Love is worth the risk
Good Monday morning. The sun is shining and we’re approaching 70 every day this week in the wilds of eastern PA. It’s a good day for a road trip and I’m off on one in an hour. I’m driving north to meet one of my fellow Bluestocking Belles, Nicole Zoltack, and I’m very excited. The […]
Today we sit down for a cozy chat with Jessica Cale, author of some outstanding romances set in during the English Restoration. Be sure to read down and enter her Rafflecopter giveaway, too. Did you base your characters on real people? Yes and no. Alice and Jack developed naturally throughout the series, and they are […]
I realized lately that one barrier to writing is social media. Try not to laugh too hard that it took me so long to realize something most writers know is obvious. Here’s the thing: I’ve always known I had to watch the amount of time it took from my life; I only lately realized what […]
I know, I know. That’s an odd one for a motivator. A friend just said temps below freezing and snow make for a good day to finish her edits. I say grey skies, threatening snow, and sub zero wind chills make the world an unpleasant place. I can a)get depressed or b) slip into my […]
Regular readers will note that I try to highlight a different writer of historical fiction every Thursday. Yes, I know, I’m late this week. I have no excuse, tender readers except, well February. I’m having a hard time remembering what day of the week it is! Today Maggy Mundy brings some interesting thoughts on grim […]
Turning on music is one of the triggers I use to say, “time to write, Caroline!” A friend of mine once told me she uses movie scores for inspiration. Those work sometimes. It depends on the book. For Dangerous Secrets I used a lot of traditional Italian music and a bit of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. […]
It is easy for an author to collapse under the weight of it when a secondary character highjacks the plot, gives her three scenes too wonderful to delete, and then leaves her with no idea how to get the hero from there to the end of the story. Its time to take a step back […]
In my stories, I always strive for historical accuracy. I have three great critique partners who are quick to point out anachronisms—“Are you sure they drank whisky from a glass in 1370? Perhaps a mug or goblet?” and “That word wasn’t in use in 1370. Find another.”—and keep me from blundering too badly. But the […]
Ok, I admit it. I’m a sucker for kind words. The authors I know do what they do for a wide variety of reasons. I realized long ago that I tell stories so people will read them. Nothing keeps me going like finding out someone has read one of my books and liked it. I […]
I’m not a historian, nor am I am one of those authors who gets caught up in research. I’m more of a flutterer – I learn a bit about this, a bit about that, flit from place to place, get hit by an idea, and work from there. I delve a little deeper into research […]