Inventing geography is a ton of fun! Right up there with finding character inspiration photos and house floor plans and music that matches the mood or theme of the story. My characters need places to hang out, which means they need a town with a few amenities even if they live out on a ranch […]
Putting Real Life On Hold # Giveaway
I’m in the throes of a deadline again. When I turned in the last book, I took a month off. I wrote for a month. Then my editor sent my revisions on the book I just turned in. Once I finished revisions, I had to supply cover details and artwork. I finished that just in […]
Of Babes and Book Babies (plus cover reveal)
We all love babies, don’t we? And the anticipation of their arrival… Two weeks ago, we had my daughter-in-law’s baby shower. It was wonderful and I was able to hand over the myriads of pink and frilly clothes I’d been buying for months…from the day after we found out that we’d be blessed with our […]
Goodbye, farewell, auf wiedersehen, adieu… ending a book series
I love writing books in series. I love seeing characters reappear in other stories. I love that characters who may not play a huge role in one book get to shine in their own. I love being able to have a series story thread that links books together. I love creating as many connections as […]
An Opossum in Fiction: Janet W. Ferguson’s The Art of Rivers
I’ve had cats and dogs in my novels, even a hairless cat, but in The Art of Rivers, I wanted to have a more unusual pet. I asked my good friend who is a veterinarian for suggestions. She had a friend with a possum. (Technically, they are opossums, but in Mississippi with don’t say or […]
Inside a Writer’s Brain (reader beware)
Have you ever read a book and wondered, what on earth must go on inside this author’s mind to come up with this stuff? Spoiler alert: it’s chaos in there. Most of us aren’t even sure which way is up half the time. Between story ideas, editing, marketing, and obligations to our non-author lives, it […]
Inspiration Everywhere # Giveaway
I used to write in a corner of the living room. Until two years ago, when our roof started leaking, the air conditioner quit, and the furnace died. Since we had to get a loan for repairs, we decided to go big or go home with a complete remodel and an office addition for me. […]
First Drafts!
How do authors write the first drafts of their novels? There must be a thousand and one ways, aren’t there? Let’s find out. I asked InspyRomance authors how they write their first drafts, and here is a sampling of what they say. “I do all my writing on a computer. I write best there because […]
My Trip to the US Open Tennis Championships by Merrillee Whren
As some of you may know, I’m an avid tennis player and fan. I play tennis at least three times a week, often more. Here’s a photo of one of my USTA teams that is headed to sectional playoffs in December. I’m the first one on the left in the front row. I’ve been to […]
Nothing Like a Challenge
by: Staci Stallings Okay, so you might not know this as a reader. It’s one of those first obstacles most writers have. It goes something like this: “There’s this song I want to use in my book. It’s a really popular song, and it will fit really well with this story. So, what do I […]