It’s been exactly one year to the day that I last posted a blog on my website. How can it be that a year has passed so quickly? Reflecting on this, my lack of blogging activity has nothing to do with a lack of writing activity in general. On the contrary, I’ve been extremely busy…

A few days ago, I posted on @jenniferwaitteauthor about a photograph that popped up on my Instagram feed. The photograph stunned me, not only because it depicted an ethereal young girl who could easily be my character Michelle Seko at that same age but also because of what she was wearing—a black velvet dress with…

I am a week into 2021 and already I’ve digressed from my own inner dialog about plotting my course for the upcoming year. It’s quiet. I set one personal goal each new year, and it is always the same. I resolve to stay focused on what is important to me and to not let obligations…

In Lifeline to Marionette, character Michelle Seko is alluded to being a musical prodigy. It is implied through dialog that she is the musically gifted daughter of a famous composer, to whom she is estranged. In the book, two secondary characters discuss this, but not in terms of her prodigious characteristics. Through their conversation it…

I haven’t posted a blog in more than a month, and here’s why. Just prior to my Sept. 22 launch date for Lifeline to Marionette, I read a Facebook post by a represented author, who stated that someone who self-publishes a book will only sell as many books as that person has friends. At first,…

It is the eve of my book release day, and I have been reading quotes from Chuck Palahniuk, trying to find one in particular that popped up on  Instagram. I thought I had saved it. In my draft outline for my Virtual Book Release Party, I referenced it: “Insert Chuck Palahniuk quote here.” But the…

In a recent post on my Facebook Page (@jenniferwaitteauthor) and in the Acknowledgement that appears at the end of Lifeline to Marionette, I mentioned why I chose Aspen, Colorado, for the setting of this story. I lived in Aspen briefly while in my early 20s, and it left a lifelong, indelible impression on me. It…

The main character in Lifeline to Marionette is a conflicted and complex individual. My goal was to create a character who could shift the reader’s perception of her as her story unfolded. I want readers to be initially repulsed by her, then feel indifferent toward her, then suspicious of her, then concerned about her, then…

Life has a soundtrack. I grew up listening to my parents’ favorite classical music, and so it wasn’t until I started to exercise my independence that I discovered popular music. I have a vivid memory of tuning in to a rock station on a cheap radio when I was in grade school and hearing the…

Well, here I am. As I look at the title I just typed in, I rethink it, then leave it as is. In truth, I could turn back now if I wanted to. I could stop altogether if I wanted to. I’ve chosen this path, and I have full discretion to change it. But I…