Son number one announced the other day that he just read a report where scientists haven’t really figured out why human beings need to sleep. Hmmm… Yes, there’s the whole, we’ll go crazy without sleep, but then the question still arises, why?  Why can’t simple rest do the job? So I pondered the question deeply and I think I, little ol’ Ann Frailey, have the answer –…

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It has finally gotten hot again.  Well, the winter was cold and now the summer is hot.  Who doesn’t get this?  You’d think that human beings were born believing the world revolved around them and that Mom’s could keep the sun from getting too hot or the wind from getting too cool.  Whoops – they do? Well,there’s another misconception blown to the stars.

Thank Heaven…

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This Week’s Highlights:

1)  My second son returned from a trip to Alaska, where he was visiting my brother, who is a priest up there.  He had a great time – saw moose (they really do exist), helped at the parish, climbed mountains, met some really nice people, went fishing and drank some great coffee. I told him I wouldn’t meet him at the airport with a to-do list in…

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First off I want to thank Ellen Gable who invited me to do this Writing Process Blog Tour. Ellen is the President of The Catholic Writers Guild and is a very accomplished writer in her own right.  I have her book links at the bottom of this post.  Be sure to check them out! Here’s a picture of one of her latest books.

I am currently working on a new book that takes the…

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Every summer I hear the same thing – at least for a while – “I don’t have anything to do.”  I can fix that problem easily enough with a chore list, but another more fun approach is to create a reading list. Since I have children at a variety of ages I have a variety of reading levels to consider, so I make up different lists.  I have one Read-Aloud list for the youngest kids…

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As I have been racking my brain for a new novel plot, I recently checked my email and discovered a request from a reporter for the Beaumont Enterprise.



She asked if I would give her an interview regarding my novel, "The Long Road from…

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During Nicholas's journey, the reader finds that he is being fostered by Miss Boudreaux.  When I was writing this novel, I sometimes contemplated, "What if The Bum never moved in with Miss Boudreaux?" 



Would Nicholas stay until legal age and take care of his foster brothers and sisters? Or, would he run away regardless and start a new life?  It's hard to say, because if you've read the story, Miss Boudreaux's love interest, aka "The Bum" is the catalyst for…

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I hate that question.  I bet if you were to interview as many authors as you could (me included), you would find that one of those authors absolutely HATES interviews.  And, if you haven't figured it out by now, I am that author.

Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't want to get the word out about my latest…

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It’s been a very long time since I have updated this blog, I was at one time, very active at this site while I was trying to market my 1^st novel, “SCHLEP” as a “micro-published” novel that I was, essentially, doing myself. Although still an advocate of this self-publishing model, I must admit my worldwide sales of this novel number less than 1,000 copies and I am too creatively engaged to simply keep pimping the same novel over and over. I made a choice at the first of this year…

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For those of you not familiar with the website "Authonomy," it's a novelist's delight. Imagine wordsmiths from all over the world reading your novel and offering useful and valuable critiques in order to polish your book to it's best. That is what authonomy does. It's also a U.K. sister site of Harper Collins Publishers with the highest ranked books via the critquers submitted to the editor for possible publication!



I've been blessed to receive some incredible comments and… Continue

Post from JR's notes-



In "The Long Road to Extradition," part of the plot involves Nicholas discovering his sexuality and falling in love. In the time reference of the book, being gay was still a very difficult subject for a small town to embrace of it's citizens. In fact, it could be downright dangerous. While the gay community has made tremendous strides in equal rights, there is obviously still alot of work to do.



There is a reason I portrayed the MC, Nicholas as gay. In…

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Since my novel is set in Groves and Beaumont, Texas, I thought I would introduce you to my hometown. People from this area call it the "G-T," short for Golden Triangle. The reason why is pretty simple, the areas that are listed together as a community form the shape of a triangle if you were to look on a map (Beaumont, Port Arthur and Orange). Some of the better known areas are: Beaumont and Port Arthur.…

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You were thinking that JR would be writing his own blog? Nah, that would be left to a freelancer such as myself. It's not that he's beneath the idea of writing his own blog, it's just that...well, he's a recluse and doesn't find that much about himself to be interesting. I, on the other hand am a freelance writer and can find something interesting about ketchup if that is what the job requires. So, when I was contacted by his management, I thought I would go for the job since I need to pay my… Continue

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There's a warning in 12-step programs, whose members are notorious for running away: Where you go, you bring yourself. A card-carrying member of diverse versions of those programs and plenty cynical since I am a serial runaway I expected that to be the theme of "The Mango Tree Cafe." It wasn't. Actually, it was a combo platter of Wally Lamb and Joseph Campbell.



Winner of the… Continue