Recently, a woman who's writing her first manuscript reached out to me. She was feeling discouraged because she heard experienced writers talking about how many manuscripts they wrote before penning one that was strong enough to publish. She asked me for my thoughts. I'm sharing here what I shared with her, in case it's helpful to aspiring writers or insightful to readers who enjoy learning about … [Read more...]

When a verse pops into my mind that feels particularly relevant to my mood or situation, I'll sometimes turn to it in the Bible and read the whole chapter that contains the verse. A few days ago the famous "See, I am doing a new thing" verse rose to the front of my thoughts. I paged to Isaiah 43. What a rich and powerful chapter of scripture! It blessed me and so I thought I'd share snippets of … [Read more...]

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Big perk of the writing life? The opportunity to travel to the settings of your books!Last summer, after I submitted Turn to Me to my publisher, it came time to dream up a new series. I decided I'd write about three brothers and titled their series Sons of Scandal. Next I needed to hunt for a location. So far, I've set books in Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington state, and the north Georgia … [Read more...]

I recently posted this question on my Facebook author page... "I'm curious! Do any of the following things bug you when reading fiction? 1) Misunderstandings that go on too long. 2) A predictable plot. 3) Unlikely calamities (for example: fire followed by sickness followed by a blizzard). 4) When one honest conversation would really help matters, but the characters avoid having that … [Read more...]