Janette Oke’s novel, Love Comes Softly, has recently celebrated its fortieth anniversary of publication. That author and that book are often credited with pioneering the Christian fiction genre. Since then, the novel has birthed a whole series of books as well as a Hallmark television series. I first met Janette when I worked in marketing for Bethany House Publishers about twenty years ago. I … [Read more...]

Union Pacific’s historic steam locomotive, Big Boy No. 4014, is touring the Union Pacific system throughout the end of the year to commemorate the transcontinental railroad's 150th anniversary. Ken and I just happened to be in Ken's hometown, Ellsworth, Kansas, when Big Boy came through this past Saturday morning. What a fantastic experience! The whole town came out for the event and Ken and … [Read more...]

A few weeks back, I had the pleasure of speaking at the Christy Award gala in Nashville, Tennessee. I thought I'd share a portion of my talk with you here at Inspired by Life and Fiction. It's my hope that my fellow booklovers will find something to relate to in my memories and that my story will nudge you to remember your story! -Becky Because I'm a romance novelist, I thought I'd begin by … [Read more...]

Are you old enough to remember life before cell phones? Before you carried 2,000 books—and at least that many songs—in your hip pocket, and could be reached anywhere, anytime (whether you want to be or not)? I write historicals. 19th century, to be exact—1860s-70s, during the Civil War and Reconstruction period—and I often marvel at how much life has changed in the past 150+ years. At other … [Read more...]

I recently read a book by one of my favorite authors. As I neared the halfway point, I thought to myself, “I really should slow down. I don’t want to finish this book too fast, because then I’ll be done and have to wait too long for her next book to release.” Have you ever found yourself saying that? And then at the end, when you finally reach the last page and breathe a satisfied sigh, you … [Read more...]