While taking time off from writing, Rick tapped me for teaching our Tuesday evening Bible study.  He’s always concentrated on books of the Bible, starting from chapter one, verse one and going straight through with historical context, what the scriptures say and how they apply to our lives.  While I love that kind of inductive study, I chose a different direction:  people.  One of the book ideas I’ve had for a long time would center on mentoring.  I’ve had a lot of questions about how mentors are chosen, how long the relationships last, what the rules of engagement Continue Reading

My mom passed away twenty-five years ago, but there are still times when I almost reach for the phone to call and tell her something.  I used to feel a punch in the stomach when that happened, knowing there would be no answer on the other end of the line.  Now, I just send up a message.  “Oh, Mom, you would love this…” The time I had with her while she was here on this planet was a blessing.  She was an amazing woman.  Faithful, disciplined, always busy doing things for other people – especially family members.  She had a small wardrobe: a couple of Continue Reading

I read Abby Johnson’s autobiography, Unplanned, and heard her speak a few years ago at our local pregnancy counseling center banquet.  Her story is heart-wrenching, powerful, and mind- altering.  She was a Planned Parenthood director for eight years until she saw the truth of what happens to a living child in abortion.  You can watch the trailer now on IMDb.com or on YouTube. (If you can't see the embedded video due to settings in your browser or any other reason, simply go to youtube.com and search for "Unplanned movie" and the trailer will show in the Continue Reading

Special Interest Bills California legislators all have a cause – or should I say causes?  I recently read an article in our local newspaper that announced 2,576 bills have been introduced to the Legislature before the session deadline. Some are “intent” bills that merely promise more details someday.  Ah, perhaps, in the interest of time and effort, our representatives will just pass them and read them later. There are also “sponsored bills” that are written by lobbyists and handed off to legislators who will claim them as their own.  Some of these bills will be eliminated Continue Reading

Rick headed out of town with our eldest son a few days ago.  Spring Training in Phoenix.  I would have seven full days to do whatever I wanted.  Bwaaahaha…   Part of me wanted to be practical. “Work!”  Get busy writing again.  Something other than emails and blogs and preparing Bible studies for the Tuesday night home group, and notes for a future project – future meaning: not today.   I know when I’m ready, and I’m not.  Time is fast approaching, just not yet. And besides, the forecast was NO RAIN.  After weeks of downpour and flooding, Continue Reading

A few years ago, I would have said no, I’ve never experienced burn out.  On the other hand, I have experience writer’s block, but there was a definite God-designed reason for it.  I had become a Christian, and God wanted me to get to know Him before embarking on any new writing projects.  The result of that three-year, often frustration hiatus taught me to focus and depend on Jesus. The result was Redeeming Love.  When I finished The Masterpiece, I did feel burned out. Exhausted.  Creative juices drained away into a sandy desert.  No oasis in sight. Continue Reading

Yes, absolutely.  Every time I start a new book, I wonder how I ever thought I could be a writer.  I don’t have the full story settled in my mind.  The characters are what come to me first, and they don’t always tell me where they’re going.  I have a loose outline because the publisher needs to have some idea what the story will be, but they also know that it will change in the course of writing.  (Not all publishers are so understanding.) Writing a book can be frightening.  I’m often walking in a fog bank, unable to see more than a few steps ahead.  Continue Reading

Every person has unique DNA.  We also have unique fingerprints and retinas.  There are billions of us, but each human being is individual, distinctive, an original creation.  That’s true of the way we express ourselves as well. Sit with a group of friends and you will quickly notice that each has their own way of speaking thoughts, emotions, experiences, interests, ideas.  Each observes life from their own singular viewpoint.  Each personality comes through how and what they say. It’s the same with writing.  Each writer has a personal way of using words, Continue Reading

Yes, to the first question.  Several full manuscripts in answer to the second. One manuscript comes to mind, one I wrote in the early days of my writing career.  I had been a juror on a rape case.  The evidence was all there, but one person couldn’t declare the defendant guilty because he looked like “such a nice young man”.  He walked.  I (along with ten others) was angry, frustrated and depressed.  What did I do?  I unleashed my emotions by creating four victims betrayed by the judicial system who find a way to stop a serial rapist. An edge-of-your-seat Continue Reading

I plotted my stories when I was writing historical romances in the general market.  I knew where I was going long before I got there.  But these stories were simple – formulaic.  Boy meets girl.  Boy and girl are driving apart.  Boy and girl get back together again.  At the time, the focus was the sexual tension between the two people and how they would eventually end up in a life-long-love relationship. When I became a Christian, that kind of lock-step writing didn’t work.  The first book I wrote as a Christian was Redeeming Love, a novel based on Continue Reading