• Sunday Snippet: The I Did It Edition

    I did indeed do it–the book signing at Whyte Horse Winery and wow, was it a blast! Right off, there isn’t a more welcoming venue than this winery. The owner, Amanda Thomas, is so very accommodating and welcoming–just ready to help you in any way she can. Plus her winery and bistro has some of the best food and wine around. The folks who come there are looking for fun, so to be part of that is a treat. Lots of laughter, lots of conversations, lots of noise, and lots good wine and of wonderful scents from the pizza oven! We had a great day, both selling books and talking…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Learning Curve Edition

    You know, if you’d asked me, say 10 or even 5 years ago, if I still had tons of stuff to learn, I might have told you, “Nope, I’ve lived and loved a lot of years…I think I’m pretty well where I should be knowledge-wise.” And wouldn’t that have been arrogant and presumptuous of me? I discover, pretty much daily, that knowledge is a growing and expanding thing. When there is something I feel I’ve learned all I can about or more specifically, all I care to learn about, well, the Universe laughs. Case in point–book promotion. Something I sorta suck at and yet, I must do, so I’m learning…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Discovery Edition

    Several years ago, I attended an Indiana RWA event—Bob Mayer’s Write it Forward workshop. It was inspiring and Bob’s book, The Novel Writer’s Toolkit is one of my go-to references. He has lots of valuable things to say about writing and the process of writing. Another mentor is Lani Diane Rich, whose Chipperish Media’s How Story Works podcasts are an invaluable source of inspiration and education for any writer. From Lani, I learned about discovery—what begins my process when I write. All books begin with an idea, as Mayer says. That’s “the heart of your story.” For me, it’s mostly characters in my head banging around, begging for their stories…

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  • Sunday Snippet: The I-Think-I’m-Breathing-Again Edition

    I don’t want to be political here–frankly, I’m tired of being political anywhere. 2020 was an exhausting year in so many ways, but especially politically. However, I will say this. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are a breath of fresh air in a world that had begun to stink to high heaven. I have hope that I will get to be with my friends again, go out to eat again, feel safe in the grocery store again, hell, feel safe in the world again. I’m desperate for vacations–the lake, writing trips with Liz, a wine-tasting trip with Husband, and a writer’s retreat with my fellow Tule authors in 2022. I…

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  • Book Blitz Time!

    As I mentioned last week, I’m working on promotion for MEANT TO BE, Book 2 in the Four Irish Brothers Winery series. It’s Sean Flaherty and Megan Mackenzie’s story and I’m just crazy in love with these two characters. Friends-to-lovers is one of my favorite romance tropes and this is the first time I’ve used it since The Summer of Second Chances (Book 3 in the Women of Willow Bay series), although Sophie and Henry were more colleagues than friends. What makes this theme fun to write is the fact that the characters already know each other. There’s no getting-to-know-you period in their romance. They have history (okay, yes, it’s…

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  • BookBub Day!

    Hey, kids! It’s my BookBub Day! I’m so excited about this feature ad on BookBub! Check it out! I’m holding a good thought that this special price on The Summer of Second Chances, book 3 in the Women of Willow Bay series will spark enough interest that all four books will rocket to the top of the e-book charts. So if you would pass the word, I’d sure appreciate it, and if you haven’t read any of my Women of Willow Bay books and you enjoy a good romantic suspense story, well, this is a great place to start!

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  • An Old Dog…

    Okay, so not an old dog, more like an old lady can learn new tricks. Working with Tule Publishing has taught me so much about writing, but also about how important book promotion is. Here’s the thing, I’m not good at self-promotion. As a matter of fact, I suck at it. I don’t like drawing attention to myself, although isn’t that what writing is really? Except in my books, it’s not me that’s getting attention–it’s the people in my head. But after their story is told, somebody’s got to let the world know it’s there, and that’s the promotion part that I’m simply dreadful at. (I know, my freshman comp…

  • Wine, Writing & Romance

    What’s more fun that doing a book-signing at a winery? Not much. My writing BFF Liz Flaherty and I did just that on Saturday and we had a ball. The good folks at Whyte Horse Winery, in the little lake town where Husband and I have our cottage, opened their doors to us and our readers. We had wine and snacks and books and wine and lemonade and wine and did I mention we had wine? It was wonderful getting to meet readers and answering their questions about writing. Our husbands acted as cashiers while we sold and signed books. Good buddy Maureen was a lovely hostess for us, setting…

  • Celebrating Seasoned Romance–Why?

    This month, I’m featuring authors who write seasoned romance–stories with characters who are over 40 and finding a second or even a third or fourth chance at love. Way back in February 2012, as I was writing the first Women of Willow Bay novels, I wrote this blog and it feels just a relevant today as it did then. Let me know what you think. I’m bugged. It seems that romance novels are the bailiwick of characters who are younger than 40. If 40 is the new 30 and 50 is the new 40, then how come romance after 50 isn’t sexy anymore? Well, folks, I’ve got big news–sexy is…