• Sunday Snippet: The Validation Edition, II

    You know who I envy? Writers who have complete faith in their work and themselves. The ones who write a book and always know immediately that it’s great stuff and is going to sell like hotcakes. Or the ones who may know their work needs help, but believe so strongly in their own stories that they push on, striving to make them better. They never doubt their abilities or spend days wondering what they’re doing trying to write a novel, for Pete’s sake. They don’t wonder if they’re fooling everyone, including themselves, with this whole author thing. Sometimes, I can be that writer. When a scene works perfectly, when I’ve…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Annnd… We’re Off! Edition

    And so we are. Today, Liz and I are headed down to the hills of Southern Indiana for a writing retreat–our annual winter event. This is our third January retreat. We stay in a beautiful and comfortable inn in the center of the cute little town of Nashville. The Artist’s Colony Inn is the perfect place for a winter retreat with large cozy rooms and a fab restaurant, plus breakfast is included with our room. Our first Nashville retreat was in 2022 and we happened upon the Artist’s Colony after our original hotel turned out to be … well, not really prepared for our visit. Anyway, we scooted into town,…

  • Sunday Snippet: The I Shall Thole Edition

    It’s here. The New Year. It snowed yesterday and I opened the front door to take a picture and to inhale the crisp, cold scent of it. Snow brings a hush to the world and peace to my heart. So many people my age leave the state for warmer climes and I totally don’t get it. I like the change of seasons here in the Midwest, I don’t mind the snow–I don’t even mind being stuck inside if the snow makes travel hazardous. I’m writing the third book in The Walkers of River’s Edge series. It’s Cameron and Harper’s story and it’s coming hard, I confess. I’m not sure why…

  • Author Spotlight: Bestie Liz Flaherty Dropped By Today!

    What’s more fun than having your bestie stop by the Author Spotlight? Not much! I’m so pleased to welcome Liz Flaherty to the blog! Liz Flaherty has spent the past several years enjoying not working a day job, making terrible crafts, and writing stories in which the people aren’t young, brilliant, or even beautiful. She’s decided (and has to re-decide most every day) that the definition of success is having a good time. Along with her husband of lo, these many years, kids, grands, friends, and the occasional cat, she’s doing just that. Find her on Facebook or her blog, Window Over the Sink. A girl just can’t have too…

  • Author Spotlight: Big Doings in Christmas Town!

    We have a winner! Mary Morgan, congratulations! You are Liz’s winner! She will be in touch! Thanks for coming by — we love talking to our readers!! See y’all again soon! My own bestie, Liz Flaherty, is here with the brand new Christmas Town Anthology, Lights, Camera, Christmas Town! She and seven other authors have brought the Christmas cheer again this year with a fun holiday story! Liz  has spent the past several years enjoying not working a day job, making terrible crafts, and writing stories in which the people aren’t young, brilliant, or even beautiful. She’s decided (and has to re-decide most every day) that the definition of success…

  • Sunday Snippet: The It’s Not All About Me, It’s Liz Flaherty Edition

    And today, it isn’t all about me because as I’ve been saying all week–I’m kinda sick of me. Book promotion will do that to you… just sayin’. So today, the snippet is all about my bestie, Liz Flaherty. One of my favorite of her books, A Soft Place to Fall is on sale for just 99 cents through August 31. If you haven’t read it, grab it. When Liz rereleased this title, I couldn’t have been more delighted to go back into Early and Nash’s world. It is a beautifully told story of a marriage that got lost, a family that came apart when they weren’t even looking, and how…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Wow, What a Week Edition

    And it was indeed, mes amies, quite a week! Author Nan has had a pretty cool time this past week. Right off, the story for Joey and Kara–book 2 in the Walkers of River Edge series is underway and so far, I’m liking it. Right now, the best part is researching garden shops and nurseries and plants. Wow. So much to learn to write these two characters. It’s a shame I don’t retain too much of what I learn in this research, isn’t it? Next, the Authors Over 50 podcast I did with Julia Daily ,back in April, dropped on Thursday and I sound halfway intelligent, which is always a…

  • 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…

  • Author Spotlight: Liz Flaherty Has A Soft Place to Fall

    You know what’s the best part of having another author for a bestie? I mean besides all the other great things about Liz Flaherty? When you need someone to fill a slot, you can say, “I have no one in the Author Spotlight this week. Want to dash off something?” And she does! Liz Flaherty spends non-writing time sewing, quilting, and wanting to travel. The author of 20-some books and her husband Duane share an old farmhouse in North Central Indiana that they talk about leaving. However, that would require clearing baseball trophies from the attic and dusting the pictures of the Magnificent Seven, their grandchildren, so they’ll probably stay…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Post Retreat Edition

    It’s funny–it always takes me about a day to regroup after Liz and I have been on retreat. Settling back into my office, using the PC instead of the laptop, doing laundry, etc. I pretty much dropped my stuff yesterday and spent the day with Husband, catching up in the way married people who’ve been apart for a few days do. But today, I’m back in my office, looking out at a frosty morning and debating where to start. Well, apparently, I decided because here I am writing my Sunday Snippet. The retreat was, as always, fun and productive and full of words and story processing and sharing ideas. Liz…