I’m sure you’ve heard people say they don’t have “a dime to their name.” Or that some things are a “dime a dozen.” Or it’s “not worth a dime.” You can be absolutely sure they weren’t talking about this dime. Take a good look at this beauty and then take another look. It’s worth it. I’m not a coin collector, but this story …
Love at First Sight, Gifts, and Other Blogging Trails
Nine more days to take part in my Celebration giveaways. Either on my website at the The Gifted Contest Page (prizes shown there) or at Fresh Fiction and have a chance to win a lovely journal and pen. The picture of the basket and my book The Believer is the second prize in my website contest. The basket is a one-of-a-kind …
How to Have Fun with a New Book
My Hometown Reading Friends Any excuse to have fun is a good excuse. And I did have fun this weekend celebrating my new Shaker book, The Gifted. See this roomful of friends waving at me and smiling? And that was after I talked. Could be that’s why they were smiling — because I’d finally hushed. I asked them to wave …
Blank Pages, Beginnings and Book Launches
Talking to friends – the best part of a booksigning A new book means I get to celebrate with my reading friends. I started having book launch celebrations here in my hometown when my first inspirational novel, The Scent of Lilacs was published. We had so much fun that I’ve had a book launch party for every book since. And …
The Gifted
The Gifted was released today, July 1. That makes today a good day. July 1 is also my deadline for the book I’m currently writing. That makes today a pressure filled day. July 1 is also my granddaughter’s birthday. That makes it a joyful day. Tonight, still July 1, was also a really hard night for me with Mom, so …
Shaker Book No. 5 Almost Here
June is almost here. That means July can’t be far behind and that means – drum roll, please – a new Shaker book. The Gifted is scheduled for release on July 1. My fifth Shaker book is set in my Shaker village of Harmony Hill in 1849 with a whole new set of characters. I did carry over one character …
Editing The Gifted
What do you think of Jessamine here? I don’t often let my heroines have blonde hair. Mostly I want them to have dark hair or auburn hair. It goes back to when I was a kid and everybody was always talking about how cute the blue-eyed, blonde girls were. Me, I wasn’t blonde. Me, I had eyes that couldn’t make …
Looking Ahead to Writing Goals in 2012
“Never believe in mirrors or newspapers.” (John Osborne – British playwright and producer 1929-1994) Last Wednesday I looked back at 2011. I think it’s good to take stock of where you’ve been but it’s even better to look ahead to where you’re going. A writer can hang onto the last story too long sometimes and not reach out for the new …
Judging a Book by the Cover
One of the most exciting parts of getting a book published is seeing the cover that the publisher’s art department creates to represent your story. I really like the cover for my new book releasing in February. The girl looks like Adriane in the book and I love the city backdrop. The story is set in 1855 Louisville and I …
Problems, Procrastination, Patience, Persistence
Today was the day I had agreed to have my Shaker 5 novel finished. The Gifted was one of those stubborn books that got a little long winded and simply did not want to end. The characters must have been having too much fun and didn’t want me to quit on their story. At times in July and June, I …