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Inspired by Life ... and Fiction

Novelists bound by the pen, sisterhood, & more

The Story Behind the Story

February 23, 2023 By Cara Putman

In April I have a novella releasing in a new collection Across the Shores. But the germ of this story came to me years ago. I was trying to find the original proposal idea and I'm going to guess it was about 2011 or 2012. I'd written two series of WWII novels for Barbour -- Cornhusker Dreams set in Nebraska and the Ohio Brides set in Ohio. Stars in the Night was about to release, and Shadowed by … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Writing Tagged With: cara putman, reading, Story Behind the Story, writing

Talking to My Friends

January 26, 2023 By Cara Putman

The last two weeks I've been chatting with many of my writing friends as I've been recording new episodes of Book Talk. It has been such fun! Two weeks ago I chatted with Kristy Cambron and Jill Eileen Smith. Last week it was Lisa Phillips and her team of authors as well as Mary Connealy. And this week I had a blast connecting with Melanie Dobson, J'Nell Ciesielski, Lynn Blackburn, Lynnette Eason … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Assorted & Sundry, Writing Tagged With: cara putman, reading, Reading quotes, Tamera Alexander, writing

When Life Throws a Curveball & Giveaway

October 13, 2022 By Cara Putman

I'm not a baseball fan, but sometimes life throws a curveball and you get to decide how to handle it. Last week, I was ready to write the next chapter in the book due December 1st, when and event happened locally that mirrored the plot. Almost exactly. Like too much. The next morning I texted my editor and then spent 20 minutes brainstorming with her what we needed to do. This book will get … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Assorted & Sundry Tagged With: cara putman, giveaway, plot twist, plotting, reading, writing, Writing Life

London: A Change of Perspective

August 11, 2022 By Cara Putman

This morning a little after one a.m., we arrived home from our latest adventure. It's the last as a family before our oldest gets married and we made the most of six days in London. I love exploring new to me places, but I appreciate the perspective shift that can come with travel. One of the things I wanted to do this time was to see a show. London's West End is famous, and we haven't made … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Family Tagged With: cara putman, London, reading, Vacation

Rewarding Myself

August 3, 2022 By D'Ann Mateer

I really, really worried about making my Aug 1 deadline. The books for this publisher are a pretty quick turn around, and I knew going in that I had a busy summer to contend with. But the Lord is gracious and truly multiplied my work in both time and productivity. So much so that I turned the book in four whole days early!  Meeting a big deadline means rewarding myself for all the times I … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Friendship, House and home, Reading Tagged With: organization, people, pool, reading, rewards, shopping

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