Inspired by Life ... and Fiction

Novelists bound by the pen, sisterhood, & more

Pursuing a Book

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I’ve found inspiration for my books in some pretty strange places. Take A Proper Pursuit, for instance. That idea started when my book club read the popular book, The Devil and the White City by Erik Larson. I have to admit that I skipped the “devil” parts (much too gruesome!) but the story of the White City—the 1893 World Columbian Exposition held in Chicago—fascinated me. I lived in a Chicago … [Read more...]

The Plot Thickens|Cynthia Ruchti

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Each Sunday "Inspired by Life...and Fiction" shares a Christian novelist's newest book and the garden spots where they find inspiration. Taking multi-tasking to new heights (or depths, depending on your perspective), Cynthia Ruchti makes potato corn chowder for her husband of over 40 years, loves on her three kids and five grandchildren, recently retired after 33 years of writing … [Read more...]

Secretariat’s Race Into Fiction

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I was fortunate to attend a writer's conference this past November with Inspired by Life... and Fiction's own Tamera Alexander.  While Tammy and I were talking about our upcoming releases (To Win Her Favor and A Love Like Ours) we realized that both books were scheduled to release at the same time and that both books feature Thoroughbred racehorses.  Not just Thoroughbred racehorses, but horses … [Read more...]

A Blank Page | Guest Blogger, Anna Paulson

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Anna Paulson interns for Julie Klassen. She graduated in May from Concordia University, St. Paul with a degree in English. Ernest Hemingway hunted lions in Africa and fought bulls in Spain, but when asked about the most frightening thing he had ever faced, he answered, “A blank sheet of paper.” As a writer and a recent college graduate, I relate to the anxiety of a white canvas fraught with … [Read more...]

On Turning Sixty (waaaaahhhhhh!)

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I loved turning thirty. I was one of those baby-faced moms who often was mistaken for the babysitter, so something about turning thirty made me feel finally "legit." I didn't bat an eye at turning forty. My career had just been launched, our kids were finally all old enough that life was worlds easier (and our older kids were helping raise the "oops" baby, born when I was thirty-five). Nope. … [Read more...]

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