I triumphantly wrote THE END on a manuscript last summer, and here I am again on deadline. I came across a post I wrote (but never published) while I was on that squeaky tight deadline last summer. I’d been noting the things that enabled me to finally finish that first draft—along with the things that had not been quite so helpful, and thought I'd share a few of them with you. After more than … [Read more...]
Is it fall, y’all?
My husband loves Fall. Mainly because the air turns crisp and fresh and football is just around the corner. He's not big sports fan but he does love his Atlanta Falcons and University of Georgia games. He also likes not sweating as much. I fell in love with him in the fall. Even though we'd known each other most of our lives, he was an Army brat so he moved and came home to Georgia a couple of … [Read more...]
Day in the Life of a Best-Selling Author
How do you picture the day of a best-selling author? Sitting in a beautiful setting, sipping tea, reading classic literature, and penning prose? Or perhaps having time to sit and ponder major plot complexities. Or maybe ... just breathing life to words on this page this way. In real life this was my day: 7:45 a.m. woke up and realized I slept in and my three little … [Read more...]
Books: Snapshots of Our Lives
John and I are in the process of adopting four girls, ages 14, 12, 12, and 10, from the foster care system. They are beautiful, smart, and funny. We've had two day visits and one weekend visit with them, and John and I are just scratching the surface at discovering who these amazing young women are. At the same time John and I are trying to share our lives, our likes, our values, . . . and our … [Read more...]
Broken Things Made Beautiful
I remember when my first novel From Dust and Ashes: A Story of Liberation came out in 2003. I was so excited to share it with my friends who'd believed in my writing dreams. But out of all the people who read the novel, there was one person's comments that stand out the most. My friend Kathy had worked with me to start Hope Pregnancy Center in Kalispell, Montana. She's also been in the Bible Study … [Read more...]