Love is worth the risk
It’s a rainy Monday here in the urban wilds of eastern Pennsylvania, and I’m having a bit of a let down after a delightful weekend. How was it delightful? Over one hundred and sixty folks came to help the Bluestocking Belles celebrate the launch of Follow Your Star Home, our newest holiday anthology: eight […]
The wind blows where it wills… It was super windy on Saturday, a gift from Hurricane Willa as it swept back out to sea and turned into a nor’easter blowing across the Jersey shore. Tradition shows the Holy Spirit as a might wind, blowing wherever He chooses. Inspiration is like that. I’m looking out at […]
This morning dawned bright and crisp here in the urban wilds of eastern Pennsylvania. Yesterday’s sharp wind and clouds are gone, leaving sunshine. If there was frost, it dissipated before I got up, but it is cold out there. The bright sun gives me energy. I never mind the cold in winter, but I begin […]
Goodness! It is Monday afternoon and, yes, I’ve had a few cups of coffee already. Lately i’m running as fast as I can to keep up with myself. In the past month I went to the Historical Romance Retreat, did a lightning trip to Ohio, and hosted family here. In and around that I’ve keep […]
While I managed to get all the “must do” items from last week in on time, while catching up on being back, I failed completely to make progress on The Next Book, deepen my understanding of world events 1838-40 (I did say Next Book), or finish the draft for the Valentine anthology. SIGH. I did […]
How can something invisible make me so miserable? I spent much of the weekend languishing in the recliner. I watched four lengthy documentaries and two feature films and also read three books. Why? Pollen people. When my breathing shuts down I get lethargic and wander around in a brain fog. It’s hard to write when […]
Lately, I’m obsessing on the weather. Winter has been unrelenting and the swings have been dramatic—rather like a well-plotted novel, but much less satisfying. Saturday night we ate out on our patio, enjoying a dead perfect evening—not too hot, not too cold, no bugs, bright sun—knowing full well such evenings are rare. It was 80 […]
My laptop did not want to turn on this fine spring morning. It came up very slowly, rather like the rest of me. We both woke up feeling fuzzy to face a grey morning and temperatures that remain 20 degrees below normal. At least it isn’t going to snow! I think the Mac was sleepy […]
Recently John Le Carré gave CBS’s Sixty Minutes five tips for novel writers. You can find them here. One was easy: “Keep a travel journal.” Some were lessons I learned the hard way: “Make the verb to the work,” and “Start your story as late as possible. One is giving me fits. “Start writing at […]
First draft writing can be a long agony. Once you reach that tender, soul-satisfying conclusion, wipe away a tear, and type The End, you take a deep sigh, certain the story is right. You ask, “Now what?” The temptation is to either a) send it off now because, of course, it is perfect OR b) […]