Happy St. Patrick’s day! I will admit to not celebrating this day very much. I usually don’t wear green–I don’t drink green drinks–not sure why. What about you? Do you celebrate this green day? I hope you enjoyed the Inspy Romance birthday bash. It’s always so much fun with so many prizes. I do love […]
Reading and Writing in a Story Universe
I don’t know that I ever thought too much about it, but soon after we write our first book, we as authors have to make a decision about book number two. Namely, does the story and the characters of book number two happen in the same “world” as book number one? And if it does, […]
First Lines and Fresh Starts
Recently, I started drafting a new contemporary Christian romance book, thus ending a writing break that had lasted several months. The time off provided exactly what I’d needed—a chance to rest my creative muscles and not feel the need to produce. It was a lovely respite, but I knew the time would come that the […]
Time to Celebrate
Birthday Bash is here! It’s time to celebrate. And there are things to celebrate. First–Inspy Romance! What an amazing place for authors and readers to unite and share their love of good books. Along the way we’ve learned a lot about each other. And it’s been fun! We’ve shared good times, hardships, and everything in […]
(Re)writing the story
As an author, I don’t always get the story right the first time. In that aspect, writing often reminds me a lot of life in general. We start out thinking we know what is going to happen next, but then the characters (or life) throw us a curveball and we adjust our path to compensate. […]
It’s Complicated: How Authors Really Feel About Their First Book
Confession: I don’t like my first book. I’m actually pretty embarrassed by it. Back in 2017 when I first wrote What Could Be, I was like a proud new first-time mama. My book baby was perfect. Beautiful. And certain to make its mark on the world. Aaaaaaand then I read it again months after I’d […]
They’re Playing Our Song
I care for my seven-month-old granddaughter Emily every weekend, and one of her favorite things to do right now is to sing. We are a musical family. We’ll randomly break into song anytime we hear a Broadway lyric or a nursery rhyme. For many years I sang in church choir and have acted in musicals […]
Writer’s Process: From First Idea to Final Formatting
Have you ever wondered what goes into writing a book? How do we as authors actual take it from idea to published novel? Every author is different, but I thought I’d give you a bit of a behind the scenes look at my process. One thing that is a bit strange for me is that […]
The End
As we come to the end of another year, I’m thinking about the ending for romances. I don’t type “The End” when I finish one of my novels. I know it’s the end, but is it a good ending, the kind of ending that will make me cry or a least give a heartfelt […]
Music and Books
Music is a big part of my life. I’ve grown up singing with my family and in church. I’m always listening to something in the car, at work, or around the house. The other day I was cleaning, and since the house was empty, I decided to play one of my favorite songs. “Alexa, play […]