Yes, I’m completely stealing this blog idea from Deborah Raney’s post yesterday (which has already cost me some expensive online shopping, I can tell you. :) ) I have a first draft due to my publisher in less than a week, so I’m all for a fun and easy post idea! Here are a few of my favorite things in the personal care department: Smartwool Socks When you live in frigid Minnesota, you … [Read more...]

Hello! Since it's my night to post here on Inspired by Life and Fiction, and I'm busy enjoying Christmas with my family, as I hope you are as well, I thought I would simply repost this photo from my publisher's Facebook page... My son in college recently came home for Christmas break. I asked him to pick a few favorite ornaments to hang on the tree. Here are three he chose and how he chose to … [Read more...]

Author events come in all shapes and sizes. Recently, I celebrated the release of my 12th novel at my local bookstore. It has become something of an annual November/December tradition. I was blessed with a large turnout of supportive reader-friends, writer-friends, and family who came to hear me talk about the new book, The Ladies of Ivy Cottage. I also had three special guests who talked … [Read more...]

I’ve said it before, but I love libraries of all sorts. Not only because I am a book lover, but because one of the ways I supported myself during my college years was by working in the university library. I still vividly remember pushing my shelving cart through all those aisles of books, thinking, If only I could have a book I’ve written in a library someday! Well, God is good and that dream has … [Read more...]