Summer is winding down and it is a season for finishing things. Like this website – only two years in the making! Many thanks to the lovely Annette Thomson at Meldrum Media for her talent (and her patience).

I have also finished my latest novel (working title: Conjure Silver), the story of former parade float designer and illustrator, Marann Silver, who takes up residence in a key man office after losing her job, her boyfriend, and the roof over her head all in the same crappy day.

Because I’ve always been inclined to spice things up with a little bit of imagery, and because my heroine is an illustrator, bits of art kept finding their way into the ms.

I awkwardly classified this work as a hybrid graphic/narrative novel. Recently I learned that these art-adorned texts have an official category: Illuminated Novels.

Isn’t that nice? Illuminated, meaning (according to Web- ster): “(illuminated) decorated (a page or initial letter in a manuscript). • (illuminating) figurative help to clarify or explain (a subject or matter). • enlighten (someone) spiritually or intellectually.

To read a little bit of Marann’s story (or previously published work), check out SNIPPETS. To read additional musings, go to BLOG.

Thanks so much for visiting; please wander around and CONTACT me to let me know what you think. If you’re a fellow writer, please upload a 2-3 minute video of you reading some of your work in CASWELL’s COFFEE SHOP. (You’ll find easy to follow instructions there.) The more the merrier!