Just in time for the weekend–Five Things. Enjoy!

One

First of all, thank you to each and every one of you who email me with your ideas and kind words–I so appreciate hearing from you. And last week, Robin B. emailed me about one of her favorite Etsy vendors, Mashalaurence.

Thank you so much for sharing this link, Robin, because I was entranced by these gorgeous literary prints, such as this one of Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester. Isn’t it amazing? Go check out the other wonderful Bronte and Jane Austen inspired art.

Print by MashLaurence

Two

Can I … Read more »

So not the best week, right? Loss seems to be the only word to describe it.

My dear friend, Diane, who I had written about before, took a turn for the worse and passed quickly. The words my friends and I keep sharing –“We thought we had more time.” — are all we seem to say.

We were supposed to have lunch last week, but the smoke was too much for her to be outside and socially distanced, so we had to reschedule…because we thought we had more time.

So please, hug those you love. Call, text, email, send a … Read more »

Well, this is an abbreviated list of sorts–part vacation slides, part yummy recipe, and finally, a good listen.

First the roadtrip. My son and I drove 2329 miles in four days. Through Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois.

Secondly, I learned what a Derecho is. Thankfully, not up close. It traveled a few hours ahead of us, but we were very sobered by the damage we witnessed in Iowa and Illinois–trees ripped apart, flattened corn fields and semi trucks flipped over.

I then helped him move into an apartment in Chicago which is a third floor walk up … Read more »

Here we go again! Another week and another Friday. And I am in a whirlwind.

I start off on a big adventure tomorrow–I’m helping my college son move back to Chicago. We will be driving from Seattle to Chicago, via Butte, Montana, Casper, Wyoming, and Lincoln, Nebraska, before we roll into Chicago.

You can follow along on our bubble adventures across the west and into the great midwest on my Facebook and my Instagram accounts. Wave at us if we are motoring through your neck of the woods.

And don’t worry, we have face masks and Clorox wipes I recently … Read more »

A few years ago, I wrote this post and was looking it over recently as I found myself searching for a spot in my busy life to GET AWAY and just WRITE. The advice here is still relevant and if you can find a way to take time with friends and spend a weekend writing, I promise you will walk away with so much more than just pages…

Your Writing Retreat

I’ve listened to friends go on and on about writing retreats for years. Holing up in a hotel for a weekend to escape family demands and meet a deadline. … Read more »

Why are you going to a conference?

If the first thought that pops into your head is “to sell my book” then you are going for the wrong reason.

At least IMHO. I think I’m the only person I know who has ever sold a book at conference. Oh, and Gerri Russell with the American Title contest. And even then, the decision to buy those two books had been made weeks earlier–not at conference.

Believe me, editors do not wake up in a strange hotel, surrounded by hordes of ready-to-be-published authors and think, “wow, I could buy all the books … Read more »

**This Contest Is Closed**

Thanks for entering. Winner is posted on my FB page.

As I promised my newsletter subscribers, I won’t leave you out of this fun just because you don’t do Facebook–go ahead and enter to win my contest by commenting below: Let me know who you would want to sit with at the Royal Wedding.

And if that isn’t enough, here are the particulars for the rest of the Facebook Hop if you want to enter for the grand prize or just find some new-to-you authors. Best of luck.

Welcome to the ROYAL WEDDING Facebook Hop!

There … Read more »

Earlier this week, I was in Cimarron, New Mexico and spent some time at the St. James Hotel, walking in the footsteps of some of the West’s most notable figures, including the Earp Brothers, Annie Oakley, Buffalo Bill Cody, Doc Holliday, Bat Masterson, Billy the Kid, Jesse James, the artist Frederick Remington, and author Zane Grey, just to name a few.

All of them passed through the same door I used, and checked in at this desk. I have to confess, I was a bit giddy over all this history.

The St. James Hotel, or as it was known … Read more »

You can never presume that you know how things were done in the past. Never. Take something ordinary like skiing.

You’ve been watching the Olympics, or perhaps you actually ski. I used to. So I know how to do it. And most likely how it was done 120 years ago. I mean, it’s skiing.

Or do you?

Because as much as you think you know a thing, you’ll be researching along and come to a picture that sets all your beliefs, your descriptions of skiing on their ear. Drops you in a snowbank, on your head and laughs at your … Read more »

In Something Borrowed, my novella in the anthology, FOUR WEDDINGS AND A SIXPENCE, Cordelia sketches at a local ruin.

I must confess something: I LOVE ruins.

The first time I went to England and Scotland in 1990, I was obsessed with finding ruins. In England, finding ruins is like looking for antelope in Wyoming, or seagulls in Seattle. They are everywhere.

And I was in heaven.

Here are some of the photos from Elgin Cathedral I took way back then. I loved how they show the sheer grandeur of these buildings and how they were constructed–the walls with the … Read more »