• 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…

  • Sunday Snippet: The How Does It Happen Edition

    It’s July. How did that happen? I’ve been married for 50 years! How did that happen? Grandboy is 11. How did that happen? I’ve got 14 published novels and another two on the way in 2023, plus I’m contracted to write four more books for Tule. Whew–how did that happen? I’ll be 70 in two months, how the hell did that happen? Can you tell I’m a little overwhelmed with… well, life stuff and work stuff at the moment? I am, yet I go on ahead and do what needs doing because don’t we all? Right now, it’s all about the writing… People ask me all the time, “How do…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Whine, Then Find the Sunshine Edition

    It’s been a tough week. My shoulder hurts, really aches, from spending so much time in front of my computer, working on editing gigs and writing Jack and Maddie’s story. Son is dealing with a lot of stuff that I wish so much I could take off his plate, but I can’t. I can only listen. (Even when they’re in their forties, your mom instincts kick in.) We’re doing work on the lake cottage, making choices about where we want to spend refurbishing dollars this year, except that those dollars now have to be shared with medicine expenses because I hit the damn doughnut hole with my heart meds this…

  • Sunday Snippet: The It’s a Snippet Edition!

    One of the very best days in an author’s life is the day the mail carrier or the UPS person drops a box on the porch that’s full of the first print copies of your soon-to-be-released novel. Last week I had a great day! This arrived early this week and suddenly Jo and Alex’s story felt real. Jo and Alex’s story is dear to my heart because these are two  people who have so much stuff to work through and yet somehow, they manage to find each other. Alex is a scientist and a type 1 diabetic who only longs to find a cure, and Jo has a sad secret…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Editor Nan Edition

    Nine years ago–gosh, has it been that long? Nine years ago, when Husband retired, took off his watch, and said, “I’m done,” we agreed that I would work until I got to age…well, a certain number. We’d worked endlessly on a retirement budget, figured every dime, and knew exactly what we’d need to maintain the lifestyle to which we’d become accustomed. Back then, it felt a long way off and I was sure that by the time I got to that number, I’d be ready to stop editing. Well, that certain number now looms large on the horizon and I’m not at all sure I’m ready to hang up my editor…

  • Sunday Snippet: The It’s Been a Ride Edition

    Release week is done. What a ride–blog appearances, podcasts, promotion like crazy… and it’s not over yet. But the first rush is finished and I’m back to focusing on writing the next series. If you haven’t gotten your copy of Home to River’s Edge, book 1 in the Weaver Sisters series, sure hope you click the link and grab it. Jazz and Eli’s story is heartwarming, emotional, and a fun introduction to the Weaver Sisters. Plus…there might be a little hint of whose stories are coming up in the next River’s Edge series. Today, I’m going to take the day off, spend some time with Husband, maybe weed some gardens,…

  • Sunday Snippet: The It’s Almost Here Edition

    And so it is! Almost here, that is. “It” is the release of my newest novel, Home to River’s Edge, book 1 in the new Weaver Sisters trilogy. The Weaver Sisters are the latest citizens of River’s Edge, Indiana to get a story. I’ve talked so much about here that y’all know the story by now… but since it’s release week, you get a new snippet. After all, this is called Sunday Snippet and it is Sunday… Setting up this snippet, Jazz is home from Washington, DC, and has been hiding in her old room in her parents’ house, sleeping, eating junk, and just generally being despondent. Her sisters are…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Settling Back In Edition

    It’s me again! Time for just a plain old Sunday Snippet since I’m back home from Hawaii and settling into normal Editor and Author Nan life. Laundry, a new editing gig, laundry, walking the ‘hood with neighbor Mary, reviewing copy edits on book 2 in the Weaver Sisters series,  writing…oh, and did I mention laundry? I have a serious case of jet lag–feeling like I could sleep for a week, but I’m trying to get my circadian rhythms back to what they should be. Weird that I’m suffering jet lag from traveling across three time zones the same week that we here in the Midwest spring forward. My body has…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Travelogue Edition

    Okay, the start of a travelogue. As you’re waking up and reading this, I’m on a plane with Son headed to Hawaii. Seriously. He’s going for a work thing, I’m tagging along because when your 40-something kid invites you to go along with him to Hawaii for a week, you get the okay from your cardiologist and then you say, “you betcha!” (I actually did that the other way around, but our secret, okay?) Darling Husband (who is no traveler by choice) will stay home and hold down the fort, and DIL and Grandboy have work and school, plus they’ve already been to Hawaii, so this was a perfect opportunity…