Category: Musings

Every few months, it wallops me upside the head. What is it, you ask? Nothing good, that’s for sure. It’s the fear that, even after years of writing — and getting a degree in journalism, I still don’t have a clue what I’m doing. The familiar foe hit me...

It’s not Monday, but I finally got around to doing what I said I would: I submitted two queries on “Beauty and the Ballplayer.” Now, I wait … and continue to work on perfecting the GH entries … and write some more on Bethany & Cody’s story. For some...

One of the goals I set out at our July NARWA meeting was to send at least two queries on “Beauty and the Ballplayer.” Well, it’s still not done, even though the meeting is a week away. What’s stopping me? It’s ridiculous, really. I keep telling myself (rather stupidly)...

You often hear writers say their story ideas come from the strangest places. I’m not so sure that’s true. Ideas are all around us … all we have to do is open our eyes (and ears) to the possibilities. The initial idea for “Blind Date Bride” came from a...

I wrote this post for the Editor’s Note in the Sept./Oct. issue of the NARWA newsletter, High Country Highlights.  However, I liked it too much not to share it here on the blog, too. Since I’m trying to get in edit-mode for the Golden Heart, the subject is dear...

Writers have to read, even if it means taking time away from writing to do it. I go through spurts of reading like a madwoman or writing like one. Rarely will I do both at once. My book club just finished “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett. Published in February...

It always amazes me how attending my RWA chapter meeting recharges my creative battery. Sure, it means a long day for me. I usually don’t get to bed until at least 2 a.m., and I’m up before 8 on meeting day. We meet from 10:30-ish to 2 p.m. and...

Sometimes, all it takes is a little shove to get moving again. I received one  today, courtesy of one of my NARWA sisters. Jacqui Jacoby was a guest blogger over at Seekerville. The topic? Surviving the Abyss. In it, she told the story of her lost year of productivity,...

A couple of weeks ago, the Ruby Slippered Sisterhood blog (one of my faves) was host to a sometimes heated discussion on safe sex in romance novels. The author of the post, Kelly Fitzpatrick (who you might recognize from yesterday’s post), started the discussion by asking a few questions:...

Isn’t that what they call it when you’re doing a lot of thinking but not much writing? 😉 I’ve been mulling the plot of Bethany & Cody’s story (tentatively titled “Trouble in Paradise” … like that hasn’t been used before! Thank goodness titles aren’t copyrighted.). I need to get...