Why do some books turn off a reader by the end of the first chapter, and others make them breathlessly turn the page, excited to read...

How I Discover Ideas and Create Characters That Stick with You People often ask me, “Where do your ideas come from?”  As if I have a...

Sometimes, walking the beach isn't such a glorious event. Sometimes, the wind is blowing so hard you must put your head down, pump your...

The question of what genre I’d write was settled ten years ago, when my first agent held my hand through her comprehensive editing...

I'm working on the first draft of book five in my Olivia Callahan Suspense series. The first draft is, by its nature, a...

In my usual cheerful, diligent manner, I run to my closet where all my author paraphernalia is stored: stroller bag for table decor and...

Communicating well with others is is a skill. It's important. It's a necessity for personal success, and a war I'm determined to win.

When I wrote my first piece of note at age twelve in a school in Bellevue, Nebraska...I specifically remember my instructor putting a...

Why? Always the first question that explodes in my mind. Why do I feel pressure to learn every social media venue out there? Why do I...

This year has been a study in contradictions. As far as writing goes, it was a fabulous year. Two books released, my series picked up by...

Thanksgiving went okay except for a few hiccups here and there...and we rented a house so it was less travel time for kids and grandkids...

One year my daughter gave me one of those 'Storyworth' legacy accounts in order to chronicle my life for posterity. History. Something....

Lately I’ve decided to change my K-cup approach to coffee. I've bought organic coffee, a regular coffeemaker, and now grind my own beans....

The business of writing is often an exercise in patience and teeth-grinding. Or teeth-gnashing, as it were. It is hard to keep going with...

Some weeks ago, I attended a mid-week prayer meeting and a lovely woman approached afterward and murmured ‘I’m not sure what this means...

Hi everyone! I’m sitting here breathing sighs of relief that my last book is in the tank, sailing off to my editor, to do her magic and...

A few weeks ago, I sat dejected and lonely, pecking away at my latest WIP (for the non-writer…’work-in-progress’) wondering if the...

This Christmas holiday, I’m torn between regret that my kids are grown, and joy that they are forging their own lives and their own...

Recently I was invited to speak at a local author’s group. Thinking the group size would be modest, I brought along ten or so of my books...

With the recent tanking of the economy and stock market, my husband and I have arranged an appointment with each other at 10:30 a.m. on...