Can I confess something to you? After writing over 300 nonfiction children’s books to deadline, I kinda don’t really like deadlines anymore. Don’t get me wrong—I see their usefulness and even their necessity. But that doesn’t mean I have to like them. In fact, since I’ve stopped writing nonfiction and started indie publishing my fiction, […]
What’s Your Name? What’s Your Story?
Characters are the most important element in the story for me as a writer and a reader. So getting to know my characters tops the list. Often the actually writing helps me know my characters. I know some writers interview the characters to learn about them, but that doesn’t work for me because I am […]
Marrying Emma: Sneak Peek + Giveaway by Melanie D. Snitker
I’m so excited to have finished Marrying Emma, the fifth book in my Brides of Clearwater series. Penning the last 15,000 words was a bit of an adventure, though, as I wrote between rolling blackouts during the crazy winter storm last week. Our area of Texas sees a dusting of snow maybe once or twice […]
The Scars We Hide
I wanted to share a picture of myself with you that I didn’t want to share with you, but it turns out I can’t share it with you because I don’t have it. Confused yet? Sorry! I had originally planned to start this post with a picture of myself from a few years ago, when […]
Overlapping Timelines
I’m in the process of finishing the final edits on the next book in a series featuring triplet brothers. The first book, Valerie’s Verdict, was about Brad, the organized leader of the group. That book ends two years before this book, Alexandra’s Appeal, begins. This book is about the prodigal brother, Jon. We catch up […]
Imagination
by: Staci Stallings Sometimes living in my imagination is difficult. Maybe that’s because I have what people call a “vivid imagination.” Do you know what that means, to have a vivid imagination? For me, it means that what I “experience” in my head is often as real or more real to me than things that […]
Nowhere for Christmas and a #Giveaway
Nowhere for Christmas was originally published in 2013. It was a good year. My debut novel was published that year, as were two novellas, two additional novels, and a short story. The thing is, I didn’t know a lot about writing yet. Or publishing. So none of those books/stories published that year were written in […]