and travel in my circles, they might see someone they know in one of my characters. But the reality is, and this isn’t just a legal disclaimer, these characters come from my head!

Among the elves, and within the ethos they pass down to their human adherents among the Fardach Sidhe, trees are considered sacred. The egalitarian elves might not wish to admit as much, but trees are elevated even higher than animals and other plants. Trees are nearly the equal, in their most sacred teachings, of the rocks and soil of Erda itself.

I have a new (old) resource in my bag of tricks. To help me in my life and in my writing. It's Marcus Aurelius' Meditations. It's a fairly meaty little book. And, like another favorite book of mine that I see as its modern counterpart, The Four Agreements, by Don Miguel Ruiz, its material ranges from the pithy to the abstract.

Sunbeams filtered through the canopy. The air was warm and heavy with the rich smells of loam and vegetation. A fecund day! Legorel had to run at a jog to keep the bugs from biting. But it didn’t stop them from finding their way into his eyes—or his mouth when he forgot to breathe through his nose.

It happens fairly often. And I have learned to welcome the moments and just run with them. I'm talking about the disconnected thoughts that rise, unbidden, to my mind, while I am writing.

Food doesn’t appear very often in The Crafter Chronicles. I put food elements in my stories somewhat sparingly. But that doesn’t mean I don’t love food!

I believe that magic fulfills something inside fans of fantasy-like me. (And SciFi people have their “future tech” fulfilling a similar role.)

So what is it that magic is fulfilling, exactly?

I think the answer is bound up in our beliefs. In our faith, or our search for enlightenment. In our desire to believe in something beyond our everyday experience. And, in the process, to escape.

If you’ve read my stuff, I think you’ll agree that nature plays an important role in my stories. No matter where I go in my travels, I am regularly in awe of nature’s beauty and variety—and the lessons it has for us all. And if you follow me on Instagram, you’ll already know that nature photos take precedence even over those of food and drink!

Once upon a time, back in 2018 or so, there was a farmer named Chris. Chris and his wife Cynthia ran a farm called Greenheart, in Springfield, Vermont. Chris had two brothers, Keith and Matt. The brothers shared an appreciation for many of the best things in life, from a love of nature and fantasy fiction, to an enjoyment of good food and drink!

Living vicariously within a story you are reading is an escape. It’s a way to meet new friends and even enemies from the safety of your favorite chair. But I have faith that our ever more global culture will ensure that our human connections are restored when this storm passes. And maybe things will be forever different. Maybe we will remember that we shared this crisis together. Shared experience is powerful social glue. It’s why Potterheads and Game of Throne fans can establish an immediate and real connection with one another when they meet for the first time as strangers.

When I imagined the day my book became widely available, I didn’t anticipate that most of the questions I’d get from my readers would revolve around how to pronounce the names! So, without further ado, I’m going to publish this guide to pronouncing the names (and the odd, non-name words I’ve created, like satje) in The Crafter Chronicles!

Do you want early access to my writing? Do you like the idea of helping to move forward the world of The Crafter Chronicles? Then read on, to find out about becoming part of my Advanced Reader’s Group!

Crafter’s Guild members voted. And I started work on my first novella for The Crafter Chronicles. See a sample from the winning novella!

What made me decide to self-publish instead of continuing to tilt against the windmills of the mega-publishing-machine? My seventh rejection. This one by another literary agent. And how did I get up to speed on what would be involved in getting my book out? Read on, to find out!

Reviews! It is so tough on a writer to hear from critics. But they are a reality of our profession. More than that, they are an integral part of our life right now. I myself rely on Yelp and other sites when I am looking for a new restaurant. So why should finding your next book be any different?

People often ask me where my inspiration comes from. The easy answer is that it comes from pretty much everywhere. Some scenes I describe are inspired by places I’ve been, dreams I’ve had, paintings I’ve seen, music I’ve listened to, etc.