12 Mistakes to Avoid (in writing and in life)

I’m still working on this list and don’t expect to be done until I cock up my toes at age 100 or thereabouts. 1.      Taking yourself too seriously. 2.      Refusing to listen to feedback. 3.      Giving up. 4.      Going bathingsuit shopping in the dead of winter in...

7 things I’ve learned about writing

I follow an excellent blog, Guide to Literary Agents, with lots of good articles and such. One of the ongoing articles is “7 things I’ve Learned” and that prompted this blog because, amazingly, everyone’s Things are different. We are all ‘snowflakes’ after all, even...

On the care and feeding of muses

It is an exceptionally clear, warm and gorgeous day at the park on the side of Haleakala. The ocean, glowing blue mystery, merges with the sky in the distance and holds the floating green/purple island of Lanai, and the striated majesty of the West Maui Mountains,...

The Versatile Blogger award!

Eileen Andrews, a wonderful writer,   passed this on to me.Thanks so much Eileen! The “rule” is that I have to tell 7 things about myself. Arg. That's all this blog is! Oh well, here goes: 1. I like to paint. Not well, but with enthusiasm. 2. I collect...

Black Jasmine and NaNoWriMo have taken over my blog.

Black Jasmine is my third novel in the Hawaiian mystery series featuring Leilani Texeira, my intrepid multicultural detective. One of the cool ideas I had for the series was for her to travel to the different islands solving crimes. In this latest one set on Maui, I...

Genius- a short foray into fiction

She’s a genius, he thought, as the little girl’s hands whipped over the blocks. She folded them in her lap and he pressed the timer. 31 seconds. Unbelievable. “Very good,” he said. “This next test is called pseudoword decoding.” He handed the test to her. She looked...

Join My Email Book List

Receive not one but two welcome gift ebooks! For crime thriller and mystery lovers, you can download book 2 in the award winning Lei Crime series FREE.
If you love romance, join my romance list and receive book one in the Somewhere Series, Somewhere on St. Thomas. Join now and stay up to date on sales, new releases, freebies, and giveaways!

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Sign up for my newsletter and I'll send you a link to download Torch Ginger as a FREE welcome gift

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Author Coaching

Join Toby's author coaching newsletter for tips and news for your writing journey!

You have Successfully Subscribed!