Watering the Newly Planted Seeds of a Novel
Next to “where do you get your ideas?” the question I am most asked is how long it takes me to write a book. That question is asked a variety of ways. Some people, when learning I’ve published more than seventy novels, seem to believe I walk into my study every morning, press a button and…
Read MoreAnd the Winner is. . .
Congratulations to Sandy Heringer who was the winner of a copy of Tear Down and Die by Joanna Campbell Slan. The first book in Joanna’s new mystery series was featured on Fiction Friday a week ago. As always random.org made the selection.
Read MoreFiction Friday: A Tale of Two Biddies
Happy Friday, avid readers. Casey Daniels/Kylie Logan has visited us before, but today I asked her to return with the second book in her new mystery series, A Tale of Two Biddies. I love Kylie’s titles. Does this one sound familiar? Not surprisingly. Each title and each novel, for that matter, owes a little something to…
Read MoreI’m Posting, but I Can’t Get Up (on your Facebook Newsfeed)
So, you’ve liked my Facebook Page, but you’ve stopped receiving my Page posts in your Facebook newsfeed. Have I given up on Facebook? Discovered the joys of trying to communicate in 140 characters on Twitter? Decamped to Google+? Not at all? It’s not me posting less, it’s Facebook’s new algorithm program. Don’t stop reading. I won’t…
Read MoreSunday Inspiration: Take A Chance On Me
This video is going viral on Facebook, and I found it both moving and inspiring. Clearly many of the people who appear here are volunteers with great love for animals and the willingness to work with them even when the outcome isn’t always a happy one. Not only that, they took the time–and it must…
Read MoreFiction Friday: Tear Down and Die plus a Giveaway, too.
Good morning fellow fiction fan. Today we’re featuring a Kindle original from my friend Joanna Campbell Slan. Joanna and I met at a West Virginia Readers/Writers conference some years ago before she was writing fiction, and I’ve so enjoyed watching her career bloom. Joanna is offering to gift a copy of today’s featured book, Tear Down and…
Read MoreSunday Inspiration: One Simple Wish
Sometimes inspiration comes in small doses, as small as a child who needs something and has no place to turn. Can you imagine wanting something as simple as a suit to go to a family member’s funeral or music lessons or supplies for school and not being able to have them because you are a…
Read MoreFiction Friday: Still Life with Murder
Welcome to Fiction Friday, my opportunity each week to post an excerpt from one of my own books or those of my friends, present-day or long-departed colleagues. Today’s excerpt is from my friend and fellow book tour survivor, P. B. Ryan, who was one of a multitude of authors I met on a bus tour…
Read MoreA Novelist at Sea with a Pile of Good Books
Sometimes it’s nice to get away, isn’t it? I just returned from a cruise, and while Internet was available (at an extravagant fee) I chose not to use it. Part of it was a natural aversion to rates of $.75 a minute. Another was the hassle of getting connected and the fear I would somehow forget…
Read MoreSunday Inspiration: Sow Much Good
Robin Emmons is a really cool and very inspirational young woman. When she discovered that her schizophrenic brother’s health was deteriorating due to a lack of fresh fruit and vegetables, she decided to plant her own garden — not only for her brother but for her community. Now she has 200 volunteers tending nine acres…
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