Inspired by Life ... and Fiction

Novelists bound by the pen, sisterhood, & more

A Writing Life…Missing ACFW!

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This weekend is the ACFW national conference. This year we are online, and oh how I miss seeing my writing buddies. It's one of the reasons I started Book Talk with Cara. It was a good excuse for me to get to spend time talking with the writing friends I've missed catching up with at ACFW. On Friday, I'll open the conference and then on Saturday I'm teaching a workshop on writing proposals. It's … [Read more...]

Where would you live?

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Hi friends, Happy Wednesday! Always glad to spend a day with you. A friend asked if I could live in any book, which story world would I choose. This is a writer and reader’s delight—at least for me. Books started racing through my mind. Stories I’ve treasured and the world they’re set in. I immediately thought of Dee Henderson’s O’Malley family and how I’d love to meet each member of … [Read more...]

What says fall to you?

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Is it the turning of the leaves? The crispness in the air? Mums and pumpkins? Pumpkin bread? Pumpkin lattes? College football? Hoodies? (Oh how I love hoodie weather) What tells you that fall is near? Last night Joe and I took the pups on an after-dark-walk and it was almost chilly. Chilly. On September 6. In Nashville. Love it! That first hint of chill in the air is definitely a sign that fall … [Read more...]

A Visit to the Past

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Ken and I love to ride our bikes to the library in town whenever I need more research material, and then eat lunch at a fun restaurant. It’s about a 14-mile round-trip. There’s a sizable Hispanic population in town, so today we decided to try a little hole-in-the-wall Mexican store/taqueria that features authentic, homemade food. As soon as I stepped inside the little bodega, I was transported … [Read more...]

Happy End of Summer!

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In 2020, our family (like many of you) had to put big vacation plans on hold due to Covid. Instead, we did a couple of shorter trips. I’d hoped 2021 would allow us to move forward with a bigger vacation. But this year, my twins graduated from college. With one starting grad school and one getting a new job, we couldn’t find a block of time that worked for everyone to take a trip. So . . . … [Read more...]

Christmas is Coming

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I admit it. I'm one of those grumbly types who complains about Christmas merchandise showing up in stores before Halloween. No carol singing allowed until after Thanksgiving. No decorations put up until the first weekend of December. Bah, humbug! The one area where I make an exception is shopping. Christmas shopping can be stressful, so if I can pick up a few items throughout the year and store … [Read more...]

Feeding our History-loving Hearts

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Jeff and I went to Boston to visit our daughter a couple of weekends ago. Which was so fun. But in spite of all the history in and around Boston, that is not the focus of today’s post! Instead, I want to tell you about the few days we tacked on to the end of our trip just for us.  It’s been a crazy almost 11 months and we were exhausted. (Well, really it was crazy for 5 years, bu the last … [Read more...]

My Reading Life

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This summer I spruced up my website again. This time it was inspired by the cover of my June 2022 release (still to be revealed to readers). Two of my favorite colors are mauve (pretty much all of the “pink” shades and tones are favorites) and teal. The changes I made to my website went beyond the color scheme. They included a change in the look of my blog. And that has caused me to do some … [Read more...]

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