Part of the fun of writing contemporary romance is creating unique, fun, or interesting ways for the hero and heroine to meet. Over the years I’ve used real-life things to inspire cute meets in my books. Like the time back when my husband was a youth director. We took a busload of teens to a […]
A New Day
This photo was taken as a new day dawned over the prairie somewhere around the Texas-New Mexico border as we traveled home from Lubbock, Texas, where my husband and I had attended the funeral of my sister-in-law. We had made that same trip a couple of months earlier to see my brother and her. She […]
How authors use Pinterest & why readers love it too!
I always say I’m a reader first, author second. It’s true! And as a reader, I love anything that connects me to books, especially social media. I know not everyone loves social media (there are times I certainly don’t!), but the one feed you have most control over what you see is Pinterest! If you’ve […]
Vacation Inspiration #Giveaway
Since I started writing, whenever we go on vacation, a book begins to percolate. I often plan our trips around a jaunt I need to make for a book I’m writing. Back when I began my rodeo series, we visited the Fort Worth Stockyards and Aubrey, Texas. Both featured prominently in the series. Since we […]
An Ideal Setting for Romance
“This place should be in a book.” Readers, has this thought ever crossed your mind while wandering beautiful places? That was how I felt when I first visited Montana’s Madison River twenty years ago. Soaring mountains, wildlife sightings, pine-scented air, and bright blue sky simply screamed rustic romance! So, when I started writing and needed […]
Daddies are Special #Giveaway
In 2007, I received word that I’d finaled in the Touched By Love writing contest and the winners would be announced at the Faith, Hope, & Love Conference in Dallas in July. I’d already paid and planned to attend the American Christian Fiction Writers Conference in September, also in Dallas that year. My husband […]
What About Setting? #Giveaway
I write in layers. That means, my first draft is mainly dialogue, character thought, and emotion. Once I complete the book, I go back in and add setting, description, movement, body language, and timeline. I used to weave my setting and timeline in as I wrote the first draft. Until my editor asked if I […]
Where To Next?
I find myself fantasizing about locations lately—specifically getaways. See, this August marks my twentieth wedding anniversary. We haven’t gone anywhere without the kids for longer than a weekend, but this year we decided to plan a *real* vacation, just the two of us. And after being cooped up for over a year with hardly more […]
A New Leaf #Giveaway
So I got a new desk. I didn’t mean to. It was supposed to be for my husband. I do most of my furniture shopping on Facebook Marketplace and flea markets. I’d found a white desk just like it a few months ago, but it was three hours away. So when I found this one […]
Birth Order & Relationships (+ #Freebook)
In case you didn’t know, I have a background in psychology, which explains why I love to write and read character-driven stories. I enjoy figuring out what makes people tick and how their backgrounds and life experiences help shape who they are. One area I especially like delving into is birth order. Here are some […]