• Sunday Snippet: The Merry Christmas Edition

    Mes Amis, it’s Christmas Eve. I’m all ready for the holiday except for Husband making his famous cranberry Christmas cake for tomorrow’s celebration at Son and DIL’s house. Tonight Sister PJ and BIL will be here with us for our traditional chicken-and-noodles Christmas Eve supper. We’ll go to candlelight service after supper and then come back here for presents and dessert. It’s been a pretty low-key holiday season so far, and you know, I’m fine with that. 2023 is almost over and I’m fine with that, too. It’s been a busy year; 2024 is probably going to be busy as well. I don’t do resolutions anymore. I don’t like that…

  • 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…

  • Author Spotlight: Welcome Anne Armistead!

    One of the very best part of being an author is meeting other authors. Anne and I just met recently–we are both doing sprints through November with the amazing Bryn Donovan. Anne and I connected immediately in the short time we get to chat between sprints and I’m so delighted to introduce you to her today. Anne Armistead earned her English literature degree from the University of Georgia and her MFA in Creative Writing from Spalding University and is a member of the Georgia Writers of Romance (GRW), Atlanta Writers Club (AWC), and Historical Novel Society (HNS). The damaged hero wins her heart and the hearts of the heroines in…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Just 15K More Edition (& There’s a Snippet!)

    That’s 15K more words until Kara and Joey’s story is done and I can do the necessary stuff to get it ready to go to my editor. I’ve been a writing machine the past week, getting up every morning to get at least a thousand words in with a great group of sprinters led by Bryn Donovan, writer, editor, and all around, great person. I’m at the dark moment–which in my books is rarely dark-dark, mostly just a little on the gray side, and frequently, it’s not a conflict between the two MCs, as much as it is an issue for one of them that he/she must solve in order…

  • Special Treat: Lani Diane Rich Is Here!

    Mes amis, I usually keep my guest posts to Wednesdays and Thursdays, but today’s guest is such a special friend and writer and teacher that I’m bringing her in early this week so you can meet her. Lani is a New York Times best-selling author, award-winning podcaster, and story expert, and she is my dear friend. She’s published 12 novels with Hachette, St. Martin’s Press, and Penguin, and has taught storytelling, screenwriting, and television production at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. Her book, How Story Works: An elegant guide to the craft of storytelling is the last book you will ever need on story structure and…

  • Sunday Snippet: The I’m Writing Edition

    Yup, mes amies. I’m writing like a crazy woman, but taking breaks to stand up and walk around and eat now and again. My brain is mush, so I got nothin’ for today, so here are so gorgeous pictures of River’s Edge. Y’all know that my little fictional town is based on Madison, Indiana, and Brenda Guess Shropshire is an amazing photographer who captures the most spectacular photos of that river town. Take a look and enjoy! I’ll be back next week with a special guest on Tuesday and an Author Spotlight on Wednesday. Hope to see then! Gratitude for today: The tooth is extracted and and I’ve gone from…

  • Monday Funday: The Release Day Edition

    We have a winner, mes amis! Congratulations, Carol Alscheff! You are the winner of the holiday box of goodies! I’ll be in touch with you for a mailing address!  Thanks to everyone who stopped by and commented–y’all made release day a very happy one!  Oh, mes amis! We are floating on air today as Christmas In River’s Edge, Book 3 in the Weaver Sisters trilogy launched this morning. If you pre-ordered, it’s on your e-reader–have fun! I’m a little late getting here because I spent the morning doing my Medicare Wellness check–I am, well, that is. Very well actually. My primary care doc was overjoyed at the rise in my…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Heart Update Edition, Rev. 3

    It really is Heart Update number three, I went back in and counted. I’m overjoyed to tell you that we’ve got nothing but good news this time. I had an echocardiogram in August and although I’d read the results on MyChart (a blessing and a curse, if there ever was one!), it was good to see Doc B and hear her reaction to what I’d seen there. She was all smiles when she came into the exam room, not with balloons and confetti, but perhaps the verbal equivalent. “Wow, great news, huh?” Yup, indeed! The echo showed that my ejection fraction had risen from 37 to 50! (Up is how…

  • Author Spotlight: Welcome Back, Fortune Whelan!

    Debra Pruss, you are Fortune’s winner this week! She will be in touch with you! Thanks to Deb and everyone for stopping by. How we love talking to our readers!! I’ve met so many fascinating and wonderful people since beginning my career as a writer–it’s been such a ride. One of those is Fortune Whelan, who is a fellow Tule author and a great sprint partner. She’s here today with her latest book and a fun giveaway. Amazon bestselling author Fortune’s stories are “charming, silly, and emotionally fraught” with “fast-paced plot[s] that keep pages flying”. When she’s not at her standing desk fending off feline invaders, you can find her…

  • Author Spotlight: Kristina Knight Brings the Texas Girls (and a Giveaway!)

    We have a winner! Congrats to Latesha B. You’ve won a free e-book from Kristina’s backlist. She will be in touch! Thanks to everyone for stopping by! It’s always a pleasure to welcome my fellow Word Wranglers to the Author Spotlight and today I’m delighted to turn the blog over to Kristina Knight. Kristina began her writing career as a radio and television journalist, working for NBC affiliates throughout the Midwest as a reporter, anchor, and producer. After covering everything from a serial killer’s capture to the National Finals Rodeo, she decided to leave the TV biz in favor of writing stories she was passionate about. Kristina writes sassy contemporary…