Routine vs Creativity

​I’ve recently realized that I’ve fallen into a rut. I take the same route to and from work. I listen to the same podcasts. I walk along the same trails.Sometimes routine is good. It frees my mind to think of other things. But sometimes routine stifles my creativity and lulls me into a sense of […]

New Direct Sales Option

​I’m ​testing a new feature on my website. If you go to the page for The SSU Complete Box Set, you’ll see a new button Buy Direct from Vanessa. Clicking on this button takes you to the book’s sales page at my payment processor, Payhip. I’m trying the Buy Direct option for this particular box set […]

The February Issue of The KierDevil News Is Out!

Happy New Year! The February 2020 edition of my KierDevils newsletter went out on Thursday, February 6th. It includes some sketches I did recently for one of the locations in WAR: Retaliation.  If you’re a subscriber and don’t see it in your Inbox, please check your Spam or Junk folder. For Gmail users, it might also be […]

Traffic Woes

​​I spent two hours in traffic this morning on my way to a business meeting. While the view was at times beautiful, with the sun coming up over the hills that are lightly covered in green, I have no idea how people do this daily without going mad or having their muscles permanently cramped. I […]

Pet Peeves: Could Care Less

​One of my pet peeves is people using the phrase I could care less. No. The expression is I couldn’t care less. And no, I don’t care that the could version is becoming common. It’s wrong. It’s lazy. Is it really that much harder to say or write couldn’t? Every time I read I could care less, I’m thrown […]

Paper books or ebooks?

​I’m a tactile person. I like to feel paper under my fingers as I read. To turn the page and see the bend of the spine. I also like hearing the page turn over. Hardcovers top my list, followed by mass-market paperbacks. Trade paperbacks, the ones that are not quite hardcover size, come third on […]

Help for Australia

Koala Bushfire victims Lake Innes Paul and Lake Innes Anwen are recovering well at the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital. Picture: Nathan Edwards  Source: News Corp Australia​I’ve been watching with horror as fire devours Australia. My heart ​is breaking​. Here’s an article from news.com.au that lists some ways we can help. Share0 Tweet0

RWA Implosion. Ransomware Attack. Skunks. Really, 2020?

​2019 was not a great year for me. So I was really holding out hope that 2020 would be better. Unfortunately, so far, 2020 has been proving to be just as difficult:Romance Writers of America (RWA) Implosion. If you haven’t heard about the current controversy, you can read about it here . Basically, RWA has […]

The First Issue of The KierDevil News for 2020 Is Out!

Happy New Year! The ​January 2020 edition of my KierDevils newsletter went out on Thursday, ​January 2nd. ​It includes information about a special promotion that runs ​until January 10th, plus what I’m currently researching. If you’re a subscriber and don’t see it in your Inbox, please check your Spam or Junk folder. For Gmail users, it might […]

It’s the End of a Decade… Or not

Tomorrow is January 1, 2020 and I can’t turn around without running into another end-of-the-decade reflection or best-of list. But does 2020 really start a new decade? There are a lot of different thoughts on this. I particularly like the explanation offered on TimeandDate.com. They say that if you think of decades in terms such as the […]