July has swept many changes into my world. Instead of writing, I’m editing. I’ve sent rejections to writers. But while I dashed their dreams, I gave them tips on what they needed to study and hopefully encouraged them. I’ve learned that editors aren’t mean wannabe writers who want to rewrite my book. I didn’t really […]
Top 10 Book Dedications on my Shelf
Readers often overlook the book dedication (unless a book is dedicated to them), but they mean a lot to us authors. And some of them are just as entertaining or endearing as the novel itself. For example: To Collin Firth. You’re a great guy, but I’m married, so I think we should just be friends. […]
When It Rains It Pours #Giveaway
Blessings that is. I knew book two of my Hill Country Cowboys series was releasing in mid June and my backlist title, Counting on the Cowboy was re-releasing in a western collection in mid May. But I didn’t know the collection would be in Walmart. I didn’t even look. But my husband did. It was […]
Top 10 Small-Town Book Vacations
There is something about small-town stories that I just love. The quirky characters, the picturesque settings, the sense of community! Since my summer vacation plans are on hold, I’ve compiled a list of my favorite fictional small towns due for a literary visit. I especially love when I can read many books set in one […]
10 Things To Love About Romance Novels
I fell in love with romance novels at an early age. I’d raid my mom’s bookshelves and read everything from Catherine Marshall’s Christy to The Legacy of Lilian Parker by Leslie Holden. The novels were magical and fun. I still remember some of the lines. In one Oregon Trail romance, the hero told the heroine, […]
Of Elements & Experiments
by: Staci Stallings If you took high school Chemistry, you may recall how in lab you were given assignments in which you took various chemicals, mixed them a certain way, and their bonding created a different substance. Theoretically you could take 2 hydrogen atoms and mix them with 1 oxygen atom, and the result would […]
The Challenging Art of Weaving a Story
by: Staci Stallings Every book is a challenge. Some are more challenging than others, and some are challenging in different ways than others. For example, when I wrote a book about a dancer, I had to do lots of research about dance. I had to learn terms and how to put specific movements into words […]
The Psychology of Getting to Know Characters
by: Staci Stallings So, my blog this month stems from a couple of questions I got from my Facebook group, Staci’s FAN-tastic Readers, The first comes from Christina Jay: “Maybe not much of a question, and it’s something you’ve talked about a bit here but you have really dug deep into psychology with the Imagination […]
Christmas Movies Based on Books # Giveaway
I’m all about Christmas. Yes, I know Thanksgiving is first and I love that day as well. But Christmas forces the entire world to think of Jesus. Whether they want to or not. I have three trees in my house, and yes, they’re already up. One in the living room with lots of Christian ornaments […]
Backstory
By: Staci Stallings Many, many moons ago on a writing loop I was on at the time, there was a massive discussion about backstory. For those who don’t know, “backstory” refers to a character’s story that happened before the current story starts. Basically, where did this person come from and how did they get here? […]