As I’m writing this, I’m getting ready to pack for a crazy fourteen day journey. I wish I could say it was a fourteen day vacation to somewhere really cool, but, alas, it much more complicated than that. Although, in the end, much more fulfilling than a “relaxing” vacation. First I’m headed to Dallas to see friends and family as well as celebrate one of my nieces’s graduation from high … [Read more...]

When I write about tea-drinking in my novels, I am thinking of tea grown in China or India, but last week I visited the only tea plantation in North America. The Charleston Tea Plantation is located on Wadmalaw Island about 20 miles south of Charleston, South Carolina. I was in Charleston for a retreat with my Literary Agency (Books & Such) and enjoyed spending time with agents and … [Read more...]

My husband's nephew who is a pitcher for a college baseball team in North Carolina, just happened to be playing in a series here in Wichita over Mother's Day weekend. Thanks to Zach, we had a little Raney family reunion at our house and it was a blast! We talked several times about how MUCH fun we managed to pack into a few short days. There was a lot of eating … [Read more...]

A couple of weeks ago I had the fun privilege of speaking at the Rauchholz Library in Hemlock not too far from where I live. Though it’s a small building set in a small town, there’s nothing small about the heart of this particular library. In fact, I’d say the Rauchholz Library, its librarians, and the many patrons who frequent the library have very BIG hearts for reading and are taking BIG … [Read more...]