• Sunday Snippet: The Eeek, I Need a Break Edition and a Question

    I’ve been working and writing pretty much nonstop for… well, for the last five years for sure and probably longer and I need a break. That’s not a whine…well, okay, maybe a little bit of a whine, but the fact is, I need to get away. Thankfully, I am getting away in about about a week! YAY! Liz and I are going on retreat for four days and I can’t wait. Retreat doesn’t mean I’ll stop writing. As a matter of fact our retreats are all about writing, but it does mean I’ll set my editing gigs aside for four days and focus entirely on the current WIP. Plus I…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Time to Breathe Edition

    Good morning, mes amies! It’s been a week, kids, it’s really been a week! Release week is always kinda crazy, and this one has been particularly wild because I’ve been all over the Web, including being chosen as a Fresh Pick on Fresh Fiction yesterday–totally awesome!! Check it out! Heart Update: Tuesday, I had an echocardiogram, expecting to hear that my heart had improved slightly on the 4-drug protocol, but wowee! My Ejection Fraction went from 37 to 50 (normal is 55-70), so those pricey meds are truly working! I am feeling better, stronger than I have in probably five years, so yup–taking a handful of meds twice a day…

  • Sunday Snippet: The What the Heck Happened to Summer? Edition

    Seriously… how is it already August 6? I mean, wasn’t it just May and Husband and I were looking forward to our 50th anniversary trip to Oregon and I was busy making plans with my writer pal Carol Light for our trip to San Juan Capistrano and the Tule Author Retreat and checking with my sibs for a visit to my brother’s in Woodland Hills? I’m sure that was just a week ago… Yikes! Oregon is a fond, wistful memory now. The Tule Author Retreat remains ingrained in my heart and mind as a wondrous time with fellow authors and editors and the Tule team, as well as a fun…

  • Sunday Snippet: The I’m Really Tired and I Got Nothin’ Edition

    I’m not going to whine, even though I feel like I could. Isn’t it funny, though, how you can’t seem to catch up on sleep? Why, do you suppose? I mean, it makes sense to me that if you miss some sleeping time, then sleeping more later should fix it. But things don’t seem to work out like that. Right now, I feel like I could sleep for a week, but I can’t do that, so here I am. On the upside, I’m at the lake, I’ve gotten to swim several times this week with friend Moe and Grandboy and Son, and we had time with our kids up here.…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Editor Nan Edition

    Nine years ago–gosh, has it been that long? Nine years ago, when Husband retired, took off his watch, and said, “I’m done,” we agreed that I would work until I got to age…well, a certain number. We’d worked endlessly on a retirement budget, figured every dime, and knew exactly what we’d need to maintain the lifestyle to which we’d become accustomed. Back then, it felt a long way off and I was sure that by the time I got to that number, I’d be ready to stop editing. Well, that certain number now looms large on the horizon and I’m not at all sure I’m ready to hang up my editor…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Spring Fever Edition

    Mushy mind—it’s a thing and wow, do I have it right now. I have a very bad case of mind mush—my ability to focus and function is seriously out of whack. I’m not sure if it’s spring fever or what, but fact is, I’m just not able to focus on much of anything right now. I think I’ve mentioned before, probably in the spring, that my grandmother used to say she was muzzy—isn’t that a great word? I’m muzzy. I’ve got four books to write for Tule Publishing in the next two years and my heart frequently stops (not really!) at the thought. I’m about 15K words into Jack Walker’s…

  • Sunday Snippet: The I Love Being an Editor Edition

    I gotta tell you, I love, love my job as a freelance copy editor. I’ve got a editorial high going right now because the book I just worked on was a little slice of literary heaven. This author’s voice is so gorgeous and her stories are enchanting. This is the third one of her books I’ve copy edited, and every one has been such a pleasure. I can’t reveal her name right now, but y’all are going to meet her here this spring because she’s agreed to do an Author Spotlight when her first book releases. I’ll be recommending her books to anyone who’ll listen, so watch the Spotlights, okay?…

  • Sunday Snoppet, er, Snippet: The Writing Is Hard Work Edition

    Someone once asked me to share something I learned since becoming a writer. The list is endless, but there a couple of things I can name right off the top of my head. The first is writing is hard work. Anyone who tells you different is either lying or not a writer. It doesn’t matter whether you’re writing a novel or a back cover blurb, a short story or a 500-word magazine article. Writing is hard. It requires discipline and creativity, time and research, and most of all a love of the game. If you don’t love to write, if the process itself isn’t an intrinsic part of who you…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Procrastination Edition

    I’ve been procrastinating…okay, no big news, right? I am a world-class procrastinator. I passed amateur status years ago and have gone into full-time professional procrastination. Nobody wastes time as well as I do. And honestly, it doesn’t even have to be time spent scrolling around the Web. I can put off doing anything that needs to be done with something as basic as folding laundry—oh, excuse me for a minute, I do have to get some stuff out of the dryer… brb… Fifteen minutes later…I’m back, clothes folded and put away, next load is in the washing machine, and while I was in there, I scrubbed the sink and the…

  • SundaySnippet: The Spring Fever and a Real Snippet Edition

    THE WINNER OF THE E-BOOK ARC IS SHARI! I EMAILED YOU, SHARI! THANKS EVERYONE FOR STOPPING BY AND FOR COMMENTING!! Yeah, I’ve got it bad, kids. Spring fever has struck here at our little brick house in the city with all the usual symptoms. I’m staring longingly out at the gray rainy days, wishing the sun would come out so I could wander the ‘hood with friend Mary. We stop along the way to admire the tulips and hyacinths and daffodils that are popping up in neighbors’ yards. Last year at this time our peach tree was blooming (too early, I might add), a late frost hit it, and we…