Inspired by Life ... and Fiction

Novelists bound by the pen, sisterhood, & more

Once in a Lifetime

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The August day, forty-eight years ago, was hot and sticky. I curled my long hair before leaving home but the humidity uncurled it by the time I reached the church. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except that I was about to marry my best friend. It was a simple wedding. Ken was starting graduate studies at Yale so we didn’t have a lot of money. My sister Bonnie, my maid of honor, sewed my … [Read more...]

Back to School Countdown Deal

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  In case you missed the announcement awhile back, one of my novels (Whispers From Yesterday) is part of a fun new collection, Out of Their Element. These four full-length novels from four award-winning and best-selling authors all feature mismatched couples and characters who are out of their element. The collection is available for the Kindle and Kindle app. Fall is almost upon us … [Read more...]

Flying The Nest

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My family has "taken off" in recent days: After back-to-school shopping with his brother and me, our oldest son packed up a very full car and headed back for his 3rd year at university. A few days later, our youngest son also flew the nest for the first time, moving 4.5 hours away to begin his freshman year at college. I delivered him safely to his empty, rather bleak dorm room and was … [Read more...]

Ode to a Tree (or: making lemonade)

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Trees Joyce Kilmer "I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree. A tree whose hungry mouth is prest Against the sweet earth’s flowing breast; A tree that looks at God all day, And lifts her leafy arms to pray; A tree that may in summer wear A nest of robins in her hair; Upon whose bosom snow has lain; Who intimately lives with rain. Poems are … [Read more...]

God’s Way Over the Easy Way

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I recently completed a Bible study titled Discerning the Voice of God by Priscilla Shirer.  The Lord spoke to me through it!  This past week, I've been meditating on one of the points Priscilla made.  Namely, that God's way is not usually the easy way. Oh, how we long for the easy way, don't we? Once, I expected to carve a high-powered career path into corporate America. Then my husband … [Read more...]

Ebook Deals, Street Teams & More

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I don't know about y'all, but one of my favorite things to do when I'm not writing is to read really great books. So I thought today I'd share some of them with you that are on some really great ebook deals. I'll also share info at the end about how to apply for my street team for Delayed Justice. [Tweet "@Cara_Putman is sharing ebook deals, street teams, and more at Inspired by Life & … [Read more...]

Back to School She Goes

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Well, dear readers, it's that time of year again. Summer is winding down (although our 109℉ temp a couple of weeks ago seems to deny that), and the stores are filled with shoppers buying backpacks and school supplies to fill them. I'm too old for shopping at Target and Walmart when it's crazy like that. What I need I mostly get on Amazon (lazy shopper). But that doesn't mean I'm not headed back … [Read more...]

Technology and long goodbyes

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I'm excited to head to Atlanta this week to see my precious Dad again. I do my best to get down there every couple of weeks. Dad entered memory care earlier this year in February and has adjusted fairly well. But recently, he's becoming more confused, more disoriented. And frightened. Which breaks my heart. As I shared on Facebook yesterday, this pic is from two weeks ago when I was … [Read more...]

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