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Sunday Snippet: The I Hurt Edition
Yeah, I hurt, and I hate it! I did something squirrelly to my neck and shoulder last week, and ice and ibuprofen weren’t cutting it. So when I wen in for my annual checkup on Thursday, I mentioned the pain to my doc. She felt around (yikes!), found the offending muscles, recommended some exercises to help stretch out the pain and wrote me a scrip for a muscle relaxant. Said to give it two weeks and if it’s not gone by then to check in with her again. So…muscle relaxants. Um…the dose is two before bed, however, Doc said that since I’ve never had muscle relaxants before, I should start…
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Sunday Snippet: The Anniversary Edition
It’s the four-year anniversary of signing my first book contract with Tule Publishing. What a fun ride it has been since then! I’m writing book #8 for them with two more after this one and hopefully another 4-book series for another family in River’s Edge. Whew! I love this little town and all the people in it. The characters feel like family to me and I truly hope they do to my readers as well. Speaking of River’s Edge—we were, right? It’s been a while since I’ve given y’all an actual snippet so today here you go. A little tiny snippet involving the town from The Valentine Wager. Setup, briefly,…
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Sunday Snippet: The It’s a Snippet Edition
I’m sort of on a writing break–not really because I’m starting the first book in the Weaver Sisters series, but I’m not pushing. Mostly, I’m doing other stuff. I fall cleaned my house, went to a gala fund raiser for Nickel Plate Arts (my first foray into the world in almost two years), I watched a couple movies, I’m reading like crazy, I took walks, I had lunch with my sister for our birthdays… you know, real people stuff. I’ve also been working on promotion for The Valentine Wager, writing to reviewers, etc. and I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about Jasmine’s book–the first Weaver sister to get her…
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Sunday Snippet: The Whew, I Did It Edition
Wow. It’s been quite a week. Mostly because I finally wrote THE END on Book 3 in the Lange Brothers series. Becker’s book, The Fireman’s Christmas Wish, is in the hands of my fabulous editor, Sinclair Sawney, and I confess that I’m really nervous about this one. There’s a lot of me in grumpy Becker Lange and a lot of what I wish I could be in sweet and charming Harley Cole. Before this book, I’d never thought about how much of myself goes into my books, even though friends who know me and read my novels often say, “Oh, that line or that situation or that moment of humor…
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Sunday Snippet: The Sorry, I’m Busy Writing, So Here’s a Real Snippet Edition
Yeah, I am writing–lots! I’m facing a deadline that is way too close for comfort and I’ve turned into a writing hermit again. I’m sorry to my friends and family who keep wondering what’s become of me. I’m in front of my computer, writing Becker and Harley’s story, which seems to be coming along well as long as I don’t overthink and just let them have their way. There’s Christmas, a cute kitten, a guy who’s learning to love again, and a woman who hopes to be the one to bring him back into the light. Here’s a snippet from my current WIP: Her heart expanded to about twice its…
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Sunday Snippet: The Too Excited to Breathe & Giveaway Edition
It’s coming up! We are a mere 5 days away from Word Wranglers writer’s retreat in North Carolina and the four of us who are able to attend are about to pop, we’re so excited. First of all, outside of Liz and me, we’ve never met in person. So I get to meet Margie on Wednesday when I go pick her up at the airport, Liz gets to meet her when she picks us up and we get on the road, then all of us get to meet Janie when we arrive in NC. Liz and I travel together frequently, and we’re anticipating all the fun we’ll have adding Margie…
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Sunday Snippet: The Mid-July Gratitude Check-In Edition
Every couple of years, I break out my copy of Sara Ban Breathnach’s Simple Abundance. She calls it “A Daybook of Comfort and Joy,” and it truly is. If you’ve never read the book, I recommend it highly and it’s even available as an e-book! I downloaded it to my Kindle a few years ago, which makes it easy to have wherever I am, but I’m still partial to the hardback book because it has my notes in it from previous years, and it’s cool to read those, too. I’ve been doing the Simple Abundance meditations this year because I need that centering after the last eighteen months. Part of…
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Sunday Snippet: The Lazy, Rainy Weekend Edition
And so it is–a lazy, rainy weekend at the lake. It’s too icky outside for a boat ride or a swim. Too gloomy and stormy for a walk, so I’m sitting here at my computer contemplating what to write. I did something this morning I do so rarely that I can’t remember the last time it happened. I stayed in bed and read for two hours. My normal schedule is to get up at six and write for a couple of hours–even before I make coffee or face the world. It’s a good habit to have and I’m glad I do it because otherwise, nothing at all would get written.…
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Sunday Snippet: The Discovery Edition
Several years ago, I attended an Indiana RWA event—Bob Mayer’s Write it Forward workshop. It was inspiring and Bob’s book, The Novel Writer’s Toolkit is one of my go-to references. He has lots of valuable things to say about writing and the process of writing. Another mentor is Lani Diane Rich, whose Chipperish Media’s How Story Works podcasts are an invaluable source of inspiration and education for any writer. From Lani, I learned about discovery—what begins my process when I write. All books begin with an idea, as Mayer says. That’s “the heart of your story.” For me, it’s mostly characters in my head banging around, begging for their stories…
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Sunday Snippet: The Moving Right Along Edition
And so we are. I’m finally out from under a rather large editing gig that was a particularly challenging one. I only have one project on my desk this week, although I am getting another at the end of the week, and so my plan is to write, write, write. I had the great news from my editor that Max’s book is on the way to the copy editor, along with warm congratulations that I’d nailed the story in revisions and she’s excited for the next one. Whew! That is always a marvelous message to receive. So the next one is underway and I’m learning the characters and their quirks…