Inspired by Life ... and Fiction

Novelists bound by the pen, sisterhood, & more

Visiting Hemingway

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While vacationing in the Florida Keys recently, my family and I visited the Key West home of Ernest Hemingway, one of the most famous and influential American writers of our time. He received the Nobel Prize for literature and won a Pulitzer Prize. He wrote The Sun Also Rises at age 27, followed shortly by A Farewell to Arms. As my younger brother and I toured his former house, we teased each … [Read more...]

A Blank Page | Guest Blogger, Anna Paulson

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Anna Paulson interns for Julie Klassen. She graduated in May from Concordia University, St. Paul with a degree in English. Ernest Hemingway hunted lions in Africa and fought bulls in Spain, but when asked about the most frightening thing he had ever faced, he answered, “A blank sheet of paper.” As a writer and a recent college graduate, I relate to the anxiety of a white canvas fraught with … [Read more...]

Coming Soon & Giveaway

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2015 will be the first year I’ll have two books releasing. In July, I’ll have a new book with a new-to-me publisher. The book is called Lady Maybe. The publisher is Berkley/Penguin in New York.  I am enjoying working with a new team, but I am continuing to work with my beloved Bethany House as well. They are publishing my December release (The Painter's Daughter), and I've recently signed a new … [Read more...]

Before you advance, it’s good to RETREAT…

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The first weekend in May a group of twenty writers from Minnesota (along with a few Wisconsin neighbors) got together for a weekend writers retreat. No teacher, no speaker, no agenda. Just time to write, recharge, and spend time with other writers in a beautiful setting--lake-side Camp Lebanon.   Some of us went up early on Friday to start our weekend with a tour of three historic sites … [Read more...]

Celebrating Books: Minnesota-Style

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Last Saturday night, over 800 readers, writers, and publishers came together to celebrate the year’s “best books by Minnesotans” at the 27th annual Minnesota Book Awards. More than 250 books were nominated and 32 were selected as finalists. My latest book, The Secret of Pembrooke Park, was selected as a finalist in the “Genre Fiction” category, which includes Mystery, Thrillers, … [Read more...]

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