Inspired by Life ... and Fiction

Novelists bound by the pen, sisterhood, & more

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

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Kiss me, I’m Irish!  I am, indeed, Irish. At least a little. That's from my maternal grandmother’s side of the family. My great-grandmother’s maiden name was Mary Emeline Malone. Doesn't the name roll off the tongue complete with an Irish accent? I love it so much that I named the heroine of In His Arms for her. I’ve still got a couple of months to wait for the official release of … [Read more...]

Doing the Deadline Dance

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There is something so satisfying and invigorating about finishing a long-term project. After investing countless hours of hard work, creativity, and great deal of hair-pulling, seeing a whisper of a dream become reality is a joy like no other. Maybe you've restored a battered antique to its former glory, or endured a kitchen remodel. Maybe you've quilted a family heirloom or prayed a child … [Read more...]

Monarch of the Glen

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Do you love Scotland? And BBC programs? Every since we returned from Scotland last summer we’ve been slowly making our way back through one of our favorite shows—Monarch of the Glen.  We had to go old school to get back to it—DVDs. We already owned five of the seven seasons, and I added one of the missing ones when I stumbled on it at a used book store. I’m still missing the final … [Read more...]

Cover Reveal

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You may have already seen the cover of my next book, thanks to the efforts of Austenprose and many talented bloggers and bookstagrammers. But just in case you haven't seen it yet, I'm happy to share with you the cover of my 2023 release, A Winter by the Sea, Book Two in my On Devonshire Shores series, which will release in early December of this year. It was an interesting challenge to write … [Read more...]

We had a GRAND Time!

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The main reason Ken and I moved to Missouri three and a half years ago was to spend time with our grandkids here. We now have seven in Missouri and six in Texas (more on that at the end) and two of our Missouri boys are in high school now! So thankful we moved when we did because these two will be all grown up before we know it! We spent a fun weekend in Memphis with our three oldest grandsons … [Read more...]

Inside Scoop on My Audiobook

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I'm currently listening to Memory Lane's audiobook before I make it available! Here's the timeline of how this audiobook came to be... Mid-October - I emailed narrator Heather Masters to inquire if she'd be interested in narrating Memory Lane (slated to release mid-February). All of my prior novels were produced by Recorded Books after my publisher sold them the audiobook rights. I've only … [Read more...]

Audiobooks? A few ways to give them a try.

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I loved reading Tammy's audiobook post from earlier this week. A few years ago, I couldn't imagine listening to audiobooks for any length of time. Partly this was because of cost. Partly it's because I love the feel of a book. Partly because I don't always love the narrators. But I reached a point where I wanted to redeem the time walking across campus, driving all over town. Audiobooks … [Read more...]

Deadline Disaster

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Hi friends and Happy Wednesday! Have you ever noticed when you really need life to go smoothly, it often turns upside-down? I was recently on a deadline. My final week was filled with sixteen-hour days, copious amounts of coffee, and truly frightening deadline hair as my family has fairly dubbed it. The tighter the deadline, the scarier the updo hair. It was during this week that the first of … [Read more...]

Are you listening?

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I love to read books but I also love listening to them, and I always have at least 3-4 books I'm listening to at once. Customarily, it's three or four non-fiction books and at least one or two novels, which is the case at the moment. The following are books I've either recently finished or am currently listening to. First, non-fiction... The Making of Biblical Woman by Beth Allison … [Read more...]

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