Why will I miss July when I've known so many of them? Because this is my first July ever being involved in Christmas In July. It's been fun. When I first started writing The Christmas House, I had no thought of turning it into a Christmas-themed novel but, as the story played out, it occurred …

Continue reading July is coming to an end. I’ll miss it.

I've loved watching clouds ever since I was a little girl who climbed as high in an apple tree as possible, found a comfortable branch, and spent what seemed like hours watching the clouds drift by and coming up with all sorts of stories to match what they looked like. Palaces. Horses running across the …

Continue reading Clouds

Does a story require both a well-fleshed out villain and hero? Two things come to mind: If the story falls within a genre that requires the hero to be not only a main character, but an essential one, then, yes, the story requires a well-fleshed out hero, simply because this particular kind of story does. …

Continue reading Question: Is it true that as long as you have an interesting villain, a story doesn’t require a well-fleshed out hero?

What are some tips for writing good dialogue? Listen. Hear how people really talk. Go someplace filled with people — a restaurant, mall, holiday venue, wherever — and close your eyes and listen. Don’t worry about the actual words at first (you can do that later), just get a feel for how people talk to …

Continue reading Question: What are some tips for writing dialogue for a novel?

As you know, my last novel The Pathfinder, the first of the Wilderness Women series was recently published by Winged Publications. I'm working on the next novel, the second of the series, titled The Snow Queen. Yep, as you might have guessed, it takes place in the winter and it's now the height of summer, …

Continue reading Next novel is coming along, with an odd result.

How do I keep up a daily writing habit? What are my tricks to keep myself on track? Honestly, I don’t have a daily writing habit and I don’t have any tricks to keep myself on track. I perhaps should bow my head in shame about now but that’s the truth. It’s true that I …

Continue reading Question from a reader: How do you keep up a daily writing habit? What are your tricks to keep yourself on track?

I have a love-hate relationship with Facebook. I'd just as soon never go on it because I have other things to do with my life. But when I do check out what's happening there, I'm always glad I did because inevitably I learn something interesting. And, of course, Facebook is a wonderful place for authors …

Continue reading Facebook and authors — change is constant.

Another question: Where do you get your ideas for novels from? And my answer (which, of course, is specific to me. Other writers might do things differently.):  Ideas for novels come from everywhere. Until your imagination kicks into high gear and gives you more ideas than you can ever want, you might try glancing through …

Continue reading Where do you get your ideas for novels from?

The mistake that comes to mind is that they use too many words. Most first novels and poems would benefit by taking a big red pen and crossing out a lot of unnecessary words. Because readers want to read a story or poem without the distraction of the extra words that people normally use when …

Continue reading What common mistakes do people make when writing their first poem or novel?

Consider two things when deciding whether to write your next novel in third person or first. Which way are you most comfortable telling the story? Some stories naturally lend themselves to either first or third person, usually due to the complexity or simplicity of the story. Which person do most stories similar to yours use …

Continue reading Should I write my next novel in third person or first?