Hello Inspy Readers! I’m continuing my posts about real-life novel settings, this time focusing on Los Angeles and Malibu, California. While my first two novels in the Southern Heart Series are mostly set in Oxford, Mississippi, the characters do end up traveling to California. These West Coast cities are very far from where I live, […]
Dreaming of a Castle Wedding… (Plus #FreeBook)
I know, right? What was I thinking? For a romance novelist who prefers beach weddings (and the occasional landlocked weddings), I don’t know what came over me when I decided to be adventurous and write a romance novella with a wedding set in a castle. Perhaps to other authors, it’s no big deal, but to […]
Real Life Novel Settings: Oxford, Mississippi #Giveaway
Hello Inspy Readers! I’d thought I’d spend a few of my post talking about my real-life novel settings, starting with my first novel Leaving Oxford. Oxford, Mississippi, is a small college town in Northern Mississippi hills about three hours from where I live. I spent time going to school there way back in the 80s. […]
A Season for Writing
I’m a planner. No, I’m a super planner. I love planning things almost as much as I love doing the actual things. I can spend a year planning a family vacation. Imagine how unprepared I was for the curveballs of this year. I had big plans in my personal life and for my books. I […]
Top 10 Small-Town Book Vacations
There is something about small-town stories that I just love. The quirky characters, the picturesque settings, the sense of community! Since my summer vacation plans are on hold, I’ve compiled a list of my favorite fictional small towns due for a literary visit. I especially love when I can read many books set in one […]
Your Vacation between the Pages…plus #Giveaway!
Hi Everyone! I’m writing today about vacation planning. Yep, vacation planning. Oh, I know, we’re supposed to stay at home, but you know as well as I do that readers like us can go anywhere we want, any time. All we need is a good book! To start my post today, I’ve got a list […]
The Heart of Community
Ask my readers what makes my novels special, and many of them will say, “community.” The term comes up in reviews often enough that I’ve added it to my tagline: Engaging characters. Strong communities. Deep faith. Sweet romance. I’m currently writing within my fifth and sixth series, and I can definitely see the underpinnings of […]
Hey! What about Thanksgiving?!
Here in the US, it seems like the last wisps of smoke from the fireworks have barely begun to fade from the July sky when all the craft and hobby stores begin rolling out the fall and Christmas stuff. It never fails, immediately people begin lamenting it coming “earlier every year” and grousing about seeing […]
Small Town Girl
Tomorrow marks the four-year anniversary of our family’s move to Waukesha, Wisconsin, for my husband to take a position as a pastor here. With a population of 72,000, this is the biggest city we’ve ever lived in by far. And it’s part of the Greater Milwaukee area, which has a population of over 1.5 million. […]
FALL IN LOVE IN AFRICA #giveaway
Last weekend, I discovered that Netflix has a new movie releasing November 1st. I can’t wait! Holiday in the Wild looks like such a fun movie, and it’s set right here in Africa… actually, in the land of my birth, Zambia. To be honest though, when my son told me it had orphaned elephants, the […]