Inspired by Life ... and Fiction

Novelists bound by the pen, sisterhood, & more

A Child is Born

By

Tomorrow is our oldest son, Joshua’s, birthday. My husband and I are looking forward to celebrating it with him and his wife, Vanessa. Joshua was born in Bogota, Colombia where we lived for two years while my husband performed in Colombia’s National Symphony Orchestra. Those were interesting and memorable years—learning a new language and adjusting to a different culture far from home. When our … [Read more...]

The Final Judges

By

I had the honor and the privilege, recently, to serve as one of the final judges for a prestigious Christian book award. The judging criteria that I was given served as a great reminder to me of the qualities that I hope to include in my own novels. I’m nearing the final stages of my current work-in-progress, and it has been a great exercise for me as I edit my own novel to compare it to these … [Read more...]

Finishing Well

By

I’ve been contemplating endings, lately, as I near the conclusion of my current work-in-progress. After 330 manuscript pages and more than 100,000 words, the end is in sight. I’m still not exactly sure how the book will end, since I’m one of those crazy writers who makes up the story as I go along, rather than plotting it ahead of time. I figure if I can’t guess what’s going to happen (and I’m … [Read more...]

Balancing Act

By

I haven’t always done well in the balancing act between work and play. I’ve learned over the years that when I work too hard, my creativity shrivels up and the work I love becomes a chore. When I play too much when I should discipline myself to work, I end up at my computer bleary-eyed, late into night. Neither option is a good one. When my children were small, the words of Psalm 90 inspired me to … [Read more...]

Launch Day

By

There are two days I look forward to the most in my writing life—the day I turn in the finished manuscript of my novel, and the day the novel is finally released to the public. Tomorrow is launch day for my newest book, “Legacy of Mercy.” The novel is a sequel to “Waves of Mercy” and features the same main characters. Geesje DeJonge is a 67-year-old widow who told her story of immigrating from … [Read more...]

Recent Posts