Flex Your Writing Muscles - Childhood Memories

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If you're not busy and want to flex your writing muscles, I'm blogging over at Bits & Bytes: Romance...the Writer's Way. 


I hope you'll pop over for a visit.

Childhood + ? = Writing Career (Penny Rader)

Today I'm blogging at Bits & Bytes: Romance...the Writer's Way.  I hope you'll pop over and share childhood experiences which shaped your writing life or made you want to write.

Guest blogging at Starla Kaye's Today

I'm guest blogging at Starla Kaye's today.  And I'm hosting a contest to win a free copy of Sapphire and Gold.  I'll hope you'll pop over and join the fun.

New Review for Sapphire and Gold!

I am so tickled by this lovely 5 star review by J.M. Rhine on Amazon.com, which I discovered this morning:


Okay, I'll admit it, I love stories that also include a great dog, and this one has exactly that in Max--but Sapphire and Gold is the whole package when it comes to reading pleasure. The author builds her setting and characters with a sharp eye toward detail, but never makes the reader feel like the story has moved in a bunch of research. The characters are finely honed, and written to let their personal stories (and inner turmoil) unfurl with an easy precision that informs and intrigues a reader. Alexandra, or Lexi, is a terrifically sympathetic heroine, and one readers will root for without hesitation. Derek has enough alpha male in his veins to catch reader attention, but the author is quick to show flashes of his sympathetic sides so a reader sees there's more to this ship captain than meets the eye. And don't even get me started on the villain--an excellent choice.


Nothing is easy, the story stays complex and compelling. Nothing remains easy for the characters, but their strength, integrity, and intelligence keeps a reader interested in knowing what will come next. And writing kudos to the author on the fine setting, and ability to put me smack in the middle of Colonial America. Just a treat to read. 

Creating a Hero

Today I'm over at Bits & Bytes: Romance...the Writer's Way.  I hope you'll pop over for a visit and some tips about creating heroes and pics...and to share your own insights as well.

Do you NaNo?

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If so, or if you're curious about NaNoWriMo, please pop over to Bits & Bytes: Romance...the Writer's Way for a few tips and resources.

And while you're there, feel free to leave a comment and/or share a tip or two of your own.

Start a Creative Fire with a Spark

Need any help fanning a creative spark?  Pop over to Bits & Bytes: Romance...the Writer's Way for a few tips I found.

Starla Kaye Is Interviewing Me Today

Today I'm a guest of Starla Kaye's.  I'm also giving away a prize.  To be eligible to win the prize all you have to do is leave a comment.  I hope to see you there!

Colonial America as a Setting

Today I'm at Bits & Bytes: Romance...the Writer's Way sharing tidbits about the setting of my novel, Sapphire and Gold. I hope you'll pop over for a visit.

What the Cat Dragged In

Ick. Ick. Ick.

This morning I stumbled into the kitchen. My plan was to turn on the light so I could see my way to the laundry area and grab a pair of jeans. (Today was jeans day at work.)

Good thing I had remembered to slip on my sandals.

I crossed the few feet from the kitchen doorway to the lamp on the shelf over the stove. (The light switch next to the doorway hasn't worked for a long time.) Just before my fingers touched the lamp, the tip of my right sandal encountered something kind of firm, that didn't move. I flipped on the light. And froze.

Ick. Ick. Ick.

My sandal was touching a squirrel. A dead (at least I hope it was dead!) squirrel. Cuddled next to it? Yup, my cat, who just stared at me.

Being the wimp that I am, I immediately hurried to my bedroom and told my dh, expecting he'd pop up and say, "I'll take care of that right now, honey."

Didn't happen. His hero status took a big hit when he just kinda grunted and went back to sleep.

I know! I stood there in shock.

I peeked back into kitchen, thinking I could sneak past the ickfest in the kitchen, grab my jeans and clean underwear, and get ready for work. Uh, no. Itty-Bitty (who is no longer so itty-bitty) was wrestling and rolling with squirrel. Not enough room to get by without touching it.

Well, fine. I just wouldn't wear jeans today. Or clean underwear. I grabbed my dress pants and ducked into the bathroom. Caught sight of my face in the mirror and told myself, "Suck it up and put on your big girl panties...after you retrieve them from the laundry area."

"But I don't wanna."

"Too bad."

So I did suck it up, grabbed a broom I had left in the living room and nudged the squirrel, cat by its side, all the through the kitchen, past the washing machine and dryer. My insides were quaking the entire time. We finally reached the back door and I gently eased the poor squirrel onto the back porch. Itty-Bitty plopped down beside him. (I'm guessing it was a him. I didn't check.) I firmly closed the back door so the cat could not bring it back in through the hole in the screen door.

I do hope the poor thing died when the transformer blew last night (maybe he was the cause of it?) and that my cat wasn't the culprit. I mean, being zapped by electricity is probably quicker than death-by-cat, don't you think?

Writing for Fun

Having one of those days or weeks where you just can't focus on your novel or novella? Pop over to my post on Bits & Bytes: Romance...the Writer's Way and have a bit of fun.

Writing Amid Chaos

Today I'm over at Bits & Bytes: Romance...the Writer's Way. I hope you'll pop over and share your tips for writing through stressful times.

A Smorgasbord of Writing Resources

Are a new writer? An experienced writer? Somewhere in between? Pop over to Bits & Bytes: Romance...the Writer's Way for links have articles on practically every writing topic you can think of.

Reading Outside Your Genre

Today I'm blogging over at Bits & Bytes: Romance...the Writer's Way. I hope you'll pop over and share what you read.

Re-Told Fairy Tales

Today I'm blogging at Bits & Bytes: Romance...the Writer's Way about re-telling fairy tales. I will also be giving away a pdf of my romance novel, Sapphire & Gold. I hope you will pop over and leave a comment. :D

Wanna Play?

Ever get stuck and not sure what to write about? Or maybe you just need a quick prompt to get your creative writing juices flowing? If so, I hope you'll pop over to Bits & Bytes: Romance ... the Writer's Way and join the fun. :D

Poking and Prying with a Purpose

Today I'm over at Bits & Bytes: Romance...the Writer's Way talking about research. Please pop over and share your favorite ways to research and/or your favorite research sources. I'd also love to hear how you organize your research so you can find the tidbits when you need them.

Getting to Know All About You: Interviewing Your Characters, Pt, 2

The second part of my series on interviewing your characters can be found at Bits & Bytes: Romance ... the Writer's Way. I hope you'll pop over for a visit and leave a comment or two. :D

Today I'm blogging over at Bits & Bytes: Romance...the Writer's Way about interviewing your characters. I hope you'll pop over for a visit. Comments are much appreciated! :D

Here I Write,There I Write

This month over at Bits & Bytes: Romance...the Writer's Way we're discussing where we write. I hope you'll pop over and tell us about your writing space.

My Blog Won an Award!

I was so surprised and super excited when I found out I'd been nominated for the Stylish Blogger Award by Liz Davis over at Novel Moments. How cool is that! Thanks, Liz!

I'm supposed to:

1. Thank the person who gave the award and link to them.
2. Share 7 things about myself
3. Award 10 recently discovered great bloggers
4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award


So, 7 things about myself:

1. I'm a readaholic, movieholic, and tvholic.
2. I never attended college.
3. I have 4 kids, 3 step-kids, and 9 grandkids (including 2 in heaven).
4. Dr. Pepper is my favorite pop.
5. My favorite meal is my dh's cheeseburgers and fries. Yum!
6. I've been married 29 years, which makes me sound horribly old.
7. Researching and revising are my favorite parts of writing.


And here are my 10 nominations for recently discovered great bloggers:

1. Alexa Day at Romance Writer by Night
2. Jami Gold at Beach Reads with a Bite
3. Kaye Dacus at Humor, Hope and Happily Ever Afters
4. Maeve Grayson at Magical Romance Sifting Through Time
5. Claire Ashgrove at From the Muse
6. Anna Kathryn Lanier at Chatting with Anna Kathryn
7. Jeannie Campbell at The Character Therapist
8. Mahalia Levy at The Decadent Side of Sin
9. Jeannene Walker at My Little Piece of Heaven
10. Monique DeVere at Where Love and Laughter Forms Real Romance


Now I'm off to let them know I nominated them. Thanks for visiting!

Once Upon a Time

Why do you write? How did you start writing? Pop over to Bits & Bytes: Romance...the Writer's Way and share your story. Pretty please. :D