• Sunday Snippet: The Taking a Break Edition

    I’m taking a break from posting this week. I’ve been all over the Web with book promotion since Made to Love You released on January 23 (still at it as you can clearly see–sigh). Then there’s been the first two weeks of the new regime (I refuse to call it an administration). I’ve had a giant knot in my stomach since the inauguration and I’m a little scared that if I start writing about where my head and heart are right now, I’ll rant and won’t be able to stop. If you follow me on any social media, you already know where I’m at, so no need to fill this…

  • Sunday Snippet: The My Language Is Deteriorating Edition

    My language is deteriorating. No s#*t—it really is! I’ve always taken pride in the fact that I have a good vocabulary. My mom insisted we have extensive vocabularies and use them appropriately. We played word games voraciously when I was kid—Scrabble, Boggle, Probe—and to this day, family gatherings include word games. I’m a whiz at spelling, and usually if someone asks me what a word means, I can come up with the correct definition without running to a dictionary. My grasp of language and its appropriate use is part of why I’m a damn good copy editor (I have clients who’ll testify, honest!). I adore discovering new words and finding…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Writing in the Information Age Edition

    It’s been a week, mes amis. I’m working hard on my current WIP–the first book in the Dykemans of River’s Edge series. Liz and I went on a very fruitful, if extremely chilly, writer retreat, where both of us wrote words and did a lot processing. Even more of “what’s the word for this” along with a gesture or a motion. We do that a lot when we’re writing together. Liz is an invaluable resource and I can’t imagine writing a book without her input. We ate some good food, drank a little less wine than usual, and found a fab little place for breakfast right near our hotel. Otherwise,…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Words Sometimes Come Hard Edition

    I’m in a weird place with this new work-in-progress. I like the story, I like the characters, but somehow I’m having a problem getting them to move along. I have more notes about this first story in my new series than I did starting out any other River’s Edge series, mostly because a lot of this story happens away from River’s Edge. But I also have more word notes, more conversation notes, more scene notes than any book I’ve ever written. It’s almost as if I’m writing the book in my notes, but when I get to the computer, the words are coming hard. Funny thing is, I know this…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Things I Should Have Mentioned in 2024 Edition

    It’s January 5 and maybe a few days late for rehashing 2024, but I have few memos for the past year that I need to get off my mind before I plunge into 2025. Dear Summer 2024, Where did you go? I mean seriously? I know the summer lasted the usual 3-4 months, but it sure didn’t feel like it was that long. We didn’t get enough lake time or enough time to go out exploring state parks and places of interest as we’d planned to do. Stick around and be more organized in 2025, okay? Longingly, Nan ~*~*~*~ Dear Election, Sigh. What can I say? Things did not end…

  • Sunday Snippet: The It’s Almost the New Year Edition

    2025 is nearly upon us. A new year should never bring a feeling of dread and yet… here we are. We are living in chaotic and scary times, and I keep thinking what can I do? My stomach roils at the thought of what’s happening in Washington (not much, thanks to a do-nothing off-the rails House) and how divided we are as a nation. I have to have faith in my fellow Americans–that we will come together against the crazy that’s happening in politics. We must be proactive, to mobilize against the far right’s obsession with an autocrat and oligarchs. So, there’s that… But what can I do? I actually…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Weeping Time Edition

    It’s almost December 19, and the 10-year anniversary (what a strange word to use in this context) of losing my sister Kate. Wicked cancer stole her from us too soon. PJ and I both still maintain that a third of us is missing, and that is so very true. But this part of December–the first couple of weeks have become a gray time for me since Kate’s passing. I’m not sure if it’s the anticipation of the anniversary or the starting the holidays without her…again, but I am weepy and sad and wishing desperately that she was here. So many times since December 19, 2014, I’ve thought, okay, now it’s…

  • Sunday Snippet: The It’s a Mom Thing Edition

    This Thanksgiving weekend, when we were all together as family, I realized something significant. It wasn’t startling, but I saw it in all the parents/grandparents who sat around my sister’s huge, but cozy table. It’s this. We never ever stop being parents—once you have a child, you’re signed up for life and beyond. We moms suffer just as much when our child struggles at age 45 as we did when they fell and broke their arm at age 5. I once heard that a mother is only as happy as their unhappiest child. I don’t know if that’s true or not because I only have one, but I do know…

  • Sunday Snippet: The River’s Edge Is Happening Edition

    I’m old enough to remember when people would say something was “happening.” You know, like “it’s a happening place”? I’m not sure when that phrase started or when it stopped being part of the vernacular, but this past week, my little town of River’s Edge, Indiana, was a happening place–for real. Let me explain… River’s Edge, my fictional town on the Ohio River, is inspired by a real town on the Ohio River called Madison, Indiana. Madison is a lovely place, filled with history and culture and art and wonderful kind folks. It’s one of my very favorite places to visit, and when I wanted a setting for my sweet,…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Deep Sigh Edition

    Every morning, I meditate. I sit in the wing chair in the dark living room, and I use an app called Insight Timer to begin each day. I find that the meditations offered there help me get through the day. One of the things the teachers there talk about is our breath. How we breathe affects so much of how we feel. When Husband and I took a yoga class several years, we learned to focus on “the breath.” That was where I learned the in for four, hold for four, out for four, which I depend on when the world goes mad and I feel like screaming. The instructors…