Choosing Your Soundtrack
I’m not sure what other people daydream about, but lately I’ve been obsessed with what the soundtrack for my books would sound like if they were ever turned into a television series or a movie. (I’ve also thought about directors – but that is a blog for another time.) I know you’re thinking, Evette, a […]
Let’s Talk About Sex
Years ago, my husband informed his aunt that I’d written a novel. “Does it have sex in it?” She asked. “People like to read about sex.” His aunt was right of course. Many readers do like to read about sex. Today, thanks to self-publishing and e-books, readers have a wide range of choices that run […]
Bittersweet Endings: What Happens to the Characters When You Finish Your Novel ?
After eight years, I’ve finally finished the third book in my trilogy. Because I like a challenge, I accidentally on purpose stuck writing another novel in the middle of what was already a long process – nevertheless, a first draft of Book 3 is safely tucked in a file folder on my desk, as I […]
More On Music
Grant Lee Buffalo: I’m in Love with a Band that Broke up 20 Years Ago I want you to meet my new love interests: Grant Lee Buffalo. Too bad the band is from twenty years ago. What happened? How did I only now stumble on to the melancholy genius of these guys? No explanation. Thank […]
Why I Love New Orleans
I miss New Orleans. I was there last March and arrived back home in San Francisco just as the Shelter in Place (SIP) was about to be issued. It was surreal to go from a place full of people to a city emptied out overnight. Of course New Orleans soon had its own shutdown, but […]
Does the Tattoo Change the Woman?
I waited a long time to get a tattoo. I put it off for twenty years while I fretted that it would give people the wrong impression about me as I started my public relations firm. Then I was worried it would somehow damage my credibility when I became a mother. But I never lost […]
Playlists Are the Characters
Music has always been an important part of my life. I have memories of listening to Cheap Trick’s Live at Budokan as a kid, and then as a teenager experimenting with everything from Japan to Aerosmith as I explored music and self-identity. As a writer, I’ve used playlists as a way to inspire myself and […]
When Life is Stranger than Fiction
I love this photo of the Skystar in Golden Gate Park. For me, it’s simultaneously romantic and creepy – the lights sparkling in the twilight of an emptied almost dystopian landscape thanks to the pandemic and San Francisco’s shelter in place order. It’s the kind of thing you would read about in THE STAND or […]
Witches
Witch: 1. A person, esp. A woman, who professes or is supposed to practice magic, esp. Black magic; sorceress. 2. Slang. An ugly or malignant woman; hag. 3. A person who uses a divining rod. 4. To affect by or as by witchcraft; bewitch; charm. Witch is a complicated word. At its worst, throughout history […]
How to Choose A Villain
It was in my first novel, which has never been published or really seen the light of day, that I first experimented with the idea of a Balkan criminal. To some it may seem disrespectful; but it’s actually quite the opposite. This may reveal something about me, I’ll regret sharing later, but I’m enthralled with […]