Inspired by Life ... and Fiction

Novelists bound by the pen, sisterhood, & more

Immersed in Words

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Hi friends,  Happy Wednesday! I’m super excited to have Debb Hackett guest blogging for me today. Debb’s one of my mentees and friends, and I’ve loved watching her grow as a writer. Today she’s sharing about the power of words. Enjoy!  When I think back, most of my life has been inspired by words. As a child and teenager, I pored over books, using them to visit far-off or nonexistent … [Read more...]

Always More to Learn; Always More to Eat!

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No matter what your interests are, there is always more to learn, isn’t there? It’s one of the reasons I enjoy being a member of the Jane Austen Society of North America; an organization that offers lectures and workshops on a wide variety of topics of interest to history buffs, Jane Austen fans, and to authors of Regency-set novels like me. Earlier this month the meeting topic was Martha … [Read more...]

Bridges (Get the e-book FREE today only!)

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My novel, Bridges, set in the little town of Winterset, Iowa, home of the covered bridges of Madison County, is free for today only. Ken and I first visited the iconic bridges on a trip to visit our youngest son when he attended college in Iowa. That's where the idea for this book was first sparked, and we visited several times after that so I could research the area and the bridges. You might … [Read more...]

A Long and Winding Road

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As an author, I don’t have favorites among my own books. Each was written for a reason, and each is special to me in its own unique way. I will confess, however, to having some favorite characters from my books.  One of my favorite couples is Cleo and Sherwood from Fit To Be Tied (2009). I adore feisty Cleo, and I love “watching” her try to turn a British nobleman (recovering from wounds … [Read more...]

The Grumpy Bookpeddler

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After the first of the year, my family and I took a trip to Murfreesboro, TN for my nephew's wedding. My husband's brother (the father of the groom) had visited Abilene when our son married last May, but we hadn't seen the rest of the Tennessee Witemeyers since well before COVID. What a joy to spend time with family! We stayed up late each night playing card and board games, shared meals together, … [Read more...]

Playing by Heart Cover Reveal!

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When I rebranded in 2021 as the real me—D’Ann Mateer instead of Anne Mateer—I was able to get my rights back to my Bethany House novels in order to do this. Three of them are currently available—Wings of a Dream, At Every Turn, and A Home for My Heart.  Today I am excited to announce that the final book, Playing by Heart, will be available in early March! I love this book for so many … [Read more...]

Babies, Bible Studies & Books, oh my…

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Will you consider it overindulging if I share a couple of quick pics (or more) of Leo, our precious grandson? I hope not, because we are in absolute love with this little guy! Here are three pics from a recent photo shoot but let's count them as one since they're small and "tiled." : ) [Photo credit: Snaps by Sally] I just love Leo in this little burnt orange onesie (below)—and might … [Read more...]

What You Can’t See . . . Matters

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Two weeks before Christmas, the water meter reader left a note on my gate--"Meter is moving at 12:00 p.m.," it said. Apparently the meter reader is a man of few words, but I grasped his meaning--at a time when a house should be relatively free of running water, mine wasn't. So I went out to the street to look at the meter, and saw that the man was right--the little triangular symbol that … [Read more...]

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