In lieu of blog silence in the latter half of the week, thanks to one too many migraines, I'm going to share some photos of settler cabins I took several years ago during a trip to Cades Cove, TN, never knowing how near that area I'd one day set a novel. How I'd love...

Boy howdy, have I struggled with it this week. It sort of hit out of nowhere, when my novel in progress was going quite well, I thought. But when the self-doubt hit, it hit hard. Is there really some purpose God has for me in writing? Will it be of any eternal benefit...

Recently I read this post from author Mary DeMuth, over at Novel Journey, and it won't let go of my heart. So just in case you missed it.... Why You Shouldn't Give Up As A Novelist. Really. I hope it will encourage your heart, if you are in a place of working and...

The Dawn of a Dream Ann Shorey Revell, 2011 From the back cover: Luellen O'Connell is stunned when her husband of just one month tells her he is leaving--and his reason devastates her. Deeply wounded by his betrayal, Luellen decides to follow her dream to become a...

Here's my last post in which I'm sharing some of the writing craft wisdom my friend, Lauri Klobas, shared with me during a few intense months in which she taught me how to edit my badly over-written prose. Not all of the advice she gave me had to do with trimming back...

This week on the blog I'm sharing the writing advice I received from Lauri Klobas, a friend I will always consider my first editor. Lauri had a lot to teach me about trimming and tightening unfocused story elements and overwritten prose. I still over-write my first...

This week I've spent time reading over the emails exchanged with my friend Lauri, during the months I began the huge task of editing Kindred down to a manageable length. An element I'd struggled with was back story: where to put it, and how much needed to be included...

This week marks a year since my friend, Lauri Klobas, author and gifted critter, passed away after her third battle with breast cancer. Lauri and I had known each other only on the Compuserve Books & Writers Forum when she graciously and unexpectedly volunteered...

There I was sitting at my computer at 5-something AM this morning, wondering what to blog about today, when I took a quick gander at my blog rolls over in the sidebar, and there's Jody Hedlund, one of the most consistent, prolific bloggers I know, blogging about what...

I identify with that feeling of despair in seeing some scenes hit the cutting room floor. There’s one, out of all the scenes and parts of scenes I’ve cut from several novels, that haunts me still and I’m determined to slip back in between the pages one day, if given a...