(links in this post may be affiliate links & I might receive a small commission at no extra expense to you) Madeline's Debut: Rockland, 1901! Madeline Brown. Just an ordinary girl in an ordinary Midwest city. But changes are coming her way. She's learning that she sees things others miss. Continue Reading
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The Unofficial Glossary to Meddlin’ Madeline: Sweet on You
One of the best parts about writing the Meddlin' Madeline series is playing with words that I grew up using and reading, but most people don't use anymore. I had parents of a literary turn of mind, so I grew up being told to, "Slow down and enunciate." This began at age 3. So while other kids were Continue Reading
Meddlin’ Madeline: Five Fun Facts
With the launch of Meddlin' Madeline: Sweet on You only days away, I thought I'd share a few fun facts about the book and my writing process with it. As you probably have read, the idea for Madeline came when I was searching for photos for another book idea (one I still haven't fleshed out yet!). I Continue Reading
Controversy & Writing the Hard Stuff
Let's face it. The world loves controversy. You've seen the news. They don't report on how everyone agreed on something. They report on how the city council broke out in a shouting match over which road gets paved next or the color of napkins at the next mayoral dinner or whatever. Seriously, Continue Reading
OCCWC: or what I did this weekend
WHEW! Well, I'm semi-coherent, so I thought I'd update you on the OCCWC (the conference I was at this weekend). It started early (well, for me) Thursday morning. Had to get up at 7. I survived. This is a testament to the Lord's goodness, and I am not being facetious. My friend, April, and I got Continue Reading
Book Review & Interview: 21 Days Devotionals
One of the best things about joining a "local" (I drive 3 hours to get there so not super local) ACFW chapter is that you get to meet some amazing people. We're all crazy different--appearance, lifestyle, career, writing genre, and I suspect theologically as well. There's Michelle the creative Continue Reading
The Birth of a Born Sleuth
Have you ever wondered how famous detectives such as Jane Marple or Lord Peter Wimsey discovered their penchant for sleuthing? What makes a good sleuth? How does one go from "average Jane" to Patrick Jayne? (note: I linked to my favorite film versions of these sleuths... just because I love them Continue Reading
That’s it. I’m not writing another word!
I'm just done. I mean, what's the point? I'm sitting here at Denny's, laptop open, outline book ready to go, notes in the document, and the Scrivener project open and ready to use. I'm telling you, it should be perfect. But it's not. And so, I'll say it again. I'm not writing another Continue Reading
Unlikely Inspirations: Or how writers fake it.
Inspiration: Oh, you thought writers are geniuses who write with creative inspirations and know exactly what they are doing? You read "unlikely inspirations" and think, "What?" Yeah. Let me tell you. I never know what will inspire me. And yeah, I fake it. A lot. For example, the other Continue Reading
Books for 2016: It’s gonna be a prolific year
What do I mean about it being a "prolific year?" Some would say I am always prolific. And well, I am. But last year I had a goal--twelve books in twelve months. And really, if you consider HearthLand, I almost made it. So that was cool. I had a prolific year, but not to the extent I'd Continue Reading
You Know How Mom Always Said, “Life’s Not Fair?”
Mom was right. Life's not fair. One of the best and worst parts of being an author is how many people bring you their work and say, "Can you tell me what you think?" I'll be brutally honest. I hate it. I want so badly to stick my fingers in my ears and sing "How Great Thou Art" and hope they Continue Reading
Fowl Tears: or how the world changed when a bird died
"Stephen's hurt. Going to the ER. Gotta go." Click. Three super-short sentences that changed a family's life--our family's life. Our world changed that day. Of course, at the time, if you asked Stephen what happened, he'd say, "A bird died." A raven. Just one or the grouping name Continue Reading
