I always think it's fun to get a behind-the-scenes look at how book covers are created, and hopefully you do, too. Here are a few photos taken by my Managing Editor, Raela, during the photoshoot for An Ivy Hill Christmas. Enjoy! I hope you enjoyed seeing these few photos, and I especially hope you will enjoy the stand-alone novella, An Ivy Hill Christmas. Available now! … [Read more...]

Hear that? That's the collective sound of many people turning over a new leaf—myself included. Some people think of January as the time for change and resolutions, but for me this year, it's autumn. Labor Day has passed, the symbolic end of summer, and the temperatures are cool and crisp (at least here in Minnesota). The new school year has started (although it looks different this year … [Read more...]

When our local library reopened recently, my husband brought home a book he thought I’d like, called Daily Rituals: How Artists Work by Mason Currey. It’s an interesting collection of the daily routines of over 150 writers, composers, painters and scientists. Was my husband hinting that I would benefit from a more orderly routine? If so, he is no doubt right. I did not read the book cover … [Read more...]

I recently participated in two online conferences—the Beau Monde conference (for Regency-era writers) and this past weekend I was on faculty with the Northwestern Christian Writers Conference. I have been involved with NCWC over the last few years when the conference was held in-person near me in St. Paul, Minnesota. This year, as with a lot of things, most conferences are either being canceled or … [Read more...]

To generate blog post ideas, I asked readers what topics they’d like me to address. One question raised was: What is your process for creating your characters? How do they then become real to you? Something must happen, because they seem alive to your readers.” Honestly, creating characters doesn't come easily to me, but it's something I've learned to do better. In fact, it's one of the … [Read more...]