Did you know that acquisition editors often accept or reject your entire novel simply based on your opener? Bestselling authors are known for their standout beginnings. Consequently, their opening lines play a large part in their success. If you can hook your reader with line one, page one, and chapter one, they are much more…
Hi friends, Happy Wednesday! Hope you’re having a wonderful week. My family and I headed to the beach for a much-needed vacation. Everyone has been working hard and we all needed time to just soak up some sun and breathe in the sea air. But this vacation was different for me. As Cara Putman shared…
Hi friends, I absolutely love to travel! My favorite place to visit…? The beach—as I’m sure many of you have guessed. But I love traveling, period. I love visiting new places and stumbling upon unplanned treasures—a secret waterfall, a ruin we didn’t know existed, a world-famous bakery in Charleston that makes biscuits so mouth-watering a…
I’m sharing my top summer picks on the Inspired by Life and Fiction! Read here.
I may write contemporary fiction, but I love history. I even try to weave into some of the stories I write. My debut novel, Submerged, focuses on Russian-Alaskan history, while Cold Shot is primarily set at Gettysburg National Park. Researching Gettysburg 2017 While researching Submerged was fun, researching the military history of Gettysburg resonated far…
Hi friends, I always love spending a day with you! I think all readers have reading quirks or habits. How we handle our books, when we read, where we read, and how we save our spot, of which I have numerous ways. Visit the Inspired by Life and Fiction blog to see all the…
Hi friends, Back in 2012, I did a feature on Bear Grylls. It’s hard to believe it’s been so long. I’d nearly forgotten about the post when the Editor at bouncemojo.com reached out to me. Ryan was doing some research on biographies and came across my post from all those years ago. I’d cited a…
Hi friends, Happy to be back with you today! As the title alludes, this originally was going to be a post about preserving through difficult times, but then I realized, to my surprise, it wasn’t about perseverance at all. To say life has been a rollercoaster lately is an understatement. I went in for cataract…
I’m ecstatic to be here with you again. Due to health reasons and deadlines, I took a long hiatus, but I’m back! And I will be posting here every other Wednesday! I don’t know about you but May begins the kick-off of my summer reading. I think it’s so cool how different seasons can affect…
I’m ecstatic to announce that my latest novel—The Killing Tide—is available now!!!! It hit stands today. It’s so hard to believe that my 10th full-length novel is on shelves. To celebrate and, to thank you all for your amazing support, I’m giving away an autographed copy to one lucky winner who comments to my Reader Question below.