-
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…
-
Author Spotlight: Me Again with Big Doings on the International Front!
Bonjour, mes amies, and what a fun day it is! It is an International BookBub day for moi! The Valentine Wager, Book 1 in the Lange Brothers Trilogy is a BookBub Feature Deal in Canada, the UK, and Australia with a special sale price on the e-book! But that doesn’t mean that my U.S. readers have been left out. My awesome publisher has made The Valentine Wager e-book 99 cents everywhere, so if you haven’t had a chance to download this one yet, I hope you’ll check out this fantastic sale! Links are below! Amazon | B&N Nook | Apple Books | Kobo | Google Play | Amazon UK |…
-
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…
-
Author Spotlight: Bestie Liz Flaherty Shares Wishes and Memories
We have a winner! Congratulations Jennifer Wilck! You are the winner of Liz’s giveaway. She will be in touch with you! Thanks to everyone who stopped by and shared their holiday memories! Happy Holidays! I adore having my bestie on the blog–her voice is what drew me to her over ten years ago and she has been a gift in my life ever since. USA Today bestselling author Liz Flaherty started writing in the fourth grade when her Aunt Gladys allowed her to use her portable Royal typewriter. The truth was that her aunt would have let her do anything to get her out of her hair, but the typewriter…
-
Sunday Snippet: The Gift of Retreat Magic Edition
And what it gift it was! We worked, we walked, we ate, we worked some more, we drank wine and ate junk, walked more, processed and shared and talked endlessly, and oh, how we worked! We both agreed it was the most productive retreat we’d ever had. Liz got lots of words in on her new project, I got all the revisions done on the second Weaver Sisters novel that was due back to my editor the day we returned from South Haven. Our condo was amazing and gorgeous and incredibly comfortable, and our view was spectacular. It took us most of the trip to learn that the drawbridge went…
-
Sunday Snippet: The On Our Way Edition
Today’s snippet is necessarily short because I’m meeting Liz in a couple of hours and we’ll be on our way to Michigan for our fall writing retreat. If I could be any more excited, I promise you I don’t know how. I’ll be doing revisions on this trip with probably a little bit of new writing tossed in–I need to get started on Book 3 in the Weaver Sisters trilogy. Liz will be working on her new project, which isn’t mine to tell about, but I’m really excited about it! We’ll wander the west coast of Michigan, checking out lighthouses, wineries, beaches, and great restaurants, but mostly, we’ll be in…
-
Sunday Snippet: The Back Home Again Edition
We’re back in the city after just over a week at the lake. It was very nice there–swimming, a couple of boat rides, time with lake pals… all in all, the lake was lovely. Our city neighbors came up for a day while we were there and we really enjoyed visiting in a different venue. The lake was turning over, so we didn’t get to swim, but we took a long boat ride and enjoyed the sun and the lovely early September breezes. Lunch was hot dogs on the grill, chips, veggies, and some delish brownies that neighbor Mary brought. Yum! We sat on the deck under the trees and…
-
Sunday Snippet: The Lake Life Is the Best Life Edition
I know. I know. I’ve done this topic before, but it’s my blog, so… you get another one today because it’s June and we’re here and so are Son and Grandboy and it’s been a good Father’s Day weekend so far. We got the cottage washed, which needed doing since May, but all the rain made it impossible, but it’s shiny clean now and I’m going to work on sprucing up the shutters today. Also, got plans to weed–we’re going to get new river rock for around the whole cottage, but we aren’t there yet. But, you know. it’s the lake, so we don’t feel the urgency, which is what…
-
Author Spotlight: Liz Flaherty Has a New Release!
I’m always so glad to feature my bestie, Liz Flaherty, here in the spotlight and never happier when she has a new book out. We process story every single day so I feel the birth pains of her books and she feels mine. Reinventing Riley grew so naturally out of Syd and Clay’s story, A Year of Firsts, and I loved seeing her back in her little town of Fallen Soldier, Pennsylvania. Writing a series is hard and more than once, Liz and I have giggled over one or the other of us has forgotten a detail about our little towns. We have a bunch of fun being each other’s…
-
Sunday Snippet: The Am I Irrelevant Edition
So, I’m thinking today about how much of the world I am not a part of anymore–specifically, pop culture. Liz and I talk frequently about how we are aging out of many things. She wonders if she’s aging out of romance novels–reading and writing them. I sometimes wonder if I’m aging out of being able to keep my plate as full as I do with editing gigs and writing deadlines and book promotion because stuff falls off sometimes, and more often than I like, it’s fun stuff like time with family and friends. Every now and again, I watch younger writers who go after their lives with fervor and energy…