Until I became a published writer, I had no idea what “DNF” stood for. I didn’t belong to Goodreads. I’d never heard of BookBub. I didn’t check reviews on Amazon or Barnes & Noble before I bought books. After I signed my first publishing contract, though, I quickly made a Goodreads profile. Then I started […]
When Books Imitate Headlines + A Giveaway
One story is currently dominating the news headlines in the UK. A member of the Royal Family has been exposing all manner of dirty laundry—including unmentionables—in the runup to his new memoir, which was a bestselling book even before it was released. An early reviewer of my latest book, Within the Storm, asked whether I’d […]
Achievements in 2022 #Giveaway
In my last post of 2021, I listed some disappointments of the year and goals for the new one. Number 1 on the list: Reading for pleasure. Since I didn’t read any books just for fun in 2021, I set a goal of 12 for 2022. I didn’t really count as I went and didn’t […]
Low Drama Romance
The very first writing conference I ever went to was the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writing Conference. It was this huge, sort of overwhelming thing to me. So many authors! So many class options! Since I had, clutched in my hands, the finished draft of the book that would come to be Wisdom to Know, I […]
Christians in Love: Romance Awareness Month (and #Giveaway)
Did you know that August is Romance Awareness Month? It works out for me because this is also my wedding anniversary month. We usually just go out to dinner. Since we are still unpacking boxes in our new empty-nest home near the beach, we are already living at our vacation spot. So you can say […]
Behind the Scenes (of an author)
Browse the internet for a book. Purchase book. Open book. Read book. Review book. Put the book away. I was a reader before I became an author, so I remember when things were this simple for me. My biggest struggle was choosing which books I wanted to spend my Amazon gift cards on. But now, […]
Insecurity
I teach a couple of different Bible studies at church. I’m generally comfortable with my teaching style and how I do things. Sometimes a study doesn’t scratch somebody’s itch, and they stop coming. Or they have a schedule conflict and take a break for a while. Things happen. I get that. Every time somebody stops […]
To Be Seen
I was talking to someone recently about how the person people see when they look at us isn’t always who we really are. Or, more specifically, it’s not all of who we are. When that happens often enough, we can start to feel unseen – like nobody cares enough to look beyond the surface. We […]
Honest Author Talk
The other day I went to a book festival event near my hometown. This secular event had a number of high profile Australian authors speak, include Tom Kenneally (author of Schindler’s Ark which became the film Schindler’s List) and Candice Fox, who co-writes with James Patterson and has had TV shows made of her books. […]
What Do Authors Fear?
Obviously I cannot speak for every author everywhere. But if you are an author, or if you follow an author on social media, I’m certain you’ve seen the memes that revolve around this question. What do Authors Fear? Let’s look at this from a different perspective. Authors have fears as all humans do, and this […]