A Truth For A Truth–Why You Don’t Want to Live in A Small Ohio Town
Aggie Sloan-Wilcox is at it again. For those of you’ve yet to meet Aggie? Aggie is the sleuth in my Ministry is Murder series, a minister’s wife who seeks justice with the same enthusiasm with which her scholarly husband seeks enlightenment. Aggie always seems to be around when the going gets rough for somebody in the…
Read MoreAre You Well Connected, or a Slave to Technology?
Our TiVo died. Not without fanfare, and certainly not without warning. For the past four months, in the most interesting part of any program, the picture was nearly guaranteed to break up, the progress of the story halted as we rooted for TiVo to heal itself and continue until we discovered who had killed whom. …
Read More“The End” or “Once Upon A Time?”
Labor Day weekend marks the end of summer and a return to the hard work of finishing a novel. Most endings come with beginnings attached. As I finish the Happiness Key series, I’m already looking toward my writing future, ripe with possibilities to explore. The summer cottage is closed up now, but I have all winter to think about what I’ll do there next summer, and in the meantime, I’ll enjoy the attractions Virginia offers. The end of a season is a reminder of all I’ve loved so well and all I still have ahead. Endings and beginnings. Without them, how could we assess our lives? How could we move on? Finished or not, I won’t type “The End” on the last page of Sunset Bridge. Instead, I’ll be ready for my next “Once Upon A Time.” I hope you will be, as well.
Read MoreIron Lace: A Book of the Heart
I received two interesting emails this morning. One from a writing student who participated in a class I taught last summer, and one from Fresh Fiction, a website for book lovers. Fresh Fiction generously reminded me I have a book coming out tomorrow . . . EEEEEEK. . . . Okay, I KNEW I had…
Read MoreCleaning Out My Office, One Book At A Time
Some dilemmas are so easily resolved, but it takes creativity. Recently when my publisher “gifted” me with multiple cartons of my upcoming re-releases, I raised my hands to the heavens and shrieked. Ask my assistant, she was there. There is simply no place to put more books. I already have a gazillion cartons–including my lovely Quilt…
Read MoreHaiku vs. Epic–Which Kind of Reader Are You?
I’ll confess that unlike some of my colleagues, I believe in reading my reviews. First, I’m incapable of not reading them. That kind of self control is absolutely beyond me. Second and more important, I know I will learn something. I always do, even if I only learn that a particular review site is not…
Read MoreThat Final Piece of the Puzzle–When Ideas Fall Into Place
We had the privilege of hosting a colleague and friend of my husband for dinner this week, along with his delightful wife and daughter. Although our cottage is chock full of toys for younger children– toys our own children played with that are now happily at home here for grandchildren and visitors–we did not have…
Read MoreLaying the Groundwork and Planting the Seeds
Back in late June I blogged about all the wonderful things I did that month instead of writing. This was my first stint at our funky old cottage in Chautauqua, New York, and between plumbers and carpenters, cleaning and weeding out, and yes, meeting and enjoying the company of neighbors, I ended up with far…
Read MoreRacing To Conclusion: The Fine Art of Finishing A Novel
If you hang out with me on my Facebook reader page, then you know that yesterday I was in New York filming a promotional video with the delightful authorKatie Fforde, who writes romantic comedies and lives in–gasp–the Cotswolds of England. In my next life I plan to live in the Cotswolds, too. I’ve already put in…
Read MoreWhat A Difference A Letter Makes: Happy Is A Five Letter Word
I’ll confess profanity rarely bothers me. Maybe my tolerance comes from my father, who was an army staff sergeant during World War II and didn’t always remember to temper his speech later after I made my appearance. Or maybe I’m less bothered because on the radical streets of Berkeley, California, where my husband did his…
Read More