Obsessions! #MFRWAuthor

In a world in which jobs, family, writing career, and family consume every waking hour, the word “hobby” sounds like a luxury most writers can ill afford. However, after faith, family, and writing there are things in my life that still just demand to be done, at least now and then. They are the interests […]

A Labor of Love

Highlighting Historical Romance: Jan Scarbrough’s My Lord Raven Writing My Lord Raven was a labor of love. It took a long time with many starts, stops, and twists along the way. I fell in love with medieval history and romance in high school with authors Thomas B. Costain and Anya Seton. Later the romance genre […]

History As We Write It

Highlighting Historical Fiction welcomes Joan Leotta History is not a collection of dates and lists of people. We think this is so when we are in school, but for me, history was listening to my Grandma talk about what went on in her life. What were people’s reactions when our entry into World War Two […]

Ouch I Did It Again #MFRWAuthor

Let me get this off my chest first: I cannot spell. I have been known to spell the same word three different ways on one page. Worse: I cannot proofread. I once earned my living as a tech writer, and a good one. I got reviews that to prove it. They boiled down to “This […]

4 Things To Do After You Type The End

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) […]

Watch Until Your Brain Explodes #MFRWAuthor

Will it surprise any of you to hear that the shows I binge watch run to costume dramas and British made? Beloved and I came to streaming video—and therefore binge watching—somewhat late, but we embraced it utterly. Our first Big Binge was Foyle’s War. It still rates very high on our all time favorite list […]

4 Blogs and Then Some

Blogging gives any and all of us an opportunity to express ourselves. Many of us may wish there was less of it—particularly when the expressing takes the form of politics or celebrity culture are concerned, but then either we all have the right to speak freely or no one does. Most writers use blogs to […]

8 Reasons for a Slow Start

I usually have this column ready on Sunday, but this morning is fleeting and I am just putting my Monday thoughts together. Something about that first week of the new year had me wallowing in holiday mode. A number of things got in the way. I spent the weekend getting myself organized, and as of […]