Inspired by Life ... and Fiction

Novelists bound by the pen, sisterhood, & more

Details of the Past

By

I know this makes me sound like an old lady, but lately I’ve been realizing how many things have fundamentally changed over my 50-odd years on this earth. Although I truly think my interest is not nostalgia but history.  Case in point. I went to the dentist last week. I sat in that chair as the hygienist cleaned my teeth, spraying water in my mouth then vacuuming it out again. And I … [Read more...]

WOW Book Club from Morris, AL is (was) in the house!

By

Last week, I had the absolute JOY of meeting with the WOW (Women of the Word) Book Club from Enon Baptist in Morris, Alabama on location at Carnton in Franklin, which is the setting of all my Carnton novels. Barbara Wiginton, their fearless and fabulous leader, reached out and asked if I could meet them for a brief visit after they toured Carnton, and I'm thrilled that our schedules … [Read more...]

Love Books? You’d love a book club!

By

In 1992, we moved into a house in a small development--only 44 houses total, if memory serves. I wanted to invest in my neighbor's lives, so I made up some flyers and walked around the neighborhood, leaving one on each neighbor's porch. "Come join the book club," it said. "We'll read SNOW IN AUGUST." (A wonderful book I doubted anyone else had read.) That night, I made some cookies and coffee … [Read more...]

When Did You Discover Your Love of Reading?

By

I recently asked, "How old were you when you discovered your love of reading?" on my Facebook author page. I found the answers fascinating and heartwarming! For this post, I'm hitting on the themes I saw repeated again and again. First Grade This was the most common answer! For numerous women, learning to read went hand in hand with loving to read. "I learned to read in first grade. I … [Read more...]

Writing a book in less than Three Weeks

By

I'm reaching the end of a season of intense writing. It's been so good because 14 months ago, I thought my writing days might be over. Then the floodgates opened and I've written four books under contract in less than a year. It's been intense y'all! It's also been really fun. But it's meant I've had to pull out all of my tricks to make it work. This current book I'm writing will be … [Read more...]

What’s in a Writer’s Bag?

By

Hello! I'm Christen Krumm, author of the new Sunrise novel, On the Golden Cliffs. I'm really excited to be here with Inspired by Life and Fiction! While writing On the Golden Cliffs, my family and I lived in both a two-bedroom apartment as well as a 250-foot RV (after we moved out of said apartment due to a pipe bursting and the apartment flooding). Being in small spaces with three kids between … [Read more...]

Spring at Last

By

Spring has finally—and abruptly—arrived here in Minnesota. On Friday, there was still snow on my little garden plot of perennials. On Saturday, it had melted enough that I could rake away the remaining leaves from last autumn. Two days later, my crocuses bloomed. Spring drew on: she was indeed already come; the frosts of winter had ceased; its snows were melted…and a greenness grew over … [Read more...]

When Plans Go Awry

By

One nice thing about being a writer is that any time something goes wrong in life, a writer says to herself, "I wonder how I could use this in a book..." Ken and I are still traveling in Texas and New Mexico. We've had a great trip and everything has gone so wonderfully well that we really weren't surprised when Sunday night as we pulled into Pecos, Texas on our way from a visit to Carlsbad … [Read more...]

Recent Posts