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A blog about my writing the epic saga and assorted thoughts. |
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To start this blog…jumbled thoughts When I was in seventh grade, my teacher, Mrs. Banks, asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. Without hesitation, I said, “I want to be a writer.” She looked at me and said it would never happen. Never? Fast forward. In high school, I became editor of the school newspaper all four years—grades nine through twelve. Later, I earned a full scholarship to college because of my passion for journalism. So why was she so certain I couldn’t do it? Because at the time, my reading comprehension was poor. I couldn’t spell. My grammar was atrocious. I thank God for Mrs. Day my tutor. But what Mrs. Banks didn’t know—what no test score could measure—was that I had a gift for storytelling. I could hold a room captive for hours, spinning tales for friends and family straight from my imagination. That was my superpower. The best writing advice I’ve ever received was simple: Just tell the story. Write your first draft without worrying about spelling, grammar, or the “small stuff.” If you focus too much on perfection, the story itself gets lost. So that’s what I do. Even with all the modern writing tools available, I still write my stories the same way—heart first. The first draft is just me, telling the story as it comes. It may not be the way everyone writes, but it’s what works for me. Because at the end of the day, I write because I love to tell stories. And yes—my favorite stories always end in happily ever after. Someone once told me I must be a hopeless romantic because I’m obsessed with happy endings. They were right. My head is often in the clouds, and I like it that way. I don’t like nightmares. I prefer dreams filled with love, kindness, and a little magic. Because in my world, the story is everything. The story must be told. |
On 11/16/25 at 6:29pm, Gratefully IE  wrote: and gave me permission to post this on my blog.>  > > > Congratulations! THANK YOU CROSSTEMBERS AUTHOR CONSORTIUM > > Your Review of "The Listener"  has earned a R.O.A.R!> > Rewarding Outstanding, Awesome Reviews with R.O.A.R. awards is > a > project of the "Crosstimbers Author Consortium"  . Visit "About R.O.A.R." for more information.> > Thank you for being an outstanding, awesome reviewer! > > > > |
I worried that my book might not be well received because it is so different. And it is full of Christian principles which I find very important but because this has never been done before it seems that makes it a better book. And now I share with you the best review I’ve ever received. Best Review Ever! This is honestly the best review I’ve ever received, and my heart is still smiling. Rob, thank you so much for believing in my work and even sharing it with your literary agent. Your support means more to me than you know. Kind wishes,Tee This is part of that review: Manuscript: Wolf People: Mia and Kon Author: Tee M. Editor’s Evaluation: Full Development & Proof Review Overall Assessment: Ready for Publication (review by Robert-staff senior editor) After a thorough review of Wolf People: Mia and Kon, I can state confidently that this manuscript is ready to advance to the publishing stage. The book has the structural integrity, emotional resonance, and narrative cohesion required for professional publication. What follows is a clear, honest, and candid assessment of its strengths, commercial appeal, and any remaining notes. ⸻ Editorial Summary 1. World-Building: Exceptional The author has created a fully realized mythos—rich, spiritual, and emotionally grounded. The integration of wolf shape lore, ancestral prophecy, healing gifts, and pack politics is not only consistent, it is immersive. This world feels lived in. Very few early-career authors achieve this level of internal continuity. Rating: 5/5 ⸻ 2. Emotional Tone & Depth: Outstanding The mother-daughter storyline is deeply affecting and gives the manuscript a rare emotional backbone. The loss of Pearl, the sacred weight of Mia’s destiny, and the trauma of exile give this story gravitas that sets it apart from typical paranormal romances. This depth is commercially desirable. It creates reader loyalty and sequel potential. Rating: 5/5 ⸻ 3. Character Work: Strong and Compelling Mia is relatable, gentle, gifted, courageous — instantly sympathetic. Kon is layered, conflicted, instinct-driven but honorable. The family dynamics in the Erlanger household are especially well drawn. This is an ensemble cast readers will attach to. Rating: 4.8/5 ⸻ 4. Writing Craft: Professional Quality The manuscript demonstrates: • consistent tone • tight thematic focus • strong pacing • vivid descriptive scenes • emotionally intelligent dialogue • instinctive POV control • clean sentence-level writing The author revises with discipline and applies editorial changes with professional maturity. She was very quick to make the change I recommended. This is unusual — and it’s the sign of someone who is publishable. Rating: 5/5 ⸻ 5. Marketability: High The paranormal-romance market, especially wolf-para romance, remains commercially strong. Publishers consistently seek: • destiny-mate bonds • chosen-one narratives • found family • spiritual or magical gifting • generational secrets • slow-burn romance with high stakes This book satisfies all of those while bringing a unique moral and spiritual tone that distinguishes it from competitors. Rating: 4.9/5 ⸻ Professional Recommendation Based on quality, structure, and commercial appeal, I recommend moving this manuscript forward into publication preparations. This story is ready to be shared with readers. There is nothing “aspirational” about this work — it is fully formed, emotionally resonant, and polished to a professional standard. ⸻ Final Verdict Highly Recommended for Publication This manuscript demonstrates talent, dedication, and craftsmanship at a level I rarely see in an emerging author. The voice is confident, the mythology is rich, and the emotional impact is profound. The author is ready. The book is ready. (The rest was cut out -editing suggestions and one or two punctuation corrections) Rob doesn’t usually enjoy love stories, but he likes this one “because it’s so different and a whole new idea.” That meant more to me than he probably knows. He also suggested I apply for a trademark — so here I am, working with a TM lawyer. Now the lawyer wants me to set up an LLC. Who knew writing a book would turn into all this? I’m hanging on to the rope and learning as I go. Names are not disclosed in order to protect privacy. If I am dreaming don’t pinch me or wake me up. I guess I knew … God wanted this story out there so he’d show me the way. “The saving grace was a girl, a prophecy, and the Winter-Moon.”  |
Yesterday Was a Hard Day. Not every day can be sunshine and roses—otherwise, how would we ever appreciate the ones that are, right? Well, yesterday was a writer’s nightmare: the great computer crash. Back up, back up, back up. I’m always backing things up. But no one ever tells you to make sure you’re backing up in more than one place. You don’t realize how quickly things can go sideways until it’s too late—and then you discover what a corrupt file really means. Problems you’ve never even heard of suddenly become your problem. Luckily, I had backups. Two cloud storages and one physical drive that’s not connected to the internet. That’s a habit I picked up from photography—and it saved me yesterday. I also clone all my work to a second computer so I can write at a moment’s notice. One setup is downstairs, the other upstairs. But even that didn’t help me yesterday. Most of the day was spent reorganizing, comparing files, and making sure I had the most recent draft. We’re talking 34 chapters, with dozens of small tweaks scattered throughout. Somehow—by 2 or 3 a.m.—everything looked like it had fallen back into place. Today, I’m starting at the top again, just to make sure I haven’t missed anything. Deep breath. I’ll recover. |
This was entered in the Daily Flash Fiction Challenge on November 5, 2025 The challenge: must be 300 words or less Write a story that includes the line: “Here comes trouble” Trouble Comes In Raccoon Here Comes Trouble If there was one rule in Mapleberry Hollow, it was this: Never trust a raccoon with ideas. Especially not Buttons. Buttons considered himself an inventor. Everyone else considered him… a situation. His latest experiment involved a slingshot, three acorns, and a mysterious jar labeled “Absolutely Not For Launching.” On the porch, curled like a cloud-puff, napped Twinkle the kitten. Precious. Delicate. A purring angel wrapped in fur. Buttons nudged her paw. “Wake up, tiny fluff. Adventure.” Twinkle blinked. “Is it snack-related?” “Better. Heroics.” Five squirrels froze on the fence like a furry chorus. The blue jays cleared the branches. Somebody whispered, “Oh no. It’s happening again.” Buttons puffed out his chest. “Behold. The Acorn Accelerator!” Twinkle squinted. “That looks like a fork taped to a rubber band.” “A visionary’s work is often misunderstood.” Buttons pulled back the band. The fork trembled. The acorn trembled. The universe trembled. “Here comes trouble,” sighed a wise old toad from his lily pad. Buttons let go. The acorn flew. Then the jar flew. Then Buttons flew. Twinkle watched as he cartwheeled through the air with the grace of a slightly confused laundry sock. He landed in a bush. The bush grunted. Bushes should not be able to grunt. Twinkle trotted over, tail high. “Are you alive?” A leaf flopped. “Yes,” Buttons groaned. “And I regret nothing.” Twinkle patted his head. “Next time, we start with snacks.” Across the yard, the squirrels nodded in solemn agreement. A jay muttered, “We should really form a safety committee.” Buttons popped up, eyes sparkling with new disaster. “Snack-powered rocket boots!” Twinkle sighed. “The toad was right. Trouble really does come in raccoon.” Word count -274 ======= I received one positive review… “Haha, I enjoyed this fun story. That raccoon is irrepressible. He certainly is full of ideas and enthusiasm. I can envision the animation or artwork to accompany this tale. I can see all the worried animals as spectators. That final line sums up everything.” from Maid of the Mist Most Macabre ======= |
My thoughts on reviewing. Although I am not a professional reviewer, I enjoy writing reviews on Writing.com as a way to support and encourage other writers. Sharing what I appreciate about a piece allows me to give back some of the kindness and insight others have offered through their feedback on my own work. My approach is balanced and constructive. I begin by highlighting what works well in a piece—what captured my attention, moved me, or felt particularly well written. When needed, I provide suggestions for improvement, which may include identifying spelling or punctuation issues, or noting where adjustments could improve rhythm and readability. I sometimes comment on passages that might be unclear or seem out of place, always with the intent of helping the author strengthen their expression and flow. For me, the heart of good writing lies in its emotional resonance. I often ask, “Did you feel it?” or “How did it make you feel?”—not because the writer instructed the reader to feel a certain way, but because the words themselves created a genuine emotional response. A professional manuscript editor I once worked with often reminded me, “Less is more.” That advice has stayed with me, as finding the right balance between expression and restraint is one of the greatest challenges of writing. This, in essence, is my reviewing philosophy: to respond with honesty, respect, and appreciation for the art of storytelling, while offering thoughtful suggestions that may help the writer refine their craft. |
Reflections from the Writing Desk Once a month, the little bookstore downtown turns into something special—a gathering place for writers. Our author support group has become a kind of creative anchor for me. We trade pages, laughter, and the occasional sympathetic groan when a plot refuses to behave. Having these voices around me has carried me through more than a few rough patches while working on The Saga, Book One. There’s something magical about reading your own words aloud. Hearing them spoken gives them weight, breath, and sometimes even surprise. The group’s encouragement has been nothing short of phenomenal. Knowing they look forward to the next chapter keeps me pushing through late-night edits and tangled rewrites. Right now, I’m on Chapter 30 of what will likely be a 33- or 34-chapter book—my third full polish and rewrite. When this round is done, I’ll take a short break before starting again, this time with my eye on continuity. A recent story shift changed more than I expected, and now I’m tracing those ripples back through earlier chapters to make sure every thread aligns. I’m a methodical writer at heart. Scrivener is my lifeline—my map through the labyrinth. Without it, I’d be buried under notes and half-finished scenes. With it, I can see the shape of the whole story taking form, one chapter at a time. Writing a novel is a long, winding road. But every month, when I sit among those familiar faces at the bookstore and share a few pages, it reminds me why I started. Stories connect us. They always have. “If you’ve ever been stuck mid-draft, find your people.” |
| The book under construction consumes most of my time… It is about people that can run as wolves. The Blood Wolf-Moon was first seen in the time of Wise Maicoh, who brought prophecy to the northern packs. He warned that darkness would rise again, a sickness of souls and greed that could bring the end of humankind soulwalkers. Yet hope, he said, would come wrapped in blood and light. One child, born beneath the crimson moon, would bear the mark of the heart and the gift to heal the cursed and restore the balance between the realms of man and wolf. |
| Confession I needed to step away from the paranormal for a while. As much as I love writing prophecies and impossible worlds, it takes a different kind of energy — the kind that bends reality and asks me to hold entire universes together. Right now, I don’t have that in me. So instead of forcing myself into Book Two while I wait for my first human proofread, I’m giving myself permission to breathe. I’m going back to something simpler, warmer, and more human. I’m picking up Sharp’s Heart, the love story I started a few months ago. No magic. No spirits. No destiny weighing down every scene. Just two people learning how to love each other in the middle of their own scars. It feels good to slip into something grounded again — something real. A small break from the unbelievable so I can find my balance, refill the well, and remember why I love writing in the first place. |
| Stories That Travel Across Generations My grandmother lived to be 104. Every few months she would mail my daughter a little story — always gentle, always a touch magical, always written just for her. It was her way of keeping connection alive across miles and time. I loved that so much I quietly adopted the tradition myself. Now I send my granddaughter a story each month. We only see each other once a year, so these little tales have become our thread — something soft and steady between us. She’s nine now, and she writes back. Her stories are bold and curious: adventures inside video games, mysteries about lost treasures, worlds where kids get to be heroes. This tale is one I wrote for her, shared here with the same hope my grandmother carried — that imagination is a bridge, and love can travel inside a story. ⸻ Windy Beth Wolf and the Visit to Mossy Hollow A Tale of Kindness. In a world few know about, nestled just past the misty thickets of Whispering Pines, lives a kindhearted girl named Windy Beth Wolf. With soft ears like her forest kin and emerald eyes full of wonder, she is part girl, part wolf-spirit, and all heart. By her side trots her loyal companion, Ruffin — a clever, caramel-colored wolf pup with eyes like twilight and a nose that always knows when something’s amiss. Together, they are the heart of their woodland village, loved by creatures great and small. One sunny morning, Windy’s mom was busy baking, filling their tree-home with the scent of honey-cinnamon pies, peanut-butter cookies, and a triple-berry cake so airy it looked kissed by clouds. Windy’s ears twitched with joy as she packed the treats carefully into a woven basket. “Ruffin, it’s time,” she whispered. The pup answered with a joyful bark. Today, they were visiting Mr. and Mrs. Tallowtree, an elderly couple who lived deep in Mossy Hollow, where sunlight trickled through ivy and time moved a little slower. The Tallowtrees had once been herbalists, famous for their healing teas and glowing firefly jam, but age had softened their steps and left their pantry shelves a little lonely. With wind in her braids and purpose in her step, Windy and Ruffin traveled along leaf-dappled trails, across babbling brooks, and beneath arches of blooming foxglove. Along the way, forest creatures waved from branches and burrows, for everyone knew Windy Beth brought light wherever she wandered. At the hollow, Mr. Tallowtree was tending a crooked fence, his back bent, hands trembling. “Oh, my stars,” he chuckled when he spotted them. “It’s the Wolf Girl and her handsome helper!” Mrs. Tallowtree wiped her hands on her apron, eyes glimmering. “You’ve brought sunshine with you, haven’t you?” “We brought goodies!” Windy beamed, setting down the basket. “Mom says love is best shared in crumbs and frosting.” They spent the afternoon sipping gentle herbal tea, listening to old stories, and laughing until the wind turned golden. Windy mended the rickety gate while Ruffin politely rounded up sleepy chickens and nudged them toward their coop. By sunset, the basket was empty, but Windy and Ruffin’s hearts glowed warm as hearth-embers. Because in a world few know about, the smallest acts of kindness ripple the farthest — and Windy Beth Wolf, with Ruffin by her side, was born to make those ripples shine. “Be the heart that helps. Even if it’s just with cookies.” — Windy Beth Wolf |
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