Inspired by Life ... and Fiction

Novelists bound by the pen, sisterhood, & more

At a Loss for Words

By

Monday is coming and I have to write my regularly scheduled blog. The problem is, I’m all out of words. I have no more stories to tell. That’s because the deadline for my next novel is two weeks away. I’ve been writing it for a year, and it has turned out to be 130,000 words long. That’s a lot of words—which is why I’ve run out! The novel is finished but I’m spending the final month … [Read more...]

Day Trip: Taylor, Texas

By

When we moved to Austin almost 4 (gasp!) years ago, my husband said we’d spend our weekend taking day trips around Central Texas. Little did he know his job would be so all-consuming and travel heavy as to make that nearly impossible! But just before Christmas, when the frenzy of holiday parties had ended and we hadn’t yet left to visit family, we had a rare, free Saturday and beautiful weather, … [Read more...]

Cover Creation: The Bridge to Belle Island

By

I always enjoy getting a behind-the-scenes peek at how book covers are created. Here is a video and a few photos that describe the cover design process for my newest novel, The Bridge to Belle Island. I hope you enjoy them as I did. First a 3-minute video. Turn up your volume control! Once the design direction is chosen, designer Jennifer Parker hires a model based on my character description … [Read more...]

A Room of Her Own

By

After writing my first three novels at our kitchen table and the next few books from a corner of the living room in the small duplex where we raised our four children, I was thrilled to get my first dedicated office when the kids started leaving for college and we bought our first home. I've now had three delightful offices in which to write, and each one holds special memories for the books I … [Read more...]

Recent Posts