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...]

I first saw the cover for Stay with Me (which releases in just a week and a half!) back in September of last year. My editor emailed the cover art to me and here's a quote from the email I sent her in response. "Oh my goodness! I love it! I absolutely adore it.  I’m so happy!  Bravo, to Jenny and the design team.  I really think they nailed this one. The model looks exactly like … [Read more...]

I'm so happy to welcome my friend, Jill Lynn, back to Inspired by Life...and Fiction. Her newest release is about to hit shelves, and to mark this special occasion, she's offering a giveaway! Stories often change from when I plot and imagine them (and send them in to my publisher as an idea) until they become typed words on a white page. And I have to admit, I agonize a bit over my … [Read more...]