Well, you found my new website. I am glad.

After a few years of blogging, and many more creating fiction and non-fiction, I offer a website devoted to the craft of writing, the books I’ve created, and more. The posts from my blogs — joanlivingston.blogspot.com and joanlivingstoncooks.blogspot.com — have found a second home here. Those who visit those blogs will be directed to this website since I work best doing one thing at a time.

Thanks to Andrew Oxford, my tech-savvy friend and colleague, for building this website. We aimed for a lean, clean design. I have a few details still to work out.

An untouched photo of our house captured by our  neighbor Mary McPhail Gray.

So, why do I write? That’s simple. I love to write.

First I wrote poetry, because admittedly I couldn’t sustain a thought in prose. Working as a reporter changed that. I also listened to people talk and watched them behave. I am grateful for the experience. By the way, my day job is managing editor of a newspaper, The Taos News.

So, who do I write for? I would say adult and young readers who crave a good story. My hope is they forget they are reading when they pick up a story I’ve created — and can’t put it down.

Let me tell you about my adult books. I love strong characters and often small towns like the one where I used to live in Western Massachusetts. Here is a pitch for The Sweet Spot: Love and mis-love, secrets and discovery, rich and poor, old families and newcomers, deep roots and fresh starts, violence and peace. You can read more about The Sweet Spot, plus an excerpt, in the books section of this website.

Could this story happen where I once lived? Yes. Did it happen? Only in my novel.

The Swanson Shuffle was inspired by my experience living and working in a psychiatric halfway house. That’s a work in progress.

Then, there is my Twin Jinn series for middle-grade readers. My concept: After escaping their master, a family of genies — Elwin and Mira Jinn and their twins, Jute and Fina — goes into hiding among humans. In the first book, they perform magic in a carnival. In the second they go to public school, where they create an alchemy machine for a science fair project. For the third, they live on a horse sanctuary in New Mexico and learn about new powers. I am working a fourth.

I am fond of the twins. They are mischievous and competitive. Their patient parents set boundaries for when and how they can use their special powers, but happily for us, that doesn’t always work.

I certainly have more to write about writing. Thank you, and please come back.