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Inspired by Life ... and Fiction

Novelists bound by the pen, sisterhood, & more

A Different First Draft

January 15, 2025 By D'Ann Mateer

I’ve written many, many first drafts of novels, most of them “by the seat of my pants.” This means I have a story idea but don’t know exactly how it plays out until I write it. However, I have written a few (very few) first drafts from a synopsis. These drafts tend to have a little more structure when the story first goes down on paper (or screen).  I’m now beginning different kind of first … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Writing Tagged With: first draft, Writing Process

Most Anticipated Reads in 2025

January 1, 2025 By D'Ann Mateer

Happy 2025!  The beginning of a new year is always exciting to me. There are so many things to plan for and dream about. One of those things is reading!  Shocker, right?  Here are some books I’m looking forward to reading in 2025. They are not all 2025 releases. Some came out at the end of 2024. Others are older than that. And many coming out in 2025 are not even on my … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Books, Reading Tagged With: contemporary fiction, historical fiction, New Year, Non-fiction

Have you reached your 2024 reading goal?

December 18, 2024 By D'Ann Mateer

Do you do the reading challenge on Goodreads? I confess I love picking the number of books I want to read for the coming year and then trying to reach that goal.  Of course, I’ve been keeping spreadsheets for years that include “books read” column which I tally up at the end of the year.  I went back to see if the numbers for the past few years of Goodreads challenge compare to the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Books, Reading Tagged With: Goodreads, reading goal

The Things We Do for Love

December 4, 2024 By D'Ann Mateer

The old 1970s song “The Things We Do for Love” ran through my head often last week. And while it’s a song about romantic love, my context was the love of parents for children and grandparents for grandchildren.  You see, we are not beach people. We enjoy looking out at the ocean and hearing the waves crashing while reading a book. We don’t particularly enjoy fighting for a bit of shade … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Family Tagged With: beach, Florida, Grandchildren

Rendezvous Surprises

November 20, 2024 By D'Ann Mateer

When my sister Debra retired from teaching in May, we wanted to plan a trip for just the two of us simply because we could. I brought up the Just Reads Rendezvous. Debra is a reader, too, and I’ve long wanted to introduce her in person to some of the wonderful authors whose books she has read. So we signed up, both of us attending as readers. When we discovered we could add on the Christy Awards … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Faith, Friendship, Reading Tagged With: becky wade, God's encouragement, Just Reads Rendezvous, sisters

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