Four Irish Brothers Winery
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Sunday Snippet: The Holiday Romance Edition
You know, I try not to do too many posts that are purely self-promo, although I grant you that I do say a lot about writing and my books here. Disclaimer in place, today’s post, by necessity, is short and sweet. Love holiday romance? Me, too. Here are a few that I love. Feel free to add to this list in the comments. I’d love your suggestions. A Christmas Town Homecoming: The latest offering from the Christmas Town authors who include my writing bestie, Liz Flaherty. Her story, Remember When, is just one of ten charming coming home stories in this anthology. Lighting Up Christmas: Sinclair Jayne’s latest…
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Sunday Snippet: The Pre-Thanksgiving Edition
Giving thanks every day on Facebook this month has improved my outlook. That is bigger than it sounds, mes amies, because my outlook has pretty much sucked for quite some time. However, I went to the grocery store this morning…yes, on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, and what a lovely experience it was! Folks wore masks, were polite and easygoing. The store shelves were fully stocked, nobody seemed to be hoarding anything, the produce department had gorgeous fresh veggies and fruit. I bought pears and lettuce. I even found vegan queso cheese for Husband–a real victory if it tastes decent. All in all, the trip to Kroger gave me hope for…
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Sunday Snippet: The Whew, I Did It Edition
Wow. It’s been quite a week. Mostly because I finally wrote THE END on Book 3 in the Lange Brothers series. Becker’s book, The Fireman’s Christmas Wish, is in the hands of my fabulous editor, Sinclair Sawney, and I confess that I’m really nervous about this one. There’s a lot of me in grumpy Becker Lange and a lot of what I wish I could be in sweet and charming Harley Cole. Before this book, I’d never thought about how much of myself goes into my books, even though friends who know me and read my novels often say, “Oh, that line or that situation or that moment of humor…
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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 Loving My Own Words Edition
When Liz and I were on retreat earlier this month, we spent a lot of time discussing our WIPs. At one point she read me something she’d just written and said, “I really love it. That’s so nice when you like your own stuff.” I had to agree. I have to confess, I am one of those writers who needs to do that—read what I wrote previously in order to get into writing mode. I sometimes wonder if that’s because I’m an editor in my heart (and in my day job), but I don’t think I’m the only writer who works this way. I’ve tried just picking up where I…
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Writing Retreat Report #3
I asked Liz what I should talk about in the report and she smiled and said, “Just that we had a good day.” And so we did. We got a lot of writing in, a lot of talking, and a lot of walking! After our writing session this morning, we walked into town for brunch at the Downtowner and wandered around a bit, although there wasn’t much to see because most of the shops aren’t open here yet. Lots still closed from Covid and actually the season here hasn’t truly begun yet. I did find a lovely pair of aquamarine earrings and Liz got a really cute top at a…
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Sunday Snippet–The Wardrobe Edition
My readings in Simple Abundance the past few days have all been about self–becoming more confident and seeing myself in a new way. Clothes were part of the topic–wearing them, buying them, choosing them…knowing what best suits me. Sarah Ban Breathnach talks about finding clothes that fit my lifestyle. That assumes I have a lifestyle, which I’m not entirely sure I really do. I’m a writer. I pretty much live in comfort clothes–yoga pants, T-shirts with a sweater tugged over the top of them or a sweatshirt if it’s really cold outside. Slippers or socks and I’m good to go for the day. There are even days, I confess, where…
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Snippet Sunday: The Here’s an Actual Snippet Edition
I know, I know, I’m calling these posts Sunday Snippets and I’m not always posting snippets. Mostly because I don’t want to give too much of the new series away, particularly since the first one isn’t due to release until early 2022. That’s a long way off! But I also want you to remain interested in River’s Edge and the folks there. So here’s a quick snippet from The Valentine Wager and a couple of pictures of River’s Edge in winter. Enjoy! A familiar frisson of excitement tingled through him as he approached the cedar-and-glass building that overlooked the river. It was the same adrenaline high he got when he…
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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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Saturday Snippet (Okay, Sunday…)
Yesterday was a bit more zoo-y than I expected as we got Son and DIL’s cottage closed up for the summer and his boat pulled and winterized for storage, so I didn’t get to my Saturday post. It was a fun day with Son, though, and I got to take a final ride for the season in his fishing boat, which was a treat. Hardly anyone was on the lake, but man the shad were firing like crazy. It was kind of a crappy year for fishing (no crappie pun intended), but there are years like that. Husband and I were remembering the second or third year we had our…