Or: The Lessons Learned in Tarnished Silver. Five years ago I released a book on our silver wedding anniversary. Tarnished Silver. Though it wasn’t “our story,” I did put certain elements in the book that were influenced by or directly ripped from our lives. Things like the “cattle drive” feel of Continue Reading
Lessons Learned Series
Why Write about Diabetic Alert Dogs in a Christmas Novel?
Today’s “noella” spotlight… Mine! The Second Noel. Note: links in this post may be affiliate links that provide a small commission at no extra expense to you. Why Write about Diabetic Alert Dogs in a Christmas Novel? The message came from a reader who had slowly but surely become a friend. You Continue Reading
3 Unexpected Lessons You’ll Love in Will Not See
The story held me captive as I wrote it. No, really. It happened with None So Blind, and it happened again with Will Not See. But while I found myself relating to Ella in None So Blind, I couldn’t comprehend the kinds of discoveries the main character of Will Not See made about her life. Add to Continue Reading
What Happens When Someone Will Not See?
The circle of death swirls on the screen and it shifts. The bank balance appears, and with it, my heart sinks. It’s been a tough few months, financially. The bottom line proves it. My reaction? Inhale. Exhale. “Okay, now we know the worst. We can do something about it.” My husband, on the Continue Reading
Lessons Learned: De-cluttering Junkie
Background for De-cluttering Junkie: I started writing Confessions of a De-cluttering Junkie on my personal blog a few years ago. I'd been reading blogs and message board posts that seemed to take a good thing (removing the excess from our lives) and almost turned it into an obsession. I admit Continue Reading
The Cool Lessons Learned in Discovering Hope
Before we get started in the lessons learned in Discovering Hope, I thought I'd give a bit of... Background for Discovering Hope: Hope was a NaNoWriMo challenge to myself. I told myself I wanted to write the sappiest book I could possibly fathom. At the time, I couldn't have written anything Continue Reading
Lessons Learned from Alexa
Alexa's Background: Manuscript for Murder was one of the first things I started to write. Those who know me well have often "suggested" that I might have literary ADD--the inability to keep my attention fixed on one work in progress at a time. It's one reason I have several dozen books in Continue Reading
Lessons Learned in Argosy Junction
Background of Argosy Junction: Argosy Junction began as a NaNoWriMo challenge. In 2007, my NaNo challenge to myself was to write about a subject near and dear to my heart. Phariseeism and what happens when it grows into legalism. In Argosy Junction, a small group of like-minded families grows Continue Reading
Lessons Learned in Past Forward
Background for Past Forward: Most of my books begin with a premise--a "what if" question of sorts. Past Forward is different in that I "discovered" Willow as a person first. I knew who she was, how she was different, how she was interesting. I just didn’t know her history until I thought about who Continue Reading
Lessons Learned: in Speak Now
"You're really good at authentic dialogue." I don't remember who said it, but I remember thanking her and going back to look at my work. I agreed. Most of it was rather realistic. But I noticed something. Most of my scenes were very dialogue-driven. And that got me thinking... What would Continue Reading
Lessons Learned: in Prairie
I decided that I wanted to do a series of blog posts chronicling the things I've learned as I wrote different books. When I'm writing a book, I often come away with something from that book--either a character (or characters) or a theme that really impacted me in some way. I decided to start this Continue Reading
