• 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…

  • 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…