Inspired by Life ... and Fiction

Novelists bound by the pen, sisterhood, & more

Language Bloopers

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I'll be back to blogging next Friday, but until then I'm so pleased to introduce my final guest-blogger of the summer. Jessica Wakefield! As an Australian author, she's sharing about the challenges she's faced writing the dialogue of American characters. And she's giving away a $10 Amazon gift card to one of you! Thanks so much for contributing to our blog, Jessica. -Becky “So? You mean … [Read more...]

Oh, What Fun It is to Visit with Readers & Giveaway

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Last night I had the joy of connecting with readers at a nearby library. I love the opportunity to spend time with those who love books. There is something so special about conversing with those who adore the written word as much as I do. To also interact with those who've read my books and love the characters as much as I do. I didn't get any photos with those who attended -- I always think … [Read more...]

A Short Story Collection

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What fun it has been to collaborate with some amazing authors and be able to present to you this short story anthology, The Jeweler's Heart. As you can see, this collection also includes some of our lovely friends on this blog--Robin Lee Hatcher, Angela Hunt, and Cara Putman! In The Jeweler’s Heart, each story centers around a gemstone--all of which are discovered in a collection by a … [Read more...]

Snapshots of recent life

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First, new covers for an older series... I'm reissuing this three-book series (originally released 2008-2010) and am thrilled that they're getting new covers. Our own Deb Raney's husband Ken (Raney Day Creative), who is a fabulous designer and collaborator, is designing these covers for me. The man has the patience of Job—at least in his emails. Deb might tell another story … [Read more...]

Artificial Intelligence and Sarah

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I've started a new series, The Matriarchs, about the Matriarchs of our faith: Sarah, Rebekah, and Leah/Rachel. The first book is about Sarah, and not only am I using the Bible for source material, I'm also using the ancient Book of Jasher, which is actually mentioned in the Bible--twice. There's not a lot of historical material on Abraham and Sarah, other than the Bible, and I've found that … [Read more...]

Reading, Writing, and Miracles

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Hey, friends!! I hope you enjoyed James Scott Bell’s visit to Inspired by Life … and Fiction back on the 2nd while I was away. Jim is such a great writer and such a great human being. I feel blessed to call him and his wife Cindy my friends. If you haven’t read any of his books, my favorite is Try Dying, but that status comes with some bias. When I was going through a time of deep grief, … [Read more...]

Footwear Fun!

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Writers are a quirky bunch. We talk to imaginary people, dream up ways to torture characters we claim to love, and have been known on occasion to show up to work in our pajamas. We all have different ways of getting into the writing zone, too. Some create playlists for each book they write to set the mood. Others load up on coffee and dark chocolate. Me? I put on bookish socks. Fun socks make … [Read more...]

Moving Vacation

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Aloha, friends, and happy Wednesday!  Yep. I titled it right. We took a moving vacation. What is a moving vacation, you may ask. We have one month to pack up and move from our home of 25 years in Maryland to a cozy new home in Florida. Yay for Florida. However, it’s a lot to purge, give away, and pack up in a month. So, what did my hubby and I decide to do? We took an eleven-day … [Read more...]

River Cruise Dreams

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Earlier this summer I reached a significant (cough, cough) birthday and was able to realize my dream of going on a river cruise to celebrate. Today I thought I'd share just a few photos with you. We went on Avalon Waterways and traveled through Hungary, Slovakia, and Austria, ending in Germany. We took walking tours of historic places like Budapest and Vienna, and enjoyed views of the … [Read more...]

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