Writer's moments

  • Sunday Snippet: The News Edition

    Well, it’s a new Sunday morning and I just opened up the house to let in some fresh spring air. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and there’s a gentle breeze. It’s the last week in April and it finally feels like spring, although we’ve had what is typical for spring in the Midwest–rain, cold, snow, warm temps, and then chilly again. We went up the lake yesterday–just for the day–and cleaned up the yard. Picked up sticks, weeded, and swept winter’s detritus off the deck. Then came home and christened our new deck here with margs and a lovely visit with neighbors, Mary and Bob. How we…

  • Author Spotlight: Liz Flaherty

    It’s always fun when my bestie joins me on the blog and even better when she’s in the Spotlight. Today, she’s here with her new release, Life’s Too Short for White Walls and giveaway! Be sure to check out the Rafflecopter down below! Besides hanging out with me, Liz spends non-writing time sewing, quilting, and thinking she should clear a path through the fabric stash that furnishes her office. Liz is rather bewildered by where she’s at in life. She doesn’t feel…er…elderly, but the truth is that she is. The Magnificent Seven grands have grown up on her, her own kids are all now older than she is, and her…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Lefty Edition

    No, I’m not talking politics, I’m talking literally from the left side. That’s how I see life because I’m a lefty. And not just left-handed, but extremely left-handed. Don’t ask me to do much of anything with my right—it simply ain’t gonna happen. It’s not always easy being a lefty in a right-handed world. I grew up during the time when old-fashioned school teachers thought that being a lefty was a bad thing. My first grade teacher thought it was just plain wrong, so she made me sit on my left hand and write with my right as I learned to form the alphabet. I did it. I was six…

  • SundaySnippet: The Spring Fever and a Real Snippet Edition

    THE WINNER OF THE E-BOOK ARC IS SHARI! I EMAILED YOU, SHARI! THANKS EVERYONE FOR STOPPING BY AND FOR COMMENTING!! Yeah, I’ve got it bad, kids. Spring fever has struck here at our little brick house in the city with all the usual symptoms. I’m staring longingly out at the gray rainy days, wishing the sun would come out so I could wander the ‘hood with friend Mary. We stop along the way to admire the tulips and hyacinths and daffodils that are popping up in neighbors’ yards. Last year at this time our peach tree was blooming (too early, I might add), a late frost hit it, and we…

  • Author Spotlight: Kris Bock

    I’m so pleased to have fellow Tule author, Kris Bock in the Spotlight today. We had a fascinating chat. Kris writes novels of mystery, suspense, and romance, many with outdoor adventures and Southwestern landscapes. Get a free Accidental Detective short story and bonus material when you sign up for her newsletter. This collection includes a ten-page mystery short story set in the world of “The Accidental Detective” series, information about the series, and the first chapter of book 1. After that are three fun, short stories originally written for children. You’ll also get a free 30-page sweet romance set in the world of the Furrever Friends cat café and a…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Hey, It’s Just Me Edition

    Yeah, sometimes a blog post is nothing more than “hey, it’s me!” Today is one of those Sundays, mostly because I have very little to say. I’m writing, I’m editing, I’m taking walks and swimming, and doing the usual stuff. Authors may have wonderful fantasy lives, but our regular lives are pretty ordinary. Even my news is sorta meh–I got new glasses and new contacts. The dentist decided not to do a root canal on my aching tooth, and instead is having me use a mouth guard at night, so I have one–it makes me sound funny, but since I wear it at night, who really cares? We have a…

  • Sunday Snippet: The QOTD and a Snippet Edition

    Yeah, again, I’ve got nothing. Writer bestie Liz says when you have nothing, make a list. I thought about a list, but then I remembered that I have a list–“A Year of Journal Prompts.” Why wouldn’t that work for a blog, too? So I dug it out and found the one for March 27. “Pick a movie character you identify with.” Really? Argh! I was going to skip that, but then I thought–you know, this could be a good exercise. A movie character I identify with… the one I truly identify with, not the one I’d like to be. I think my answer would have to be Jo March in…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Learning Curve Edition

    You know, if you’d asked me, say 10 or even 5 years ago, if I still had tons of stuff to learn, I might have told you, “Nope, I’ve lived and loved a lot of years…I think I’m pretty well where I should be knowledge-wise.” And wouldn’t that have been arrogant and presumptuous of me? I discover, pretty much daily, that knowledge is a growing and expanding thing. When there is something I feel I’ve learned all I can about or more specifically, all I care to learn about, well, the Universe laughs. Case in point–book promotion. Something I sorta suck at and yet, I must do, so I’m learning…

  • Sunday Snippet: The How About an Actual Snippet Edition

    I named this Sunday post “Sunday Snippet” because I really intended to do that–give you a snippet of a story every Sunday. Obviously, I got off track on that, and I’m not going to apologize because  too many snippets leaves no reason to buy the books. A snippet should be a quick sample…a taste, if you will. So you will continue to get tastes of my books, but you’re also going to get a lot of Nan because…well, because this is my blog and I get to choose what happens here. (I’m not really as bratty as that sounds, truly.) All that said, guess what! You get a snippet today!…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Snap Judgments Edition

    I was thinking about snap judgments–how we all make them and how we all have them made about us. Here’s what got me started–social media trolls. Bear with me, I promise I’m going to make this connect. At least ten or twelve times a week (sometimes that many in a day!) I get friend requests on Facebook and even more on Instagram from trolls–either random bots or really bored and kinda sleazy guys looking for attention. No, I’m going to be your friend because you “like my smile” or you think I’m “gorgeous” and you “can’t stop thinking about me.” Seriously? You don’t even know  me, dude. Being blonde and…