It may surprise some of you to know that the character I consider my most important to date is not one of my main characters. It’s Sheba Burris from Love’s Redemption. She’s a former alcoholic who works in a mid-grade restaurant. At first glance, she seems low key, but Sheba supports the lead female character […]
It’s Complicated… (interesting characters usually are) + cover reveal
If you’ve been on social media at any point in the last decade, you’ve probably noticed at least one of your “friends” with the relationship status It’s Complicated. The phrase has filtered its way into our culture in all sorts of ways—movie titles, song lyrics, book themes, mindsets. It’s complicated isn’t always a response we’d […]
Character Interviews by Merrillee Whren
Today we have Brittany Gorman and Parker Watson from A MATCH TO CALL OURS, the newly crowned book #1 in my Front Porch Promises series, as our guests on the blog. Interviewer: Hi, Brittany, I’m so glad you could join us. Brittany: Thanks for having me. It’s not every day that I’m featured on a […]
The Psychology of Getting to Know Characters
by: Staci Stallings So, my blog this month stems from a couple of questions I got from my Facebook group, Staci’s FAN-tastic Readers, The first comes from Christina Jay: “Maybe not much of a question, and it’s something you’ve talked about a bit here but you have really dug deep into psychology with the Imagination […]
Quirky Characters & Wounded Souls
I’m honored to host my guest, Tara Johnson today. We’re members of American Christian Fiction Writers Arkansas, so we see each other several times a year at meetings and once circled Dallas repeatedly trying to get to the ACFW conference. Here’s Tara: Quirky Characters and Wounded Souls by Tara Johnson Barney Fife. Scarlett O’Hara. Inigo […]
Judging a Book by its Cover (+ A Cover Reveal & #Giveaway)
As a reader, I pay a lot of attention to a book’s cover. I can usually tell from the image and the title’s font whether the story will be lighthearted, mysterious, funny or deep. A cover that captures my attention at first glance is often all it takes for me to click on the book’s […]
New Release! Giveaway! Magnolia Storms-Ship Pilot Heroes
I’m excited to tell you about my new novel releasing September 15th called Magnolia Storms! And, of course, I can’t wait for you to meet the hero of the story, Josh Bergeron! While researching the port of Mobile for my last novel Blown Together, I learned about ship piloting. I didn’t really know what that […]
Bittersweet: Oxymoronism at its Best
Bittersweet. It’s one of those newfangled compound words. Ha. Okay. Compound words have been around since Biblical times, so I guess they can’t be that newfangled. ^_^ It’s also an oxymoron. Bitter and sweet. Those two words don’t seem like they should go together, right? When I bite into something bitter, my taste buds shudder […]
Francine Rivers Interview! When Authors Fangirl! Heroines of the Faith!
I admit to being a fangirl when it comes to certain authors, and Francine Rivers is at the top of my list. At the ACFW Conference in 2015, I tried not to stare and grin at her too often, but finally, when she was sitting only a table away, I could no longer contain myself […]
It Takes a Village … of Characters
Here at Inspy Romance we write contemporary Christian romance. We love contemporary Christian romance. In fact, we love people who read contemporary Christian romance. We also kind of like our characters, too. Heroes, heroines, extended family, children, friends, and even strangers on the street who drop a sage word of advice in passing. Characters make fiction come […]