You know that feeling when you’ve been running and you just have to stop and catch your breath? It’s sort of the way this year has felt to me. Like I haven’t had a chance to stop for a minute and catch up with myself. Between working two part-time jobs and editing outside of my […]
What’s Your Ideal Series Length?
Greetings! Today I’m coming at you with another question from an author who wants to know what readers think: what is YOUR ideal series length for Christian contemporary romance books? I love writing in series. I’m pretty sure it was Narelle Atkins who first encouraged me to write books in series, and now I’m wholly […]
Loss
LOSS. The word even sounds sad to me, unless you are trying to lose weight. Then it is a happy thing. When I was looking for a photo to use for this post, dozens of photos of people with scales, measuring tapes, and skinny blue jeans were the results of my search. I finally […]
Love Stories from the Road
Roadtrip! How many of you hear that word and shudder? Or do your eyes light up with joy at the thought of heading out on the open road for an adventure? Last week, I took an unexpected trip across the country. I flew one way and drove back in the other direction toward home. Thirty […]
The Thing About Nano
November is National November Writing Month (NaNo). Every November, writers can choose to join the NaNo challenge. What’s the challenge you ask? Well to write a book with 50,000 words. Now you can write more but if you write less, it’s not considered a NaNo win. However, countless authors join (officially or unofficially) so that […]
Feeling Conflicted
My youngest daughter is 11, and she hates conflict. I don’t mean only conflict in real life. I mean conflict in stories. If she’s watching a movie or TV show and the characters start to fight or there’s a big battle against the bad guys, she’ll either look away, skip the scene, or turn it […]
Behind the Scenes of a Multi-Author Collaboration
Have you read a multi-author collaboration yet? They can be such a fun way to set up camp around an intriguing premise or in a heartwarming setting. Sometimes, all the stories are based in one setting, grouped fairly close together in time, such as in the Heroes of Freedom Ridge series. Other times, as in […]
Reader Versus Writer: How do they experience stories differently?
What’s the difference between how a reader and a writer experience a story? This is an important question for me as a writer, because if I can understand the reader experience and what they enjoy about my stories, I can keep delivering it! I thought readers might also be curious about the how writers experience […]
About those Quirky Characters #FreeBook
Have you ever joined a new Bible Study or some other gathering when you’re told there’s about to be an ice breaker? I hear all you introverts groaning out there! 😅 Truthfully, I’ve felt the same way, and yet … those little games can help a room full of strangers start talking, and even become […]
Funniest Editing Fails
One of my biggest nightmares as an author is…typos. 😟 Grammaticos. 😨 Formatting errors. 😱 In order for a story to shine, I’m a firm believer that the mechanics need to be strong. I reread my manuscripts SO MANY TIMES before they’re finalized. However, despite my best efforts, little things almost always slip through. A […]