You may have noticed my absence on the blog over the last two weeks. There’s a great reason for that—I’m in deadline mode. Sometimes, writers must get words on the page rather than write a blog post. It’s that little thing we call balance. Knowing what to prioritize in our lives and sticking to it. Still, I’ve missed you and …
Happy Easter Blessings
As Holy Week draws to a close, I wanted to pause for a moment and consider this poignant time of tragedy and triumph. For some, the holiday means little more than Easter eggs, baskets, and goodies. For Christians, we understand that’s surface stuff—fun and fluff secondary to the real celebration. When our kids were little, each received an Easter basket, though we …
The Hard Work of Authenticity via Nikki Wright
Today I’m excited to introduce my surprise guest Nikki Wright. Nikki is the publicist and marketing director for Mountain Brook Ink. She wears multiple hats and coordinates many of the behind-the-scenes administrative duties for MBI. In other words, she’s the cog in the machine that keeps things running smoothly. She also shepherds her authors with loving guidance and abundant grace. …
The Baggage Handler: Book Review
Welcome to The Baggage Handler special blog tour—I’m thrilled you’ve joined us! First, a word about author David Rawlings. I initially met David in 2016 when he and I were American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) Genesis finalists. It was a brief encounter as we said hello in the elevator. We noticed one another’s ACFW badges and finalist ribbons and we …
10 Reasons to Make Ruby Your New Home Town
Recently I shared with my friend Ann Gabhart how my Ozarkian roots influenced my début novel Her Hope Discovered. Here’s a snippet of what I said: You might guess that family is very important to me. So is my heritage and the region where I was born and raised. The Ozarks are where “my people” are. When we’re children, I …
The Best Thing About New Seasons
After the holiday season, the next few months can seem like an endless dose of blah. There’s the Christmas high, then the post-Christmas afterglow. Around late January, though, many of us start counting the days until spring. Winter is just not our friend. Now, if you’re one of those folks who favors colder weather, fuzzy sweaters, and gray, cloudy days—my apologies. This Ozarks …
Love an Author? Leave a Book Review!
It’s great to be back with you today! Recently, I completed my Her Hope Discovered blog tour with Just Read Publicity Tours. What an awesome experience! Several of those nineteen blog stops included Q&As, book excerpts, and book reviews. A big shout-out to the very gracious hosts—this début author thanks you! Now, as you may remember, we’ve mentioned why book …
Grab Your Coffee Mug ~ It’s My HER HOPE DISCOVERED Blog Tour!
Grab your coffee mug and join me! I’ve partnered with Just Read Publicity Tours for an upcoming blog tour! The tour begins Monday, February 18th and continues through Friday, February 22nd. There are approximately nineteen stops in five days! Wow! In addition to other fun things, blog hosts will include author Q&As, book reviews and excerpts. Just Read will kick off …
Writing, Launching, and Marketing a Book…When a Crisis Hits
I debated about my blog post title. After all, you know how we writers are prone to a little drama. Then I thought what the cookies? Maybe you’d like a little peek at the last six weeks (particularly the last ten days) of my life because, possibly, you’ve been there or might be one day. We pray that bad things …
What’s the Hardest Thing a Debut Author Faces?
I’ve toyed with writing today’s blog post for months. To be honest, it’s a little unnerving laying bare those hurdles and milestones a début author faces. I strive to encourage and motivate while also sharing a little wit, wisdom, and reality. In other words—I refuse to be a Persimmon Polly in this world where ugly rhetoric is too often the …