Novels, Novellas and Novellinis
I’ve always loved writing novellas. I’ve written more than a few in my years as an author, most often in a collection as a holiday promotion from my publisher. For someone who writes long books, novellas are an odd attraction. Still, from the beginning, I found the format was a welcome break. While our practice as…
Read MoreSnowflakes That Stay On My Nose and Eyelashes. . . Really?
Right about now, many of you are dreaming about spring. What a winter. Blizzards, mudslides, floods. And it’s still only January. But let’s not talk about climate change. In fact it could be dangerous for me to mention. After all the Attorney General of my own fair state, a global warming skeptic, is currently trying to…
Read MoreSaying Ahhh. . . Dealing With Stress in Our Lives
I’ve begun a new tradition. When I wake up in the morning, I turn on the light and read for a little while. It’s a much more civilized way to face the day than to jump out of bed running, which was my old tradition. Lying in bed a few extra minutes has had a welcome…
Read MoreWhen That Pesky “But Maybe. . .” Comes Calling
Last month I submitted a proposal for a new series to my editor and agent, both of whom liked it. A lot. How lovely. Whether an editor and agent like a book is not the first hurdle an author experiences. To begin we must come up with the germ of an idea, then expand it into something…
Read MoreIn The Beginning: With Nothing To Lose
On Monday I explained the reasons I was destined not to become a writer. Other talents and activities. Strange educational decisions. No scholarly examinations of the written word. And while all of those were factors, I saved the most important. Like so many of us, particularly those of us of the female persuasion, I was…
Read MoreIn The Beginning: The Creation of A Writer
Some months ago I asked my Facebook fans to suggest ideas for future blogs. What did they want to know that I could possibly tell them? I received wonderful ideas, and today I’m using one from Denise who said: “I’m interested in how you started out, all the details of how you became a writer.” …
Read MoreThe Fine Art of Letting Go
So there I was on Christmas Eve, getting ready for the big day and all the celebration. The Christmas carols were turned up full volume, and the house smelled like baking bread. Cookie dough was waiting its own turn in the oven, but with all this good cheer, I still couldn’t shake an unusual sense of…
Read MoreThe Wise Man Star
As my Christmas gift to you, I want to share a passage from Fugitive, my novel published in the 1990s, as I did last year. Tate, the heroine, has moved to a cabin on land in the Ozark mountains, left to her by a father she never knew. This is an entry from his journal. May your…
Read MoreChristmas Cookies, A Tradition of Sharing
Did you know that Christmas cookies trace their lineage to medieval holiday rituals and Christmas cakes? Christmas lebkuchen (gingerbread) was probably the first “cookie” prepared for the holiday, and by the 1500s Christmas cookies had caught on all over Europe. The Dutch brought them to the US in 1600, and nobody’s looked back since. This Christmas cookie…
Read MoreChristmas Pleasures, Christmas Treasures
At this time of year I’m reminded of a young mother I once knew. Christmas was always her favorite time of year, and each year she baked the family’s traditional cookies and the annual bishop’s cake. With the family in tow she bought or cut down the season’s Christmas tree, and hauled the ornaments from…
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