The Writing Process 2015: Timelines
If you’re new to The Writing Process 2015, these posts are a chance to share my journey through my latest novel, starting right at ground zero. I keep a calendar as I write. Not one where I can mark off how many pages I’ve written. For me that feels too much like a race to…
Read MoreSunday Inspiration: Happy Easter!
“I would like to believe when I die that I have given myself away like a tree that sows seed every spring and never counts the loss, because it is not loss, it is adding to future life. It is the tree’s way of being. Strongly rooted perhaps, but spilling out its treasure on the…
Read MoreWhen Is It Time For A Change?
Two years ago I started playing Mah Jongg when a neighbor offered to teach a small group of us. My week was filled with writing, but I thought it was time for a change. Maybe trying something new would jump start new ideas. I kicked myself numerous times after I said I would give the group a…
Read MoreSunday Inspiration: How To Be A Friend
I’m turning today’s Sunday Inspiration over to my husband, who has the following to say–and is clearly used to saying important things on Sundays after 40 years in ministry: Friendship is a theme of many, if not all, of Emilie’s books. The Goddess series, which is the latest, is about a group of women who learn what real…
Read MoreThe Writing Process 2015: The Secret Lives of Characters
If you’re new to The Writing Process 2015, these posts are a chance to share my journey through my latest novel, starting right at ground zero. So now you know the title of the novel I’m working on. When We Were Sisters. And yes, I’m happy with it. But the title subtly changed my ideas for…
Read MoreSunday Inspiration: Spring Is Here!
Yes, Spring is here! Finally! Though for some of you it may be difficult to believe. It’s been a long hard winter for many, and it may take a little while to see signs of this new miraculous season. Yesterday was the first full day of Spring, which astronomically means that the sun was shining…
Read MoreCovers and Titles and Authors, Oh My. . .
If you follow this blog you’ll remember more than one post where I talked about the many things over which authors have no control. One sentence summarizes much of this: “We write the books, but quite frankly, if we sign a contract with a publisher there are many parts of the process over which we have…
Read MoreSunday Inspiration: Saving Children
Have you seen this incredible video? It’s about an amazing man, Sir Nicholas Winton, who saved many Czechoslovakian Jewish children during World War II. When he was honored on an English television show 50 years later, to his surprise 80 of those children who had grown into adults, stood up and gave thanks for his…
Read MoreThe Writing Process 2015: Research, or All The Facts We Cannot Know
Recently I emailed a good friend and listed some of the research I was doing for my new book. She responded much the way I might have if I hadn’t written so many of the darned things. She pointed out that most readers believe we write about things we know, and in fact common wisdom…
Read MoreSunday Inspiration: “Anything Is Possible”
Last Sunday morning I was looking through Parade magazine, which usually takes me a couple of minutes. But Sunday I ran across their cover story titled “Anything Is Possible!” Instant inspiration. Did you see it? Five people are highlighted for the difference they are making in the world. These are average folks who decided that the…
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