Only 5 more Tuesdays till A BOUND HEART releases! Cover art is like chocolate to me and so this image makes me smile. Add in snow, one of my favorite things, and I felt prompted to start a Tuesday countdown till release day. This 10th novel has a cover that even my agent called ‘sumptuous.’ It’s so true of the …
The History of the Christy Award
Since 1999, The Christy Awards™ have honored Christian novels of excellence, imagination, and creativity. The Christy Award™ is designed to nurture and encourage creativity and quality in the writing and publishing of fiction written from a Christian worldview and showcase the diversity of genres. The Award is named for Catherine Marshall’s enduring bestselling novel, Christy, published in 1967. When I …
Works that will outlast us…
If you’re looking to add to your reading list, have a look at the Christy finalists for 2018. This award is associated with Catherine Marshall and her classic Christy set in my beloved Appalachian mountains. This particular novel inspired me and my writing in ways I can’t name as well as her other nonfiction books on faith. I was a …
Pages and pages
So the pages came today, that last version of the book prior to print. The next step is holding the actual novel in hand. For now, I have 407 pages to peruse. I open the envelopes that have been Fedexed overnight and put all the pages together. And because I’d rather be playing in my sunny garden like Lark in …
Summertime
Colorful clothespins. Line-dried sheets. Warm porch planks. Cold Coke. Strings of party lights. Red geraniums. A barrel of blooming lavender. New potatoes and peas. Garden to table. Birdsong mornings. Warm wind. Open windows. Cherry tomatoes. Wildflowers. Wild blackberries right outside your door. Good books. The Good Book. Sunsets. Letter writing. Long walks. Creek music. Children’s voices carrying through the trees. …
Creativity As Worship
Every once in a while a book comes along that is so God-timed it seemed the pages fell straight from heaven into your lap. This is one of them. My first thought when I looked up the author was, “How can she be so young and have so much wisdom?” Here’s a small part of what spoke loudest to me. …
Favorite Frontier Fiction
I’m kicking off my FAVORITE FRONTIER FICTION series with fellow author Michelle Griep! Her summer release, The Captured Bride, looks quite at home on our cabin porch. Without further adieu, here’s a guest post by Michelle that gives us a realistic look at the research, history, and inspiration behind this new novel… A Visit to Fort Niagara Whether you’re a …
A Modern-day Fairy Tale
Once upon a time I lived in England and attended school there at a place called Harlaxton in Lincolnshire. To say it was magical was an understatement. Only now, looking back, do I see how the Lord used that experience to stoke my imagination and lay the groundwork for my writing. I’m eternally grateful! I remember endless cups of steaming …
A Scottish Setting
If you were to ask which country is my favorite other than the U.S.A. I’d say Scotland without pause. Home of my Hume ancestors (and those Ballantynes), Scotland has epic history, scenery, and cuisine, to name just a few of its many treasures. Here are some things I learned about Scotland as an ex-patriate: Scotland is smaller than the state …
New newsletter with a perk!
I finally took the plunge last year and hired a freelancer to teach me how to craft a compelling newsletter (I so hope you think it’s compelling)! I’m all about beauty and edification so it took countless hours to transfer that vision in my head and heart to a delightful e-letter format. Since I love sending snail mail complete with …