Love is worth the risk
Words, my friends, are my stock and trade. Those of you who follow this blog are part of a community of folks who share the joy of the written word. I spend part of every day honing sentences for clarity and power. I spend part of every day reading. I suspect many of you do […]
I believe human beings are story tellers by nature. (Though I tell you with a blush, that may just be because I am at heart a storyteller, and I was raised by storytellers.) We relate our experiences. We relate our parents’ experiences. We relate our grandparents experiences. Some of us begin to relate the things […]
Highlighting Historical Romance with Caroline Clemmons and her look into rail travel in Texas When I start researching a book, I can easily fall down the rabbit hole. I see something interesting and—even though the information doesn’t pertain to my book—there I go. By the time I reached MONK’S BRIDE, book 5 in the Kincaid […]
Good Monday morning! Things remain at sixes and sevens here. The Big Kitchen Project is almost—but not quite—done. Here’s what I learned: It is hard to write when your office is turned into a field kitchen. It is hard to write when loud pounding ensues. It is hard to write when your brain is full […]
With apologies to Robert Burns, plans change. Sometimes life takes an unexpected turn—and so do the stories I write. The beginning and end of The Price of Glory have been clear to me, but the middle—as is often the case—has been murky. I woke up this past week with a harsh light shining on the […]
I’m hiding this morning. I’ve set up a writing cave in the upper reaches of the house hiding from the crew who are currently demolishing my kitchen. Yes folks, it is Day 1 of The Great Kitchen Project. My office, the wonderful space surrounded by windows has been called into service as a field kitchen […]
Swag. Odd word that. All that promotional material you get at conferences, races, fairs, trade shows, and business meetings—pens, magnets, sticky notes, calendars and so on—with your car dealer’s name, dentist’s address, or running show company’s logo is swag. Writers have to bring their swag as well. When asked to bring my swag, I know […]
Highlighting Historical Romance with Patricia Preston on that outlaw Frank James. I did a lot of research on the James-Younger gang for Almost an Outlaw and for this blog post I’m sharing the real-life romance of Frank James, Jesse’s older brother, and the love of his life, Ann Ralston. She was a schoolteacher. A pretty brunette, […]
You may have seen this photo of me on Facebook this week with the banner across the bottom that states what ought to be obvious. If you’ve been paying attention to the firestorm that has roiled the romance novel industry the past week or more, you probably understand what it means and can skip to […]
Highlighting Historical Romance with Laura Strickland’s research into hiring fairs. I first became aware of the occurrence of hiring fairs in Britain years ago, through a folk song of the same name. The English folk band, Fairport Convention has long been a favorite of mine, and The Hiring Fair is a wistful tune that tells […]