It’s midnight before Easter as I write this. That’s probably cheating for a blog due on Monday but, unfortunately, the days all run together and if I hadn’t had this on my calendar, I would have completely forgotten I had it coming due. Today was one of those days that quite simply did not stop. [...]

This past week has been quite a week, not only for me personally, but for the Women’s Fiction chapter. With so many fabulous women in our group as finalists in the Golden Heart and the RITA, it can be intimidating for the rest of us. But with Rachel Goldsworthy’s “Using the Power for Good” post [...]

At a dinner party a few years ago, a man I had just met leaned across the table and told me, “You’re very powerful, you know.” Sure, I thought. I can’t even get my teenager to put his sheets in the washer. “Really,” he continued. “As a writer, you have a huge influence.” True. I [...]

The busboy slid a stack of plates into the long grey plastic tub, careful not to bang them or rattle the big cup full of cutlery. With chapped hands and ropy arms, he hoisted the tub off the stainless steel countertop and muscled it between sous chefs intent on their red-wine jus and servers demanding [...]

I couldn’t have been more than ten, and we were reading short stories in my class at school. I don’t remember the name of the story, or who wrote it. All I know is that it affected me so deeply that I’m writing about it now, forty-five years later. It was about a boy that [...]

Have you ever wondered about the similarities between plants and men? Probably not! Most sane people don’t. But me, when I’m not writing, I spend a lot of time in my garden – maybe too much — and my thoughts? Well, they naturally veer in that direction. Spending hours upon hours working with plants — [...]

I found myself contemplating what possesses me to write. I mean, there are so many other things I have to do that always seem to take precedence, whether I want them to or not. The recent issues in the publishing world, with ebooks, and the Google settlement, and the Harlequin vanity press launch, all combines [...]

Last night when I went to sleep, I had been pondering what I wanted to tell you. Something inspirational. I did not feel very inspiring. For the past two years, since I had finished my fortieth book, I had tried to write a new novel and not gotten very far. Burnout is the popular term. [...]

Listening to the radio the other day Bonnie Tyler was singing about a romantic relationship but one line snaked out of the speakers and wrapped around my throat. “I’m just another writer still trapped within my truth.” Characters live in my head, as with all of us I’m sure, and often they nag at me [...]

I hope this blog helps you have a happy (and productive) holiday season. We all know that the holidays (any kind of holidays) can put us off our game, our writing game, that is. So I’ve developed a few hints to keep you in the swing of it. ONE: The number one thing – whether [...]