The person who said “a picture is worth a thousand words” had clearly not met an author who buys pre-made book covers. In case you’re unfamiliar with the term, a pre-made book cover is one that a designer has made without being commissioned by an author or a publishing house. It’s a cover that’s waiting […]
Why I Love Writing Hockey Romance
Next week sees the release of my eight Christian hockey romance title, The Love Penalty. This is the second book in my new hockey series Northwest Ice, and follows the success of the Original Six series, which was based on the cities where pro hockey was first played in North America. In the past year […]
The Cowboy Craze
Have you ever started a book and then it ends up changing directions in the middle or ends different from what you expected? I have this habit of trying to predict what I think will happen in a book, and it’s fun when the author proves me wrong. There are so many things that can […]
Happy New Reading!
I always enjoy the start of a new year. It’s like what’s said in Anne of Green Gables – “there’s no mistakes in it – yet.” I’m not really one for making New Year’s resolutions, although in The Breakup Project I wrote about a woman who does, which includes (among other things) the resolution to […]
Walking the Tightrope: Exploring Realistic Themes in Christian Romance
I’m going to make an assumption. You wouldn’t be reading an article on the InspyRomance blog unless you like Christian romance on some level. This post is not for people who already dismiss Christian romance as spiritual junk food: escapist, lightweight, and shallow. But you’re not like that, right? You believe that most Christian romance […]
Books That Make Me Cry
Is there anything more powerful than a redemption story? This month I’ve been writing my next Christian hockey book, The Love Penalty (out January next year), and because I like to give my readers different types of stories so they don’t all sound the same, I figured it was time to explore some aspects of […]
Love in Fiction
I’m sure we’ve all seen the memes about how certain movies or stories gave us unrealistic expectations for love. I laugh at them and can sometimes agree. Some things are unrealistic. But then this year my parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary and I heard from so many others who are about to hit 60 […]
Again Upon a Time
Do you love fairy tales? There’s something timeless about them that makes us want to return again and again, whether it’s to a more cleaned up animated version or the original nitty-gritty tales by the Grimms brothers and Hans Christian Anderson and others. And maybe that’s why we also like to read new versions of […]
Love in the Kitchen (+giveaway)
Did you know September 10-16 is Chef Appreciation Week this year? How exciting is that?! I know, I know, it’s back-to-school season, but I’ve already written a back-to-school post. Yeah, I’ve already written a food post too, but this time I thought it would be fun to talk about those who fulfill our fictional food […]
Big Year, Big Goals
I turn 49 in just under a month. Which means that this time next year, I’ll be a breath away from clocking 50. I know; I did the math and it’s shocking. :-) So, I’ve been thinking about what I can do to mark this major milestone. My tightening jeans and a set of awful […]