Last month, I committed to finish an old book that I’d fiddled with for years. I ended up finding a local historical thread for my story, getting the synopsis updated, and adding eighteen pages to the book. I’ll take it. Not as much as I wanted to do, but it was a busy month with […]
Tree of Life by Jolene Navarro
Hola, Jolene Navarro, checking in from the Texas Hill Country. I had planned to tell you about the Tree of Life project my students and I are working on for the celebration of San Antonio’s three-hundred-year anniversary. Many cultures use trees as symbols of life, roots that we need in order to grow, to grow […]
Sisters and a Cover Reveal from Jolene Navarro
Hello, Jolene Navarro here checking in from the Texas Hill Country. I’ve started a new series that tells the story of four sisters. Sisters that was raised in a lumberyard by their single dad. Sister relationships fascinate me, and I fell in love with the fictional Bergmann sisters as a family as much as I […]
Sunday Edition – June 4, 2017
Well hello, June. The year is half over. Amazing. This pic is from SEVERAL years ago. The young man in the forefront, struggling with the sand – he’s twenty now. The young lady on the far left is married. The one in the green swimsuit got married yesterday. The boy on the far right will […]
The Ultimate “What If?” & #GIVEAWAY
Hello! I am thrilled to be part of the Inspy Romance team, and I look forward to getting to know everyone. I’ve been a fan of Inspy Romance since the first post and secretly wished one day that I could be one of the participating authors. When I write that this is an honor, it […]
I can’t do this…
I spend hours and days and weeks figuring a story out. Plan and plot and scheme. Fill out my charts. Figure out Goals and Motivation and Conflict. Delve into backstory. Bring my hero and heroine together and find out what brings them there and what keeps them apart. What will they learn from the events […]
Family Holiday Favorite: Relaxing on the Porch and Simple Food
I love Christmas stories. Writing Christmas stories are my favorite. Since 2013 I have published four. Lone Star Holiday, A Texas Christmas Wish, Forever Christmas Kiss and A short story in A Recipe for Romance: A Collection of 22 Inspirational Stories and Recipes. There seems to be a theme of Texas family, food and porches in […]
A Texas Hill Country Thanksgiving
Hello, Jolene Navarro here today. With another Thanksgiving behind us I like reflecting on my blessings. Ten Thanksgiving ago my sisters and I lost our mother. We lost our father ten years before that. They loved family and enjoyed every holiday. Growing up we made the rounds to visit loved ones across the Texas Hill Country. Through my […]
Authors Are A Strange Breed…and a Giveaway!
Authors are crazy, but I’m sure you know that by now. Witness the author who spies the EMTs at a local convenience store. She waits until they’ve left the front counter before approaching them outside. “May I please ask you a question?” Reason: she needs to know how many people can fit in the back […]
I’ll Be Home for Christmas
In the early 1990s, we moved from California to a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where my husband, Jim, served as an associate pastor for youth/music/worship. This was during the six-year period when I was a stay-at-home mom with three small children. When I wasn’t with the kids, or writing, or working with Jim and the […]