I've always loved reading books that are part of a series. Because of that, for years, I dreamed of trying my hand at writing a series. With my Porter Family books, I got my wish! I discovered two things about series... #1) They're tricky because I have to juggle a large cast of characters who will star in future books or have already starred in past books. I strive to bring those characters … [Read more...]

I schedule my writing year so that my deadline always lands on June 1st. This makes April and May crazy for me, but there's a method to my madness. Namely, a June 1 deadline puts me in sync with my kids' summer vacation. I'm able to enjoy time off from writing during the entire month of June (glorious!) followed by a very relaxed, part-time writing schedule in July. This June, we'd planned … [Read more...]

Today, I thought I'd take you on a tour of the real-life places that inspired the settings of my books! I love to travel and I've been fortunate to visit the settings of all of my novels. However, those of you who've read my books may have realized that the towns I've created are fictional. I chose this approach for two reasons.... 1) So that I can make my town every bit as cute as my … [Read more...]

On July 9th, 1993, my husband and I attended our wedding rehearsal. Afterward we enjoyed a dinner for the wedding party, family, and out of town guests. Then His Highness and I exchanged wedding gifts. He gave me this beautiful necklace.... And I gave him this Bible.... I remember shopping for it carefully. Talking through all the choices in depth. Considering my options. … [Read more...]

My new book, Stay with Me, released this week, and so I reached out to the novel's cover models to ask if they'd be willing to answer a few of my questions. They very graciously said yes! (Which made my day because my annual cover model interview post is one of my favorites of the year.) This post will introduce you to Paul and Sami Weaver, but if you're on Instagram and would like to keep up … [Read more...]