Inspired by Life ... and Fiction

Novelists bound by the pen, sisterhood, & more

Moments that stay with you

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Think about one of your favorite moments from a movie, TV show, or novel. Got it? Hold onto it for just a second. Why is it a favorite, do you think? Most likely, it's because it's evocative. It makes you laugh. Or cry. Or recall a memorable event in your life. Or maybe someone special to you. These moments touch us because they tap into universal truths. A truth that applies to you no … [Read more...]

On the Research Trail

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Researching my books is one of my favorite parts of the writing process, and last week I got to do just that. My musician husband, Ken, was performing in New York City, so I flew there with him for a short, five-day trip. Since his concert was in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, we stayed in a hotel just a few blocks from the historic Brooklyn Bridge (completed in 1883 and still used by commuters to … [Read more...]

The Plot Thickens|Jane Kirkpatrick

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Each Sunday "Inspired by Life...and Fiction" shares a Christian novelist's newest book and the garden spots where they find inspiration. After spending years clearing sagebrush and wrestling wind and rattlesnakes on their ranch in a remote part of Oregon, Willa Award-winning author Jane Kirkpatrick and her husband Jerry are back in central Oregon. Jane has brought some reminders of her … [Read more...]

Love Well

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I love love!  Especially the process of falling in love. The romantics among us will agree, there's just something about the intensity of the feelings we experience when we fall in love for the first time. It's exciting! The joy is over the top. The doubt is nerve wracking. The loneliness of separation heart-breaking. The sensations of falling for someone -- who's falling for you at the same -- … [Read more...]

Join Me for a Jane Austen “Tour”

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If you know me at all, you know that I am a fan of Jane Austen. I have been ever since I fell in love with Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy in the 1995 BBC/A&E adaptation of Pride & Prejudice.Seeing it led me to re-read Jane Austen’s books and in turn, to set my novels in the Regency period.    So it should come as little surprise that I would be interested in something called an Austen … [Read more...]

Being real in a social media world

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My husband and I went out for an impromptu breakfast the other day and he asked me, "Aren't you going to take a picture?" (Meaning, for Facebook...) I said, "No, let's just let this one be for us. For you and me." But it caused me to wonder: has my life been reduced to a post-a-day on Facebook? I hope not! We all know that Facebook isn't exactly "real." Most of us put our best foot forward on … [Read more...]

The Plot Thickens|Nancy Jo Jenkins

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Each Sunday "Inspired by Life...and Fiction" shares a Christian novelist's newest book and the garden spots where they find inspiration. Nancy Jo Jenkins' garden is a "hothouse" and featured below are the leaves of an ivy plant she "ditched" in the greenhouse several years ago. "The greenhouse is like a rain forest where our plants thrive, both wintertime and summer," Nancy says. Nancy Jo is a … [Read more...]

A Meeting That Wasn’t Supposed to Happen

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Since we're only a week away from Valentine's Day, I thought I'd share the story about how I met my husband! Have you ever stubbornly stamped your foot and said, "No. I'm never going to do that"? I'm never going to live in that town? Or I'm never going to do that job? When I was younger, I stamped my foot and said, "I'm never going to marry a pastor." I grew up as a PK (Pastor's Kid). My … [Read more...]

Love on the Mend

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I'm excited to announce that my latest project, Love on the Mend, has just released! This is an e-novella that loosely ties in to my previous novel Full Steam Ahead, though the characters and setting are separate enough to stand alone. Since I am one of those slow writers who only manages to put out one full-length novel a year, I decided that it would be fun to try to give my readers some … [Read more...]

Discovering the Forgotten War

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  This year World War II is going to get a lot of attention. On May 8, 1945 it will be the 70th Anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. But thinking about World War II also makes remember the often forgotten war. The Spanish Civil War  ... ever heard of it? Yeah, I hadn't really either. Beyond hearing about a For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway, I didn't … [Read more...]

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