Writer's moments
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Author Spotlight: Meet Debut Thriller Author John David
I love a good thriller, so it’s particularly special to me today to welcome debut thriller writer and fellow Tule Publishing author, John David to the Spotlight today. We had a fascinating chat, and he’s got a giveaway for you! John David is a long-time public relations and crisis communications consultant, author of a non-fiction business book, and a corporate ghostwriter. His debut novel, The Bystander (The Lemaster Files Book 1), was longlisted for the BPA First Novel Award. When not working or writing, he enjoys fishing, talking about politics, and following the Florida Gators. He and his beautiful wife Pamela live in Pinecrest, Florida. Website | Facebook | Instagram…
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Author Spotlight: Liz Flaherty Is Here with Holiday Romance!
Liz Flaherty wanted to shake off the dust of central Indiana farm country and move to the city, get rich, wear designer clothes, and write books. Well, she writes books. She lives five miles from where she grew up, only now she relishes the sights and sounds and scents of the fields around her, doesn’t care much about clothes, and thinks being rich would probably have been overrated anyway. She’s spent the past several years enjoying not working a day job, making terrible crafts, and writing stories in which the people aren’t young, brilliant, or even beautiful. She’s decided (and has to re-decide nearly every day) that the definition of…
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Sunday Snippet: The Reflections on Aging Edition
I turned 72 on Friday. 72. It is a number I never expected to see because when my mom died suddenly of a massive heart attack at the tender age of 60, I became convinced that I would follow in her footsteps. After all, I’m a lot like my mom in other ways. When I passed 60 … and continued on for another almost ten years, I was always kind of surprised that the next birthday happened. Surprised and oh, so very grateful. In December of 2022 when I was diagnosed with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) at the age of 69, I was pretty sure that I…
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Sunday Snippet: The Imprinting Edition (A Peek into the Writerly Mind)
So many authors I know often talk about how much they love to write and how it seems as though every situation–good or bad–gets filtered through their inner writer. That’s so true. I’m wondering right now if it is a bad thing that even when I am in the midst of chaos and crisis, sickness and grief the writer is still creating–inventing scenes, conversations, and scenarios. I’ve thought it about it a lot as we’ve been in such crisis in our country, and I’ve been trying to decide if it’s something to feel guilty about or not. I think it’s not. It’s never a bad thing when our gift kicks…
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Sunday Snippet: The More Questions for the Universe Edition
Summer is almost over, and I’m damned if I know what happened to it. One minute it was April and we were opening up the lake cottage, and the next, it’s September and the leaves on our little sweet gum tree are changing. My personal life has been an upheaval of joys and sorrows lately, but I’ve been working practically nonstop all summer long. Editing gigs are always a good thing, except they interfere ferociously with my writing time. If I work for eight or ten hours, I’m loathe to sit down at the computer again after supper to write some more. But this week, I’ve been working on the…
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Sunday Snippet: The What Makes Me Interesting? Edition
Several years ago, I did an interview on another author’s blog—in the hot seat myself after all the interviews I’ve asked my guest authors to do. I had a good time answering the questions, and they were great questions, ones that really made you stop to think. One that particularly intrigued me was this: If someone wrote a book about your life, what would it be called? Hmmmm… that was a tough question because I had to start with the whole concept that someone would be interested enough to want to write a book about me. I can probably count on the fingers on one hand—maybe just using only three…
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Sunday Snippet: The August Memos Edition
Hiya, kids! It’s memo time again. (This happens when I can’t think of anything to write, even though I printed out a list of 49 topics that I got in an email from Nancy Light at N.N. Light’s Book Heaven. They are wonderful ideas and I will probably use them–I do this every week, after all. But today… today you get the memos. ~*~*~*~ Dear Covid, You suck. That is all. Tiredly, Nan ~*~*~*~ Dear Weather, I know it’s summer in the Midwest and all bets are pretty much off temperature-wise, but seriously? We could use some relief from the heat. Buck up, now, and don’t let climate change (I…
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Montana Day 7: Purple Eater People
The bartender stopped in front of us. The drink he’d prepared was a creamy lavender beneath a white swirl of whipped cream. The Purple Russian, he explained, consists of huckleberry liqueur and local huckleberry whisky and vodka. Nan and I oohed and ahhed, although we weren’t tempted at that moment to order anything more than the iced teas we were consuming after our hike to Ousel Falls. We were too tired and thirsty for alcohol, no matter how pretty it was. Montana shops are full of everything huckleberry, and we’ve become fans. We’d already returned to the local grocery to buy more chocolate-covered huckleberry truffles. I purchased huckleberry-flavored lip gloss…
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Sunday Snippet: Day 5.5 Montana: Exploring Big Sky
Carol here, once again taking over Nan’s blog. We stayed local yesterday and started with Nan’s favorite vacation tradition–a shampoo and blow dry at the Hair Ninja. Leah was not only a terrific hair stylist (she calls herself a “hairapist”) but an excellent source of information about the area. Like many resort towns, Big Sky sees frequent turnover in local business staff and shortages in some critical fields, like medicine. The year-round population of 3000 quadruples in the winter months. However, housing prices are high, so skiers and snow boarders find it difficult to settle in the area for long. Some restaurant menus change year-to-year as chefs don’t return. There…
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Day 4 Montana: A Grand Day of Being Tourists
What a day! Carol and I decided to head north west to Ennis and Virginia City after our friend Jeannie had told us what a fun place it was. Lots of Western history, which fascinates both of us. We weren’t disappointed! Especially Virginia City was filled to the brim with the Old West, from a bunch of old shops and businesses set up just as they were back in the 1870s to stage coaches and hay wagons running through town. (Those were available for rides.) Every museum building had a story to tell and so many artifacts from 15o years ago. We really got the flavor of life in an…