Stories from River's Edge

  • Sunday Snippet: A “The End” Edition

    Yup…I’m there, well, sorta. I wrote THE END yesterday on Cam and Harper’s book, Made for Mistletoe, but I may still have another tiny scene to write, so that will be today’s mission. This book has been a journey. Christmas books always are. I love writing about Christmas in River’s Edge, but getting really creative and coming up with new holiday stories for my characters is sometimes harder than writing stories that happen at non-holiday times of the year. I confess I write my idea of the perfect Christmas in the River’s Edge books and it looks nothing at all like real Christmas in my life/family. Don’t get me wrong–the…

  • Sunday Snippet: The I’m Ready for Spring Edition

    Spring seems to be springing already and you know, we really haven’t had much of a winter here.  Oh, we’ve had few days of snow, but no real accumulation, and a few days of serious cold, but no long stretches of temperatures below freezing. That’s unusual but certainly not unheard of here in the middle of the United States. I remember lots of mild winters. These are crocuses discovered on one of my walks in the hood, aren’t they sweet? My tulips that neighbor Mary gifted me last fall are starting to peek up–they’re going to be yellow, she says, and I can’t wait to see them bloom! But I…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Under the Covers Edition

    We have winners! Margie and Gretchen, you are the winners of an ARC of Make You Mine. I’ll get those right out to you! And remember the caveat–a review would be so appreciated! Thanks for stopping by, everyone!!  Got your attention, didn’t I? (Sorry–nothing but sweet romance reads here.) But, you’re in luck this Sunday because rather than whine about my body, which has had a rough, rough week, I decided to reveal all three (3!) covers from my newest River’s Edge series from the amazing Tule Publishing, The Walkers of River’s Edge! I’m so jacked about this new series! The books all release in 2024, so what can I…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Start of a New Year Memos Edition

    Every so often, I do a memos edition–just random stuff that’s on my mind and needs to be dumped. This is one… feel free to add your own memos in the comments. I love it when you share! Dear Winter, Make up your mind already…snow and desperately freezing temperatures or mild and teasing us with spring? My daffodils are confused and so am I. Shiveringly, Nan ~*~*~*~ Dear Creative Brain, One book at a time, okay? Stay focused, finish Cam and Harper’s story, then you can move on. Distractedly, Nan ~*~*~*~ Dear Chocolate, Yes, I know you are delicious and wonderful and taste like magic, but you have to stop…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Writing from Other People’s Experiences Edition

    I’m writing book 3 in the Walkers of River’s Edge series–it’s Cam Walker’s story. He’s fallen in love with the new girl in town–a lovely young artist who also happens to be a widow. As a fiction writer, sometimes, my own life directs my storytelling, but honestly, most all of what I write comes from other people’s experiences, from absorbing narrative through films, books, music, and TV, and from listening. Okay, maybe eavesdropping in restaurants and airports and in groups of people, and from conversations I’ve been a part of and some that I’ve only been an observer in.  That’s all part of the discovery process–what happens before you start…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Validation Edition, II

    You know who I envy? Writers who have complete faith in their work and themselves. The ones who write a book and always know immediately that it’s great stuff and is going to sell like hotcakes. Or the ones who may know their work needs help, but believe so strongly in their own stories that they push on, striving to make them better. They never doubt their abilities or spend days wondering what they’re doing trying to write a novel, for Pete’s sake. They don’t wonder if they’re fooling everyone, including themselves, with this whole author thing. Sometimes, I can be that writer. When a scene works perfectly, when I’ve…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Eeek, I Need a Break Edition and a Question

    I’ve been working and writing pretty much nonstop for… well, for the last five years for sure and probably longer and I need a break. That’s not a whine…well, okay, maybe a little bit of a whine, but the fact is, I need to get away. Thankfully, I am getting away in about about a week! YAY! Liz and I are going on retreat for four days and I can’t wait. Retreat doesn’t mean I’ll stop writing. As a matter of fact our retreats are all about writing, but it does mean I’ll set my editing gigs aside for four days and focus entirely on the current WIP. Plus I…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Introducing the Walker Family & a Giveaway Edition

    Winner!! Sue Farmer, your name was selected from the comments as the recipient of an e-book copy of Home to River’s Edge and a $5 gift Amazon gift card! I’m sending you an email! Wow–I can’t believe January is nearly half over, can you? Or that it’s time to start promotion on the new River’s Edge series The Walkers of River’s Edge. Y’all know the Walkers, they’ve been around in other stories, including Home to River’s Edge. Jazz Weaver fell in love with Eli Walker, and at the end of Christmas in River’s Edge, Jenny and Gabe attended Jazz and Eli’s wedding on New Year’s Day. The other Walkers have…

  • Sunday Snippet: The I Shall Thole Edition

    It’s here. The New Year. It snowed yesterday and I opened the front door to take a picture and to inhale the crisp, cold scent of it. Snow brings a hush to the world and peace to my heart. So many people my age leave the state for warmer climes and I totally don’t get it. I like the change of seasons here in the Midwest, I don’t mind the snow–I don’t even mind being stuck inside if the snow makes travel hazardous. I’m writing the third book in The Walkers of River’s Edge series. It’s Cameron and Harper’s story and it’s coming hard, I confess. I’m not sure why…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Holy Cats, It’s December Edition

    Yup…it’s December and that happened before I even realized Thanksgiving week was over. Seems as if I’m gobsmacked every single year to realize Christmas is just over three weeks away at the beginning of December. Is it just me? I didn’t used to be this way. Long ago, BAN (Before Author Nan), I was pretty well through my Christmas shopping, the house would be decorated, I’d have started my Christmas baking by now. This year, I’m just grateful to have finished my latest WIP by the deadline (which, okay, I confess, was on an extension). Now, I’m taking a writing breath, but still doing Christmas in River’s Edge promotion for…