• Authors on The Road Day 2

    Day 2 from beautiful Galena, Illinois. Liz here… We slept pretty well last night, considering we weren’t in our own beds. We do have those fireplaces in our rooms, which have a lovely mesmerizing affect. At least until the timer goes off and the fire goes out. We were up pretty early this morning, ramping up our word counts and talking about what we would do this afternoon and what we needed to do with our works-in-progress. Oh, and we ate some stuff. And drank some stuff. And talked some more. This is the exciting, dramatic stuff writing retreats are made of. We had a good late lunch at Durty…

  • Authors On the Road Day 1

    We arrived! We drove…and drove…and drove, but we got here safely and are loving our place! I knew that sister PJ vacationed with aplomb, but who knew Lizzie and I would enjoy such luxury? First though, the trip. I asked Gigi (my GPS) to avoid toll roads and interstates, and boy, did she! Part of our trip was on long country roads, past cornfields and farms and pastures with cows and horses. Delightful scenery! Interestingly, the route she took us on had so few towns, large or small, that we were starting to wonder whether Illinois actually had any small towns. We finally found a place for food and enjoyed…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Authors on the Road, Fall Edition

    Despite last week saying I never know what day of the week it is, I actually do know it’s Sunday today, mainly because I’m writing the Sunday Snippet. But also because Liz and I are headed out for our fall writing retreat this morning. We’re headed to Galena, Illinois. Do you guys know that town? We’ve never been there before, which is part of the fun of going, and we have sister PJ and BIL to thank for the accommodations. They’re letting us use their condo. It looks pretty luxurious and has an indoor pool! (That’s the magic word for me, and graciously, Liz goes along with me, even though…

  • Author Spotlight: E. Elizabeth Watson is here with Highlanders!

    I love it when the Spotlight shines on an author I’ve met in person! E. Elizabeth Watson and I met at the Tule Author Retreat a couple of years and she was a delight! We even shared an early-morning writing session while we were there! I’m excited to welcome her to the Author Spotlight today! Elizabeth is convinced life is better with good coffee, chocolate, and a pair of hiking boots. Ever since her elementary school librarian “published” her epic childhood tales—complete with laminated handmade covers—she’s enjoyed exploring the world through literature. She fell in love with the harsh Texas desert where she found inspiration for charismatic cowboys and the…

  • Sunday Snippet: The What Day Is It Again? Edition

    Remember when Tuesday meant you had a good start on the week, it was a pool day, and you knew Husband would be at work and the kid would be at school? When the weekend was well and truly over and you were into your week? All was right in your world. I have a confession—Husband’s been retired over ten years and I rarely know what day it is. Seriously, I don’t. Most of the time I couldn’t tell you whether it was Sunday or Thursday. It’s even worse at the lake because every day at the lake feels like Saturday. Weird phenomenon, but it’s true. The only way I…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • Author Spotlight: Jeannie Watt Is Here with the First Montana’s Rodeo Cowboys Book!

    We have a winner! Cindy Pearson, you are the winner of Jeannie’s giveaway! Congratulations! Jeannie will be in touch with you. Thanks to everyone who stopped by to help us celebrate the start of Montana’s Rodeo Cowboys!  Stay tuned for more Montana fun! Mes amis, I am so very excited! September is finally here, which means that Tule Publishing’s new four-author series is here! Each week this month, Jeannie Watt, Nicole Flockton, Sinclair Jayne, and I will release a new Montana’s Rodeo Cowboys novel! I’ve been so honored to be a part of this series with these authors who are Western romance author-heroines of mine! They are all fabulous writers!…

  • 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…

  • Author Spotlight: Fiona & Dakota Are Back in Kurrajong Crossing and There’s a Giveaway!

    Debra Pruss, congratulations! You are the winner of Fiona and Dakota’s giveaway! They will be in touch! Thanks to everyone who stopped by! We love our readers! I’m so delighted to welcome Fiona Marsden and Dakota Harrison back to the Spotlight. I’ve loved their With Love from Kurrajong Crossing series from Book 1 all the way through to Book 12, the final book in the series, Holding Out for a Hero, which is out now! Fiona M. Marsden started as an avid reader. She was late in finding romance novels, but once found, they became an addiction. Considering she wrote poetry and stories from a young age, it was only…