GET "Not While I'm Chewing" for FREE!

Heads up all!

Today, tomorrow, and Sunday ONLY get my latest release, "NOT WHILE I'm CHEWING" for free when you download it from Amazon!



CLICK HERE TO GET IT FREE!



Need to know what it's about?  Here you go:

My name is Sarah. I work in a small office.

The only other woman in the office is an unintentionally hilarious disaster of a human being. Every workday, I witness and chronicle her complete lack of social awareness, her non-stop eating, and her skewed concept of a work ethic.

I call her Elsie W.

These are her stories.

What you are about to read is true. Only the names and locations have been changed to protect the innocent (namely, me).



Oh, and unlike the Coen Brothers and their wonderful series "Fargo"...when I say it's all true...I MEAN IT!  

A review you can use: More best pictures?

Hello all!  

So I wasn't able to see all 9 films nominated for best picture, but I did manager to catch two more, to get my total to 7.  I'll review "Arrival" and "Hacksaw Ridge" and then make my pick for best picture.

Arrival:

This one is a thinker, to be sure.  But let's start with the acting.  Amy Adams takes the lead here as a linguist enlisted by the US government to talk to a pod of aliens who have landed in Montana, and in a number of other places around the world.  She tries to work together with international linguists and one skeptical mathematician (Jeremy Renner) to find out why the aliens are on Earth and what they want.  This might be the best I've seen Adams, who has become somewhat of a one note for me lately. Here she tackles a plot that is on a fine line between clever and second rate sci fi  (and it falls on the side of very clever, BTW) and she handles it with a depth I've not seen from her.  Jeremy Renner is serviceable, although the point of his character is pretty much lost until the end, and then it's a little bit of a "Well he had to be there because the script said so" moment.  This is far deeper than some run of the mill sci fi flick, and it's going to appeal to a far larger audience.  Possibly the most cerebral of all the films nominated for Best Picture, this one will spark heated debates about time and the future.  

Hacksaw Ridge:

I have no problem saying this is my favorite of the movies nominated for Best Picture, and it

shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who reads my reviews with any regularity.  The TRUE STORY (check!) of a Wold War II hero (CHECK!) told in a no holds bar manner (think "Saving Private Ryan" BIG CHECK!) and staring Andrew Garfield as a Conscientious Objector who was the only American soldier sent to the front lines without a gun...and he managed to save 75 soldiers' lives serving as a medic during the battle of Okinawa.) Desmond Doss, our hero, is the first conscientious objector to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.  RING A DING DING.  So yes, I loved the movie, warts and all (this not for the faint of heart.)  War buffs, history buffs are all going to love this and if you're an Andrew Garfield fan, this is a MUST WATCH.  He's my pick for Best Actor.  The depth of emotion and strength of character it took to make this film work is on his shoulders. Watch for a surprisingly good performance by Vince Vaughn.

So...who's going to win Best Picture, Sarah?

Well, I know I'd like to see Hacksaw Ridge or Hidden Figures win, but reality is that the Oscar voters are made up of Hollywood insiders and Hollywood has all but wet its pants over "La La Land."   I guess I'm okay with any of the other 8 films winning, so long as "Manchester by the Sea" gets shut out.  

As for the other race I care about...Best Actor...again, I would LOVE to see Andrew Garfield get the nod, but again, it's going to go to someone less deserving.  Denzel Washington is the crowd favorite, but the sick, sad fact of the matter is that Casey Affleck is probably going to win for his cardboard stiff work in "Manchester."  I heard someone on the radio say it took a lot of restraint to do what he did in that film.  I disagree. I think it took a lot of lack of talent to be that blank faced for a full 2 hours and 17 minutes.

Best Director...again, we have a couple Hollywood heavy hitters. Mel Gibson should win for "Hacksaw" but he's persona non grata in the Liberal LA LA Land, so I think the real race is between Denzel  Washington for Fences and Kenneth Lonergan for Manchester although Barry Jenkins may surprise everyone for Moonlight. The voters may split and give Damien Chazelle the Oscar for La La Land and then toss Lonergan the writing award for Manchester.  

So my picks, if you're betting:  

Best Picture:  La La Land

Best Actor: Casey Affleck  (gag)

Best Director:  Damien Chazelle

A Review You Can Use! Best Pictures?

Hello!  So it's that time of year, the time of year when movies we wouldn't normally go see become the center of the universe because Oscar says so.

Of the nine films nominated this year for Best Picture I've seen five, with plans to see the rest, although I may not because two of them (Fences and Moonlight) are currently no longer in theaters but aren't on video yet.  Meanwhile, Arrival and Hacksaw Ridge will be out on video before the awards, to I'll manage at least 7 of the 9.

That said, I've seen five and I'm here to review those that I've seen.  Ready?

Hidden Figures:

The pretty much untold story of three African American women who used their mathematical brilliance to help launch astronaut John Glenn in to orbit.

This is everything a movie goer could ask for.  Based on a true story:  Check.  Not a piece of history that's been beaten to death, but something that actually educates us on a moment in time that your high school history class didn't have time to teach you:  Check. Dramatic, entertaining, funny: Check.  Great music: Check.  Well written and true to the times: Check  Time flies by while you're watching it and you find yourself standing up and applauding:  CHECK.  In a perfect world this would be a perfect movie and honestly it's got to be a front runner for best picture.  Stellar performances (When Kevin Costner is a secondary character you know the picture's going to be great!) all around and Octavia Spencer gets the nomination for best supporting, (and I'm going to argue that Taraji P. Henson's performance FAR outshines anything Meryl Streep did in "Florence Foster Jenkins" so there's your snub.)  (Still in Theaters.)

Hell or High Water:

Fans of "The Big Short" and "99 Homes" are going to love this fictional "banks are evil" buddy picture. Ben Foster and Chris Pine are brothers who rob specific banks to save the family ranch.  Their reason behind the crimes will ring true with many Americans.  Jeff Bridges is nominated for best supporting actor for his role as a crusty almost retired Texas ranger.  Really this wasn't a stretch for Bridges, he's basically redoing his role in "True Grit."  Ben Foster is once again not nominated for his beautiful work.  (He should have gotten a best supporting nod for "3:10 to Yuma.") and Chris Pine shows us something we've not seen from him before: deeply emotional work that has nothing to do with the Starship Enterprise.  While this is every bit as worthy as any other movie on the list  (and more so than some) I don't think it has a chance in Hell  (see what I did there?) of winning best Picture. Still, it's an A+ in my book, and well worth a look.  (Currently on video.)


Manchester by the Sea: 


The death of his older brother brings a man back to his hometown to face his past.

Sounds like a good start, right?  Wrong.  THIS IS A BAD MOVIE.   I realize it's probably the front runner for best of everything, but this is a hot mess of a pointless movie.  I go back to the year "Titanic" was nominated for everything and people were losing their MINDS over the fact that Leo di Caprio wasn't nominated for best actor.    Well, said many of the geniuses  (Like my husband) the problem with Leo's part in that movie was that it was static. There was no growth, the character stayed the same from start to finish.

Casey Affleck not only doesn't grow emotionally, he doesn't change facial expression for the ENTIRE MOVIE.  The run time on this is 2 hours and 17 minutes.  You would think that in that kind of run time there would be, oh I don't know, a moment where he's frowning, or a hint of a smile. Nope.  Nothing. He is a blank face the whole time.  The first twenty minutes are painfully dull. The ending is a head scratcher that tells me they ran out of money before the story was finished.  The editing is horrible. There are moments of dialogue that lead the viewer to the idea that something deeper is going on, that there's some big mystery of a back story...and yet nothing comes of it.  You walk away feeling like whole chunks of the script were cut out to make way for endless shots of BOATS ON WATER. WE GET IT.  THEY LIVE BY THE SEA.  THERE ARE BOATS! How about explaining what that woman meant when she said, "He is never to be allowed back in here."  WHY?  What did he do?  Why don't you want him hired?  WHAT IS GOING ON?

And as if that's not enough, the story is so depressing, so monotone, it feels like it's taken too much prozac.  Like the characters would get angry, but you know, they're too busy being depressed.  Oh sure, there are flashes of emotion. There's a breath here and there of a heartbeat, but then we all get back in that SUV and drive through the woods and look at boats on the water.

People said this movie made them cry.  Honestly, it's SO DARK it becomes a farce and my friend and I wound up laughing halfway through because it's too much.  There's grief, there's loss, and then there's this endless blather of red herrings, unexplained longing glances, pointless hints, and dialogue delivered like it's from a high school kid who was forced to be in the play.

If Casey Affleck wins best Actor for this complete waste of air, I may give up on the Oscars completely.




Lion:

You probably haven't seen this film, but you MUST.  The story of a young Indian boy who gets separated from his family and winds up on the streets of Calcutta. He is picked up by an adoption agency and adopted by and Australian couple.  Once he's grown up, he goes on a quest to find his birth family.

This movie is EVERYTHING "Manchester by the Sea" is not.  It's a true story, it's dark, it's depressing, and yet it's uplifting and at the end you're crying like a baby and you don't even care.

Sunny Pawar is the cutest person in the world  and draws the viewer in with his utter charm and honesty. You just want to take the kid in and make him a sandwich. This is a movie that catches you and won't let go. There isn't a moment that's not connected, there isn't a disjointed, out of place bit of dialogue.  Beautifully acted, beautifully shot, and utterly satisfying, THIS should be best picture!

LA LA Land:

I'm not as in love with La La Land and maybe the rest of the world is.  It's utterly charming, there's no denying it. Emma Stone/Ryan Gosling is a far more fun, less over exposed super movie couple than Jennifer Lawrence/Bradley Cooper.  (Not that anyone was asking me, but you know, I had to get that in there.)  Stone/Gosling are adorable, cute, emotional from start to finish. This is a joyful film, full of color, music, and light.  Where it falls short for me might be something outside the movie itself. The film was sold as a "love letter to Hollywood" so I sort of went in with a stale taste in my mouth because so much of Hollywood have become pretty self-righteous, humorless podium thumpers of late.  (For the record, I'm not political and I don't subscribe to a party.  I just think entertainers getting an award should say thank you and find someplace else to make speeches.)  Writing this nearly a week after I saw it, I realize the only real problem I have with the film is I felt betrayed by the ending.  Otherwise, this is a charmer.  Stone and Gosling may want to think about doing a few more musicals.  It's chemistry that just works. I feel like both will ride the Golden Globes wave to an Oscar. And if this is all that's standing between us and "Manchester by the Sea" being crowned best picture, then I say YES, make this best picture!


There you have the first five. I have four more to go and only a couple weeks to get there.  Let's hope I can make better Oscar pics than I have in the past!  (I would LOVE to win first place at my Oscar Party!_

BIG BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT!

Hello all!  I know it's been more than two months since I settled down to chat with you.  I have a really good reason.

I'm super excited to announce the RE-RELEASE of my beloved book, "Not While I'm Chewing!"  This time around I've signed with Reji Laberji Writing and Publishing and they have done some amazing work to make Elsie W bigger, badder, and all around better!

If you're in the area, I would LOVE for you to come see me next weekend as listed above.  TWO DATES!

If not, the book with new edits, new cover art, and a whole new outlook is available On Amazon!

Sneak Peak Sunday: SUPERHERO IN SUPERIOR!

Hello all!

I know it's been a long time since I've blogged here, but I have a very good reason!

I've just published my NEW Nora Hill Mystery:  Superhero in Superior!  

As of today it's available in print form only at the Createspace store or on Amazon. (Remember, indie authors get more of the purchase price back if you order on Createspace!)

Digital form will be available in about another week.

I'm so excited about this series and especially this book,and I hope you are too!

So today, after a long absence, I give you a sneak peak into Superhero in Superior!

The woman at the front desk is deeply engrossed in what’s on the TV in the lobby, so when I step up to the counter, I’m basically breaking her trance-like direct connection to the thing.

            “Hello. Welcome to the Super 8. Do you have a reservation?”

            “No.” I wait for her cheery manner to change. I’m surprised when it doesn’t. Her smile and the twinkle in her eyes doesn’t fade one whit.

            “Okay then, let’s get your information. Name?”

            We go through the list of personal information questions and by the end of it, this woman, Mary, and I are best buds. Sort of. She’s a chatty lady, somewhere in her late fifties or early sixties, with one of those very comfortable figures that reminds a person of a pillow and a very soft blanket piled in the corner. I study her, hoping to find some outstanding feature other than her dress size and general softness. It’s not like I can call her “Blanket lady” the whole time I’m here.

            Mary breaks into my thoughts. “Oh would you look at that? That poor child.”

            She’s back in her trance, staring at the TV, and I join her, watching a news story about a boy, who looks like he’s someplace between eight and ten, walking out of a courthouse. He’s crying and he looks like he’s being dragged.

            “Looks like the parents lost their rights. Good,” Mary says.

            A whisper of a headache starts behind my eyes. I try to blink it away, but I know it’s too late. This is a child I’m going to have to care about. My headache, which is getting worse every second, tells me this child is going to be missing and in danger very soon and I’m going to be the one to find him

            Not again.

            This trip to Superior keeps getting better and better.

            I check the seating in the lobby, looking for a soft place to land. If this headache gets any worse, a black out is sure to follow.

            “And would you look at those two, walking out in tears like they’re sad. Sad they won’t have that precious boy to punch around anymore.”

            Mary’s tone is sharp and cold which surprises me because in the short time I’ve interacted with her, she’s been nothing but an overwhelming voice of kindness. I look at the TV again, squinting because I’m also fighting a bulldog of a headache now, and I must have missed the parents because all I see are the boy and the two older people who seem to be shepherding him away from something off screen. I blink, able to ease to pain a little, and relieved that I’ve staved off the blackout, at least for the moment.

            Some people get a series of warning signs before they faint. Not me. I get the headache and then I’m out. Next thing I know I’m on the floor someplace and someone, invariably, is trying to call for an ambulance. I’m not a fan of hospitals, doctors, medical personnel in general, having spent so much of my early years being poked and prodded and stared at like some kind of lab experiment.

            “That’s quite the story,” Mary chatters, breaking me out of my drift back in time. “The family is new to town. That boy, James or something his name is. He started at Northern Lights Elementary just after Christmas. He started showing up with bruises on his face and arms, poor child. He kept saying it was nothing, but the school called Social Services and they took him away from the parents for abuse. Now, finally, they’re keeping the parents away from him. The foster parents are filing for adoption, I hear.”

            I can’t take my eyes away from the TV screen. The camera is now firmly on the child and I have to say, I’ve seen my share of kids who hate their parents, and this does not look like one of them. This kid is reaching out, behind the foster parents, who could be his grandparents, they’re so old, and he’s reaching toward two people I surmise are the parents in question. I can’t tell for sure because I only see their backs as they walk away from the camera. It’s hard to watch the raw emotion on the boy’s face. But this is local news and it’s the lead story, so they run that clip over and over while reading the report about the court case.

            “Now maybe he’ll be able to live free from fear,” Mary says.

            There’s something else that bothers me about that kid: he’s wearing a long sleeved shirt. It’s a long sleeved Green Bay Packers’ shirt. Granted, it’s not exactly Miami Beach up here in the north woods, but it’s easily too warm for long sleeves. I sense I’m pretty close to black out mode. I’d like to pass out on a bed, rather than on the tile floor.

            “Is that my key?” My voice sounds very far away.

            “Oh yes, where is my brain? Here you go, you’re in 204, at the top of the stairs.”

            “Thank you,” I manage before making a bee line up the stairs. I struggle with the key card, but I make it to the bed for a safe landing as everything around me goes black.

The Olympics are over...but what is that to writers?

Good evening all!

Sorry it's been a while. I've been wrapped up most of the summer with the updates on my Rock Harbor Chronicles plus I've been working my way through the first draft of "Superhero in Superior."  (Follow up to Missing in Manitowoc, I'm very excited about it!)  Plus, I've been working at farmer's markets getting the word out and getting ready for my very first book club talk in a few weeks.

(Want me to come speak to your book club?  Are you in the Milwaukee/Madison Wisconsin area?  contact me! Otherwise, I can skype a book club anywhere!)

Also I've been wrapped up in the Olympics big time.  How wrapped up?  Well, It's been almost two weeks since the closing ceremonies, and I still have Olympic coverage on my DVR I need to watch.  I mean, I kept up on the stuff USA was good at because it's impossible to not hear the results. But handball, sychronized swimming, table tennis, these are all sports that the USA is NOT good at and therefore if I watch it now or if I watch it in six months, it'll still be a surprise to me.

As I look back on my life, I know the Olympics have been a big influence. My first early memories were of Olga Korbut wowing us all in gymnastics in the 1972 games in Munich, and Nadia Comaneci  in Montreal.  

Granted their routines look laughable today...although Olga's flip was outlawed as being too dangerous.

Every four years, and now, every two, the world gathered to watch athletes compete in games that boggled our minds.  Here in the US we saw a lot of swimming, track, and gymnastics.  (Mostly because in the days before DVR and multi channeled networks, you only got three hours of coverage a night.  In the winter we saw skiing, skating, and, of course in hockey in 1980 Lake Placid, hockey.

I still weep when they play the Olympic hymn and when they light the flame.  I watch intensely (and become and expert at) athletes whose names I will not remember in a month, if I ever learn them doing things I've never heard of.  (human steeplechase?  It's a thing!)  I'm mesmerized by the different nations, so many nations now, which is different from when I was a girl. The USSR of my day is now, what, a dozen different countries?  And guess what?  They all RULE at rhythmic gymnastics.  

My parents gave me their take on world politics when I was a kid.  If a Soviet gymnast fell off the balance beam, my mother would say, "That little girl won't get dinner tonight." And I'd look at those wan, dark eyed girls and think, "Oh I hope they win so they get dinner!"  

I was four when the terrorists shot the Israeli athletes, and while I remember Olga Korbut, I think my parents may have shielded me from that.  But looking back to that, and every time politics worms it's way into the Olympics, I'm enraged.  1980 Summer Olympics, President Jimmy Carter put himself on my list of people I don't like when he boycotted the Games. 1984, Summer Games, Soviet Union, same thing.  Stupid politics.  Munich 1972, and act of terrorism brought on by...politics.  1996 Atlanta Games bombing.  And the 1936 Games...pretty much anything Hitler touched. We could keep going, but those are some of the highlights.

See, it's my belief that the Olympics are the one thing on this planet that should be devoid of anything political.  It's a rare time for the world to come together and play games and cheer and maybe realize that hey, we may not look the same, we may not speak the same language, but we all want fair competition, we all want good Games, we all want to get to know those who are different from us. We want the stories about this runner from South Africa whose mother wasn't allowed to compete outside of her country because of apartheid.  (Wade van Niekerk, for those of you struggling to remember the name.)  We love the story about the US shot putter whose father's customers put together a crowd funding account so he could watch his son.  (Darrell Hill.)

As a writer sports fascinate me because I don't think people get whipped up and passionate about things as much or as often as we do about sports. I mean, I don't watch track and field coverage EVER.  But there was a girl from my home town (Gwen Jorgensen) who won a gold medal in the women's triathalon an no US woman has ever done that, so yes, I was howling at my TV the whole time she was swimming and biking and running.  (I should have been doing anything else.) I was elated,

Writers often try to convey passion. It doesn't matter the genre you're writing.  You try to get passion on the page.  In sports, I think the Olympics is possibly the last best place where pure passion reigns.  Gone are the days of wide eyed amateurs competing. Sports is a huge business.  We won't have a "Miracle on Ice" again any time soon.  Except maybe in men's basketball.  (Which is a farce I will not condone.  Basketball, tennis, golf...they can all go away or become an amateur game again.  It's boring watching the same people you see on TV all the time go for gold when it's so much more fun to watch someone you've never heard of win.)

But still, if you want to see passion, look away from the cynical super pampered pro athletes and look to the Olympics where there is still fire, there is still a true competitive spirit and there is PASSION.  From Michael Phelps down to the tiny little Brazillian gymnast who could barely see over the balance beam (Falvia Saraiva) you know they are going to give it everything because win, and you get the gold. Lose, and you get nothing.

I think we writers can be inspired by that attitude. Give it your all, shut out the noise, shut out everything that has nothing to do with what you're doing. Write that perfect scene, that perfect moment, that perfect line of dialogue without thinking about the naysayers.  Be passionate, give it everything you have.

And, maybe you're not going to be the next Stephen King. Maybe you're not going to make millions on your writing. then what?

At least give us a great story.  Like my two heroes, two young runners one from the US and one from New Zealand. Abbey D'Agnostino and Nikki Hamblin.  They may fade from the annals of track and field.  I doubt anyone remembers their names now, other than their family members and teammates.  I had to look it up and I swore to commit their names to memory. (But to be fair, I had to look up everyone else's name, too.)  But you know what they gave us? They gave us the best story from the Olympics, not one of winning, but one of passion for the sport and love for our fellow man.

It was a perfect story no matter what the ending was.

And isn't that what we're all striving for, as we write?  Not for money, not for gold, but for that perfect moment in our writing that will be remembered long after our names are forgotten?

7 years,7 novels...and 1 blog with Ilona Fridl!

Hello all!

As you know, from time to time, I invite my fellow authors to come in here and do my work for me.  My friend and fellow romance writer, Ilona Fridl  has been a guest a couple times, but never quite like this.  Over the last seven years, this remarkable author has written and released SEVEN novels, all of them really, really, really good.  So today I'm having Ms. Fridl take over and give us an idea of what that much awesomeness looks like!  

Take it away Ilona!

Celebrating Seven Years-Seven Novels

Thank you, Sarah, for allowing me to crow a bit on your blog. I really don't want to turn this into a advertisement, so I'll just tell you about each one of my books that I love so much.

To my mind, The Wild Rose Press is one of the most supportive publishers in the industry and they should get more credit for the fantastic novels they put out. They are celebrating their tenth anniversary, so they must be doing something right. I've been with them for seven years and have had a novel out every year. The staff of editors, artists, and all the behind the scenes people are hard working and there when you need them. I'm so happy they discovered me! Lol

Anyway, here's a list of my children and some background on the books:

Silver Screen Heroes was actually my second story. I decided to write a series, Dangerous

Times, because that seemed to be what was selling. I always had been interested in the silent movie industry and I grew up around Hollywood, so I had been to places where all this happened. Just added a dose of gangsters and a cup of prohibition, and a suspense story baked to perfection! This was the start of the Shafer family saga with Zeke and Addy.

Golden North picks up with Zeke and Addy escaping the gangster family and going to Juneau, Alaska Territory to join Zeke's brother, Josh. Josh had purchased an old theater building and needed help fixing it up. Addy's cousin, Muriel, was a young widow of the crime family and ran up to join them when the family wanted her baby. Let's just say, that the crime family eventually finds them. This one is mainly Josh and Muriel's story, but two minor characters steal the show, Sheriff Amos Darcy and Detective Sarah Lakat.

Bronze Skies is the third book in the series, and it takes place

twenty years later with the next generation of the Shafer family. Tom Shafer is the son of Zeke and Addy. He is in the Army Air Corp when WWII breaks out. Pam Wright is his childhood sweetheart and, through her eyes, we see what it was like on the homefront during the war.

Prime Catch was a spin-off of the Dangerous Times series and features Sheriff Amos Darcy and Deputy Sarah Lakat. I loved those two characters from Golden North and wanted to give them their own story. In this one, they had to solve a series of murders at Alaskan canneries. They finally admit their attraction to each other.

Iris Rainbow was the first story I completed. It didn't fit the romance genre, so I put it out as women's fiction. Tim Olson and Teri Darden meet when they are young and foolish then circumstances split them up. They meet thirty years later after other marriages. This is set in California during the sixties, so I didn't have to research very much, because I grew up in the Los Angeles area in that time frame.

That Monroe Girl is the western I always wanted to do. It's set in Tombstone, Arizona Territory in the 1880s. Jake Spencer is a newspaperman and Cat Monroe is a girl from Virginia in search of her family. I have visited Tombstone before, so I had the advantage of visualizing the town in the story.

A Sacrificial Matter is my first novella. It was a visit back to Amos and Sarah after they opened their detective agency in Juneau, Alaska. Spiritualism was a fad during the 1920s and this one has a sinister twist to it. I want to write more mysteries with the Darcys, so stay tuned.

A little teaser about my work in progress, it's set in 1880s Waukesha, Wisconsin during the resort era. No title for it yet, but my heroine is disabled. Fighting a disability myself, gives me empathy for what she's going through.

If you want to see blurbs, excerpts, and reviews for these books, go to my website by clicking here!

I know I said, I didn't want to sound like an advertisement, but if you go to The Wild Rose Press site (CLICK HERE) and click Specials, my books are being featured two weeks at a time for a $.99 download.

Get to my Facebook page by clicking here!

If you go to Amazon by clicking right here you will have a list of my books and my author's page.

Ilona Fridl is a transplanted Californian to Wisconsin and lives with her husband, Mark, and her computer. She belongs to Romance Writers of America, and a student of Kathie Giorgio at AllWriters. She has written articles and short stories for magazines plus her seven novels.

Thank you so much for guest blogging today, Ilona!  I know some of your readers and mine are going to have questions for you!  READERS!  Ilona will be checking in through out the course of the day, so feel free to comment and ask questions below!