Lorijo Metz lives with her husband and little brown dog in a small town in Indiana. Though she has a degree in acting and directing, she much prefers the anonymity of the keyboard, allowing her characters to revel in the spotlight while she sits quietly sipping tea or coffee, nibbling on cookies, and dreaming up ways to complicate their lives. She is the author of Floridius Bloom and the Planet of Gloom, illustrated by Matt Phelan and published by Dial Books for Young Readers; as well as over 30 nonfiction, educational books for kids, published by Powerkids Press. WHEELS is her first middle grade novel and first venture into self-publishing. The book review site, Pocketful of Books, called WHEELS “Brilliant” and said, “It is one I know I’ll re-read, which isn’t something I say about a lot of books.” SFNetcast picked WHEELS as its June, Indie book of the month. In 2013, Lorijo made her début as a lyricist on Owen Duggan’s newest children’s cd, Puppy Dog Jig, for which she wrote the lyrics for the title track.
I finished reading The Soulkeepers, by G. P. Ching, while on vacation. Honestly, I’d downloaded it some time ago based on its cover and because it was free. Having an eBook out, myself, which I often promote with free giveaways, I’m well aware that many people download free eBooks and then never read them. (Sigh…)…
Full disclosure: Kimberly Pauley was in my writer’s group for (sadly) only a short time before she moved to London. She started writing Cat Girl’s Day Off while here in the Chicago area, and so I’d already read the first few chapters. Understand that I in no way felt obligated to read this cute little…
Just returned from a road trip down south, Savannah, Georgia way! Beautiful weather, gorgeous trees, plus lots of historic places and ghosts (or so they say…). However, it’s what happened while I was away, via the Internet, that really has me excited. SFNetcast.com, your source for indie Science Fiction on the web, is featuring me, Lorijo Metz,…
Sheepishly, I must admit, I’m just your typical hypocrite who one minute bemoans the fact that I no longer have a local bookstore to sip coffee at and browse books, and the next minute clicks over to Amazon to buy a new book. Like many, I miss being overwhelmed by a bountiful array of book…
About a week ago, I noticed one of my Twitter followers was a scalloped potato recipe. Linda’s scalloped potato recipe, to be (sort of) exact. I don’t know Linda, but I was able to get to know her scalloped potato recipe a little better by clicking on a link to it. I have to admit,…
Friday, in between trying to write two more chapters in a nonfiction series I’m working on, I spent the entire day plugging my book and its brand new shiny, lovely review from Pocketful of Books. Bottom line, once again I was at the computer all day. Today, I’m exhausted and bug-eyed, and have chosen to use…
One of the best things about eBooks is that I can highlight scenes and lines that are stunning, insightful, or simply delicious–and then easily find them again. On that note: The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern. Reading Morgenstern’s story, I felt as if I were watching a dream unfold. A mysterious, eerie, lovely, romantic, Cirque du…
With a nonfiction deadline only days away, only half a book completed (granted, it’s a book for 2nd graders so, word-wise, there’s not that much to go) and a mini marathon to walk, requiring two precious writing days away from my computer to drive to the marathon site and back, I have no business writing…
Once again, I’ve received a contract to write a few more educational books. So, in order to keep up the book review portion of my blog I’m going to shorten my reviews. Here goes… The Last Great Wizard of Yden by S.G. Rogers Who do I think would like this book? While reading The Last…
It was a chilly, rainy, Easter Sunday. We’d been to church and back, and my family, all nine hundred and ninety nine of them—okay, maybe only seventeen—were tromping around my house hunting for Easter Eggs. I was pleased because this year was going to be different. Every Easter my nephews talk me into letting them…