I Can’t Make This Stuff Up!
I’m going great guns on my new book after so much time away over the holidays, so blogging has taken a back seat. But I couldn’t help but think of you as I read my morning paper today, so I’m checking in quickly. So often I’m asked where I get my ideas. I’ve explained how…
Read MoreSunday Inspiration: The Ebb and Flow of Life
“We have so little faith in the ebb and flow of life, of love, of relationships. We leap at the flow of the tide and resist in terror its ebb. We are afraid that it will never return. We insist on permanency, on duration, on continuity; when the only continuity possible, in life as in…
Read MoreLet There Be Suspects Winner
Congratulations to Shanna H., new winner of a copy of Let There Be Suspects . Remember this giveaway? We announced it on December 17 and readers were asked to choose which holiday took second place in my newsletter’s Twelve Books of Christmas giveaway earlier in the month. (No surprise, but the first choice was Christmas.)…
Read MoreThe Joys of Research: The Tarpon Springs Epiphany Celebration
I know how lucky I am to make up stories for a living. Of course life for novelists isn’t staring into space with a cup of tea. Tearing out our hair, questioning our sanity, and wishing we had a job that didn’t hover over us during every waking hour–and many hours while we’re sleeping, too–is…
Read MoreSunday Inspiration: “Amateurs sit and wait…”
“Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.” -Stephen King I enthusiastically agree that to be a serious writer you can’t passively sit back and wait for ideas to fall into your lap. Our calling is to go out and grab inspiration by the horns. I…
Read MoreSunday Inspiration: New Year’s Resolutions
“New Year’s Resolutions are a bit like babies: They’re fun to make but really difficult to maintain.” Anonymous I confess that I’m skeptical about making new year’s resolutions because they are so much easier to make than to maintain. But I do believe that setting realistic goals, whether it’s at the new year or any other…
Read MoreSunday Inspiration: The Greatest Light
“Hidden in the deepest darkness is the greatest light. It’s our job to light up a world of darkness, to reflect God’s light in this world.” -Rabbi Reuven Wolf Hanukkah begins this evening and ends on the evening of December 30 this year. I picked this quote because it honors Hanukkah, but I…
Read MoreThe Twelve Books of Christmas Giveaway
What Twelve Books of Christmas Giveaway? Those of you who subscribe to my “almost monthly” newsletter know that yesterday was the final day to submit an entry for the Twelve Books of Christmas Giveaway. Random.org selected winners today and now the books on on their way to the post office via Proman. All winners have…
Read MoreSunday Inspiration: Loving Others
“My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that?” -Bob Hope Yes, we could and should love others every day of the year, but this Christmas I would like to place love on the top…
Read MoreSunday Inspiration: Your Gift
“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” –Pablo Picasso In this season of giving I can’t help but feel anxiety and tension about what to give to whom and how much to give to how many — not to mention what I want for…
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