My favorite titles. I wanted to talk about my favorite books on writing. Every author has her go-to's for inspiration and help, and...

My favorite vampire in literature (other than my very own Valerie Tate , if I may be so immodest), is Joseph Le Fanu's Carmilla . ...

Happy Birthday, Bram Stoker! Thank you for a wonderful book that has inspired so many. My passionate Valerie would not exist without you...

To be clear; I have not read 50 Shades of Grey yet. I have been too busy getting Dracula Unleashed (Book Three of the Blood Wings series) in...

I've written about big penises, Turkey, Muses, and International Woman's Day.  I figure now is a good time to get back on my subje...

The name Mentor comes from a character in the Odyssey. Telemachus, Odysseus' son, goes on a quest to find his father. The goddess Athena...

Last year ( to the day !), I said I would do a series on various archetypal thought systems that can inspire a writer. Today (and until I ge...

My friend Opal Mirror and I have had an interesting conversation since my post on Catching Up On The Classics. He says he likes to write s...

Every one has quotes they pin up on their wall by their desks. As we close in on American Thanksgiving, I want to highlight the most importa...

The amazingly talented Lindsay Samuels created an amazingly wonderful website called LibraryScienceDegree.org . I admit to busting a gut ...

I wanted to talk about my favorite books on writing. Every author has her go-to's for inspiration and help, and here are mine. How c...

Jason Zenobia, the genius Flaming Chef , replied to my Twilight series: Amazing themes and discourse here. I've always been fascinat...

Emily Dickinson said hope is a thing with feathers, delicate, light, and small. I think hope is giant beast with fangs, claws, and fur. It c...

Mostly, I'm posting my old poetry because I'm too busy revising Dracula's Secret to come up with anything new for this blog. Eme...

I was reading the Aeneid and I got to my least favorite part - Dido's death. So I wrote this as a retort to the unnecessary death of a b...