• Sunday Snippet–The Post-Holiday Version

    I’m tired. The holidays were lovely, if odd for not doing all the usual stuff like baking for friends and neighbors and spending a cookie-baking day with my sis, lunch with Liz, shopping in an actual store, doing Christmas Eve chicken-and-noodles and Candlelight service with my family and Christmas day with all the Reinhardts in the same room, but now…well, I’m tired. Physically, mentally, emotionally exhausted. I’ve currently got a butt load of work and I need to get back on my morning writing schedule. To that end, I’m going to take a social media break for a while, so if you want me, email me or text me or…

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  • Welcome Author Cheryl Brooks

    I’m delighted to welcome author and friend, Cheryl Brooks, to the blog today. A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Cheryl is a former critical care nurse who resides in rural Indiana with her husband, two sons, one horse, two cats, and one dog. She is the author of the Cat Star Chronicles series, the Cat Star Legacy series, the Cowboy Heaven series, the Soul Survivors trilogy, the Unlikely Lovers series, and several stand-alone books and novellas. Her other interests include cooking and gardening. Cheryl is a member of RWA and IRWA. Visit her online at www.cherylbrooksonline.com or email her at cheryl.brooks52@yahoo.com.  I had a great time sitting down to chat with…

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  • Snippet Sunday–The Pandemic List Version

    My writing bestie, Liz, and I are big ones for lists and okay, yeah, it’s a cheap and easy way to get a blog written, but you know, sometimes we just need to stop and count our blessings. So that’s what I’m doing today—I’m going to make a list of all the stuff I’ve discovered about me as a writer and as a person since the Quarantine started. Ready? Here we go… I can sprint. I mean, seriously, I can write up to 861 words in 30 minutes if I’m focused and on the clock. It’s actually how I write, although I’d never given it a name before. I may…

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  • Sunday Snippet–The Canine Version

    If you know me at all, you know I’m not particularly a dog person, in spite of having three–yes, three–granddogs. They are all sweeties, but I’m very glad they live at Son’s house and not mine. (I realize the photo below shows four dogs with Son–it was Thanksgiving and his parents-in-law had brought their two critters over for the holidays, so four in the picture, five altogether that day!) We have four dogs living on our cul-de-sac. Cooper, a large red Irish setter and Bo, a very large snowy retriever, belong to Jan. She takes them with her when she runs errands–apparently they enjoy car rides. Bo loves to run,…

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  • Sunday Snippet–The Holy Cow, It’s December Version

    How did it get to be December already? And yet…life has moved slower this year because we’ve been pretty much on lockdown since March. We have chosen to live the be-safe-be-well life and so we stick pretty much close to home and to our little pod of seven. However, I’m still writing and editing and talking to Liz every morning on Gchat and keeping up with lake pals and other friends via text and Skype and visiting with sis on FaceTime. I’m walking every day–either outside if the weather permits or on the treadmill, which means watching The West Wing or Gilmore Girls while I get some activity in. I’ve…

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  • Welcome, Author Mellanie Szereto

    I’m very pleased to welcome author and fellow Hoosier Mellanie Szereto to the blog today. When her fingers aren’t attached to her keyboard, Mellanie enjoys hiking, Pilates, cooking, gardening, and researching for her stories. Many times, the research partners with her other hobbies, taking her from the Hocking Hills region in Ohio to the Colorado Rockies or the Adirondacks of New York. Sometimes, the trip is no farther than her garden for ingredients and her kitchen to test recipes for her latest steamy tale. Mellanie makes her home in rural Indiana with her husband of thirty-four years and their son. So glad to get to sit down to chat with…

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  • Sunday Snippet, the Post-Thanksgiving Version

    After a lazy morning, during which we decorated our Christmas tree, we went to the kids’ on Friday afternoon to help them with their outdoor decorations, then stayed to watch The Muppet Christmas Carol, which I had never seen before. It was charming. Michael Caine was a wonderful Ebenezer Scrooge. We paused midway to catch the lighting of the Circle of Lights in downtown Indy. All of us were teary when Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Pops director, Jack Everly, appeared with some of the people who participate in Yuletide, reading “The Night Before Christmas.” We are devoted Yuletiders, and it was both lovely and wrenching to see him and all the folks…

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  • Sunday Snippet, Thanksgiving Version

    Are you finding it hard to be thankful this year? 2020 has been a royal b#*ch of year, hasn’t it? So many things to be unhappy about. So many things to whine about. So many things to be just plain mad about. I know. I feel you. I truly do. However, I’m going to focus on the stuff to be happy about, to rejoice about, to be glad for. Here, in no particular order, is my Thanksgiving 2020 Gratitude List. I hope you’ll share yours. Husband. That’s all, just Husband. I tell y’all constantly what a great guy he is, so no need to expound here. Son, DIL, and Grandboy,…

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  • Welcome Author Rebecca Warner

    I am delighted to welcome author and friend Rebecca Warner to the blog today. Rebecca is the author of the two-time award-winning thriller, Moral Infidelity, as well as Doubling Back To Love and He’s Just A Man. She has been a newspaper columnist and a blogger for HuffPost. As Health Care Surrogate for her parents, Rebecca navigated the caregiver and healthcare labyrinth for fourteen years. Her experiences inspired her to write My Dad My Dog. Rebecca and her husband Jason live in Asheville with their stumpy-tailed cattle dog, Chance. Be sure to check out the blurb for My Dad My Dog below as well as buy links to major retailers.…

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  • Sunday Snippet–The Celebration Version

    Yup, I’m celebrating. Well, as much as one can celebrate in these days of masks, lockdowns, and sanitizer. I finally wrote THE END on novel #10–the first book in my new series for Tule Publishing, and it is now in the hands of my editor. I’m a weird mix of relieved and terrified. It’s always so hard to send your babies off to be taken apart and read by your development editor. But Sinclair is always kind and open and ready to talk, so that makes it a bit easier to bear. I’m already in discovery on the next book and Max Lange has that come-hither vibe going in my…

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