Summer Author Chat
Welcome friends to the newly redesigned Inspired by Life and Fiction group blog—refreshed with a beautiful new look, updated features, and a space created with you in mind. It’s good to be reconnecting—and in such a lovely new space.
A heartfelt thank you to Robin Lee Hatcher, the creative force behind this redesign and the one who did all the heavy lifting to make it happen. Well done, Robin! We’re so grateful.
To celebrate our fresh look this summer, many of our authors will be hosting GIVEAWAYS during the second half of the month. So keep watch for those. Giveaway details will be included in individual posts.
But starting today . . . a SUMMER AUTHOR CHAT!
For the next two weeks, each author will pull back the curtain a bit to answer the following fun questions . . .
So here we go. Let’s see if we have any in common.
- Since we got a Breville coffee maker about a year ago (thanks, Deb Raney, for hooking me on that wonderful contraption 🤣), I rarely order coffee out anymore. But I do love a yummy iced oat milk espresso on occasion. Delish! I’ll drink coffee any way except lukewarm. Even Jesus wouldn’t drink it that way. ☕️
- Right now I’m currently listening to I Know A Name with Cece Winans and Brandon Lake on rewind. Here you go and you’re welcome! 🕊️
- Most of the time, my preference when writing is silence—or with brown noise (yes, that’s a real thing) in the background. On occasion, I’ll listen to an instrumental soundtrack but under no circumstances can I write while songs with lyrics are playing. I’m a goner. 🎶
- I definitely write best at my desk in my office, which is filled with sunlight and is wonderfully quiet. It’s also at the front of the house so when neighbors pass and we happen to see each other, we wave. In the evenings, all the kids are riding their bikes and playing chase. So lovely. Feels like a throw back to Mayberry. ✍🏻
- My favorite summer dessert is watermelon. Can that be a dessert? I love watermelon and we’ve already had our first. A close second is anything with strawberries. Or just strawberries straight up! 🍉
- My next novel is a standalone—In These Hills—which releases September 8, 2026.
A young suffragist on the run finds more than refuge in the hills and hollers of Tennessee in this gripping historical romance set in Lynchburg against the real history of JACK DANIEL’S DISTILLERY and MISS MARY BOBO’S BOARDING HOUSE.
Opening paragraphs of In These Hills . . .
1
March 1905
Atlanta, Georgia
“Remember, Miss Dunham, you’re an intelligent, independent young woman. Don’t let them intimidate you!”
“No, of course not.” Josephine followed the head of the local American Woman Suffrage Association to the foot of the makeshift outdoor stage, her insides thrumming with anticipation—and panic. Crowds filled the street, women and men alike. Far more than expected for so early in the morning and—judging by the hecklers—not all of them supportive of the cause.
She still couldn’t believe they’d invited her to speak, and on the heels of Miss Susan B. Anthony herself. Even now, the venerated Miss Anthony, eighty-five years old, wearing her customary round-rimmed glasses and hair pulled back in a no-nonsense style, commanded the podium as she delivered her closing remarks.
7. Lastly, while several books currently grace my nightstand, the ones I’m reading are:
Into the Heart of Romans by N.T. Wright and (on my Kindle) Kathryn Stockett’s The Calamity Club. So far, both are stellar!
So do we have anything in common? Love of coffee? Desserts? Worship song? Books? Have you been to Jack Daniel’s? Taken the tour? Stayed for the tasting? (Shhh, you can tell me, I’ll keep your secret.)
Thank you, friends, for the encouragement and support you give us all. We treasure every connection made here!
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Much love from my corner of Nashville,
Tammy
Have you accepted the challenge yet? It’s not too late!
We’re reading Rachel Hauck’s newest book TO WIN A CROWN,
and will Zoom with Rachel on June 30. Join us!
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I love strawberries 🍓 (have a freezer huge bag full)and no lyrics to any music in background. I need blinds closed if I’m doing business work or chores. I’m easily distracted! For me windows are for watching life go by and lollygagging.
LOL on the windows, Sabrina, my fellow strawberry loving sister. It’s funny, sometimes I’ll be so immersed, I rarely look out. But when I do—and I take a minute to pause and study the clouds or the hills in the distance—it always feels like a “deep breath.”
Oh, that song! I can see why you listen to it! What a powerful praise! It will be in my head for the rest of this day. Now I’m curious about brown noise. Sounds a bit murkier than white noise. My writing noise is the pasture next door (goats, turkeys, geese, dogs, chickens) and our pasture where my writing shed is (Huckleberry Hutch, part storage part desk area part craft space). I can’t really see neighbors but I can hear the farmer next door yelling at the naughty ones and the customers stopping in to my DIL’s seamstress business. Always busy!
Angie, I loved reading your response and getting a better sense of your “daily serenade.” And a writing shed? Huckleberry Hatch sounds like a place that inspires creativity! Thanks for sharing today.
Love of coffee? I’m more of a chai person
Desserts? Strawberries and watermelon for me, too.
Worship song? Anything from CeCe works for me.
Books? To Love a Prince by Rachel Hauck
Have you been to Jack Daniel’s? No. I’m more of a craft beer person. Remember, this between you and me. 🤣
Oh, and when I write, it has to be completely quiet. I’m easily distracted.
LOL Janetta, love your answers. The craft beer is our secret! 😆 I do enjoy chai on occasion, especially iced. And yeeeessss to the quiet. More and more, just in general, I crave quiet.
Oh, that Breville is a wonder, isn’t it! Loved reading your answers and I can’t wait until it’s my turn to “play.” Happy June!
It IS! Thank you again! 😊
I loved learning more about what you’re enjoying in your corner of Nashville. Thanks for the new song to add to my playlist. So good!
Isn’t that a great song, Robin? Reaches deep. 🤍
Aw Tamera, I don’t write the same way you do, but when I write or read (academic work), I always need silence. And I sleep listening to brown noise, too! It was fun to read about some of your favorites. I am looking forward to reading your new book! My husband and I toured JD and did the tasting afterward. It was fascinating. We learned we didn’t like whiskey! Ha!
LOL on Lessons Learned From Whiskey Tasting, Erin. That made me smile. I sleep to brown noise too. I’ve had tinnitus for over a year now and that brown noise helps so much at night. Thanks for the kind words about In These Hills.
Ooh, I read “To Win a Crown” last month! It was a lovely finish to the trilogy.
@Tamera, thank you for that opening paragraph. I see your forthcoming novel is available on the publisher’s website.
Wonderful on finishing that series from Rachel, Elisa. I hope you’ll join us when we Zoom with her later this month. Promises to be a fun time!
It’s always fun to get to know people a little better through questions like these! Thanks for sharing!
It is, and I look forward to your responses, D’Ann!
My drink of choice is tea. My mother drank coffee morning, noon, and night. It smelled so good, so I could hardly wait until I was old enough to drink it. THEN, my thought was ” how can something that smells so wonderful taste so awful.”
Favorite worship song – “How Great Thou Art”.
Favorite summertime dessert – Dairy Queen hot fudge sundae
Looking forward to your new book!
LOL, Betty. I feel that way about black coffee—but coffee “all dolled up?” I’ll back up and take a dive! That said, I also love tea so if I could meet you on a porch somewhere… 🤍
Love How Great Thou Art. I’m just certain we’ll be singing that one throughout eternity. 🤍