Women’s Fiction Day is June 8th!

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Welcome! In celebration of Women’s Fiction Day, I’m going to have a drawing to give away FIVE eBooks of my new women’s fiction, YOU OUGHTA KNOW, which will be officially released June 16th. To enter the drawing, please fill out your email address in the pop-up or see the side bar for a free copy of THAT WILDER MAN (includes an excerpt of You Oughta Know in the back). You will also become part of my “Sue Phillips Readers Group” for future news and giveaways. I will put all the email addresses for this drawing into a bowl and randomly Read more…


Let’s Talk About Book Reviews by Rosie Amber [Reblogged]

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Rosie Amber has written an excellent blog about writing book reviews. I highly recommend it for readers and writers!   I’m involved with helping to spread the news that August is write a book review on Amazon month, this week I’m going to post some themed book reviewing posts to encourage more people to leave those all important reviews. Readers reviewers I truly believe that book sales have changed as people browse virtual book stores to buy their books. This is where the book reviews really help sell a book in a market place full of millions and millions of Read more…


Healthy Writers: Tai Chi to relieve stress & more! 

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Tai chi has a number of health benefits, some of which can be particularly good for writers and other creative artists. . How about an exercise that stretches your sore muscles, centers your scattered thoughts, and reduces your stress? An exercise you can do in the privacy of your own home, whenever you need to—even in between projects? An exercise that not only improves your physical health, but your mental health as well—and that might even boost your creativity? Have you tried tai chi? If you haven’t, here are five reasons why you should. Turns out this exercise is ideal Read more…


BookTV LATFOB publishing panel

BookTV Panel Discussion on Publishing

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  I missed the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books over the weekend, but I was able to catch a few interesting panels on BookTV on C-SPAN2, particularly this discussion on Publishing with Maris Kreizman @mariskreizman (Publishing Project Specialist at Kickstarter), Isaac Fitzgerald @IsaacFitzgerald (Editor, Buzzfeed Books), Oscar Villalon @ovillalon (Managing Editor, Zyzzyva Magazine) and Johnny Temple @AkashicBooks (Publisher & Editor-in-Chief, Akashic Books). This video is worth watching several times.  Frank talk about the reality of publishing today. A great kick in the ass for writers (like me) who balk at self-promotion. Opened my eyes. “Panelists talked about book publishing. Panelists Read more…


Hawaii-Noir Mystery: 1950s Molokai & Murder

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Mele Kalikimaka from the “Ninth Island” aka Las Vegas!   Two of my favorite SoCal writers, Janet Elizabeth Lynn and her husband Will Zeilinger visited Vegas recently to research their next noir mystery. Since my move from L.A. last year, I was eager to meet up with them to talk shop at my favorite lunch locale—the Border Grill inside the Forum Shops at Caesars. Chatting over tacos, guacamole and tortilla chips, we shared info about Indie publishing and our latest projects. While they have each written their own novels over the last ten years, I am particularly fascinated in their Read more…


STORY MASTERY with MICHAEL HAUGE

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  Story Mastery with Michael Hauge WHEN: November 14, 2015 @ 9:00 am – 6:00 pm WHERE: Sunset Station Hotel & Casino 1301 West Sunset Road Henderson, NV 89014 COST: $75 LVRW members, $100 non-members During this special, all-day seminar, Hollywood script and story consultant Michael Hauge, best-selling author of Writing Screenplays That Sell and Selling Your Story in 60 Seconds: The Guaranteed Way to Get Your Screenplay or Novel Read, will present STORY MASTERY – his unique approach to creating compelling fiction, and to eliciting emotion in your readers. Using clips from recent blockbuster love stories and romantic comedies, along with hands Read more…


“Success is an indefinable term… “

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I have been in this writing game for a long time. Over the years, I have taken extensive notes from workshops given by authors who have spoken at the Orange County Chapter of Romance Writers of America.  Today’s quote is from best-selling author, Jayne Ann Krentz – “Success is an indefinable term, a fleeting, ephemeral thing, a ghost. The more you chase it, the more remote it becomes. But the writing originates somewhere inside yourself. You can nurture it, control it, experiment with it. It’s yours and yours alone. Take your true satisfaction from inside yourself, not from the outside Read more…


Inspired by…Robert Frost

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  Somewhere I read the feeling right before a big leap should not be misinterpreted as fear but an adrenaline rush of excitement and anticipation of something new about to happen yet not quite knowing what that something will be. Oh, you might have an idea of it, of course, like starting a new job. You know the general responsibilities but you don’t know the reality until you are actually in the job. I feel this way about my writing career. Mistakenly, I have labeled some of the anticipation as fear. Then I allowed the fear of failure—or fear of Read more…


Prayers For Alyssa – ANSWERED!

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At the end of May, my 5-year-old great-niece, Alyssa, fell from a second-floor window onto concrete, fracturing her skull.  Her mommy posted on Facebook, asking for prayers. Hundreds, if not thousands, of friends, family and strangers offered support and shared with their friends and family. [Here is my initial blog post.] The first few days were rough. But little Alyssa is a tough cookie. Amazingly, there were no other injuries. The fever subsided. The brain swelling went down. By day five, she was able to go home from the hospital, though she was still having difficulty finding the right words to Read more…