I’ve written many, many first drafts of novels, most of them “by the seat of my pants.” This means I have a story idea but don’t know exactly how it plays out until I write it. However, I have written a few (very few) first …
My Most Anticipated Reads in 2025
Happy 2025! The beginning of a new year is always exciting to me. There are so many things to plan for and dream about. One of those things is reading! Shocker, right? Here are some books I’m …
Research Mode
I’m currently researching the possibility of a project so I thought I'd pull back the curtain and let you see a bit of my process. I say possibility because as interesting as the history is, I’m not sure yet if I can make …
Fire and Faith by Kristin Jack
Back in 2022, I “met” Kristin Jack when he hired me to edit his historical novel based on Sebastian Castellio’s friendship, and then theological war, with John Calvin. To be honest, it read more like a history book than a …
Have You Read Lacy Williams?
Last year I began an editing relationship with a writer I met years ago. Lacy Williams was traditionally published then later turned totally indie. If you enjoy Western romance—whether historical or contemporary, you should …
July Reads
I know I’m posting this a few days before the end of the month, but since I find myself currently reading five—yes, FIVE—books (and editing another), I know nothing else will get finished in the next few days. Besides that, I …
What I Discovered in this Writing Season
By the time you read this, I’ll be close to submitting the final edits of my final book in the Guideposts series Secrets from Grandma’s Attic. As I’m wrapping up this chapter (ha!) of my writing career, I’ve been looking back …
April Reads
This has been one of those months where I’ve been reading several books at once. And just when I felt like I wasn’t making any progress on any of them, I finished most of them! Part of the problem were that several were very …
March Reads
I feel like I’m little bit back to normal in my reading life, although I am currently making my way through 3 non-fiction books in between the fiction, so there’s that. But I’ve read some fun and interesting stuff this month, …
Don’t Overlook the Big Picture
This post originally appeared on the Lawson Writers Academy teacher's blog. I’ve been writing historical fiction for a long time, so you’d think by now I would have learned. But when I am at the beginning of a new project …