My husband and I celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary a couple of weeks ago. And to mark the occasion we…spent the day at home with our kids. Which, on the surface, might seem like a pretty boring way for a romance writer to spend her anniversary. But I would argue that it’s not! Because as […]
Interview with a Narrator
When I first started auditioning narrators for my Hope Springs audiobooks, I had a vague idea of what I was looking for: someone with a warm, pleasant voice, who also had the ability to portray the deep emotions of the books. I listened to dozens (maybe hundreds) of samples of Christian and sweet romance audiobooks […]
When Real Life Sneaks In & #Giveaway
You know what’s funny? After writing more than a dozen books, I sometimes think that I must have mined everything from my own life that I possibly could by now. But then I’m writing along and BOOM—there’s something from my life on the page. Again. Without revealing any spoilers, I thought I’d share a few […]
Story Time
It’s inevitable: at the beginning of every month, I wonder, “How did it get to be [fill in name of month here] already? I am constantly marveling at (maybe more like lamenting) how fast time passes. I mean, summer just started, and now my kids start school next week? Or, harder still, my oldest was […]
Time to “Ketchup” & #Giveaway
A big howdy to y’all from Texas! (Did that feel forced? I think that felt forced… It may take this Midwestern gal a while to get used to speaking like a Southerner.) But we did make the move from Wisconsin to Texas two weeks ago and are getting settled into our new home. In fact, […]
Decisions, Decisions & #Giveaway
Confession time: I don’t like to make decisions. Never have. Probably never will. If I were writing myself as a character in a story, I’d try to figure out why I have such a hard time with decisions. What event from my past made me this way? As far as I can remember, there wasn’t […]
Can Enemies Really Fall in Love? and #Giveaway
You know the story: two bitter rivals can’t stand each other one day—and the next day they’re in love (or at least in deep physical attraction). And I have to confess, it’s a story I don’t buy into. So why do I love the enemies to love trope, then? I’ll confess that I didn’t used […]
Should a Romance Always End with a Wedding? + #Giveaway
I can’t even believe I’m going to confess this here, of all places, but … deep breath: I find attending weddings a little bit tedious. It’s okay if you feel the need to throw rotten tomatoes at me—I know that’s not something a romance author should admit. But hear me out: I adore watching two […]
That Special Feeling
You know that feeling you get when you finish a book you absolutely love, and you want to hold onto the characters and the story a little bit longer? And as much as you love to read, you just can’t bring yourself to step into another story world quite yet. All you want to do […]
The Fact in Fiction
If you were to ask me where my ideas come from, I’d probably give you a blank stare and try to change the subject. Not because it’s not a good question—it is—but because it’s so hard to nail down. Sometimes an idea might be sparked by a conversation, by something in the news, or even […]