Writing Update

 

I'm so excited for the books that are coming soon! 

First off, book eight in the Holliday Hotel series is in the editing phase right now. I'm hoping to have the edits back by next month so that it can go into the final revision. If all goes well, it should be available in October. I loved writing May's story! It was wonderful to see her grow and heal. This will be the Thanksgiving book in the series, and I'm so grateful for the journey I have been on through this series.

Next, I'm about halfway through writing this year's Christmas novella! After taking a year off, I'm thrilled to be able to provide another Christmas story. I always enjoy writing them, but last year I just couldn't make it work. It's a pleasure to see it coming together, and I am absolutely loving this story and these new characters. As much as I love Holliday Hotel, sometimes it's nice to explore other settings and characters.

Speaking of which, Holliday Hotel is nearly at its end. Next year's book will complete the series with a Christmas story. It's been a ride for sure! I've enjoyed each book and celebrating each holiday, but I don't think I'll ever write a series that long again. I'm sure if you read them back-to-back right now, you'll see some glaring errors because it gets difficult to keep track of everything.

What's next when Holliday Hotel is completed? I'm not exactly sure. I've got two series that are teasing the back of my mind. I'm not sure which one I'll go with first, but I know that God will direct my steps when the time comes.

Be on the lookout for two new books this fall! I can't wait to share them with you! In the meantime, you can follow me on Facebook or Instagram for title and cover reveals, book launch parties, and giveaways. 

Photo by Suzy Hazelwood: https://www.pexels.com/photo/black-typewriter-machine-typing-on-white-printer-paper-1303835/

Writing Tools

 I'm so thankful to be writing in an era that has so much information at my fingertips. We all know the power of a good internet search for authors. I've looked up things like average temperatures in certain locations, checked to make sure my fictional town is indeed fictional, and found out symptoms for diseases. In my current work in progress, I've had to look up information about a specific surgery and the recovery time. It is incredibly helpful! I can't imagine trying to write before the internet and having to leave home to do research - exhausting!

There are a couple of other tools besides generic internet searches that I use frequently that people might not consider. The first is behindthename.com/random. Sometimes naming characters is easy, but sometimes it's more difficult. This website allows me to set some parameters and then randomly generates names from which to choose. If I want some specific ethnic names, I can select that and get a list (including surnames) that I can use for my characters. I used this in Maui Christmas because I wanted traditional Hawaiian names that were also not super common. For minor characters, I might use it if nothing is coming to mind for the name. Plus, it's a lot of fun - at least for a nerd like me who loves names.

Another tool that I've only recently begun to use is houseplans.net. I can't always picture a floor plan in my mind. It's very vague to me which makes it difficult to write. I discovered this tool when working on A Groom for Christmas so that I could find a little mountain cabin for Bryce's grandma. Since then, I use it often. I can select regional areas and styles of homes, and then select the one that I think fits best. It's fantastic! (If you want to see the floor plan I'm using in my upcoming Holliday Hotel book, you can click here) 

Not only are these sites useful, they're also fun to play around in. I can waste a lot of time looking up names or houses. Do you know of any other tools that writers use? I'd love to hear about them if you do! 

Technology is a blessing for research. It makes writing much easier, and kind of fun, too.

Photo by Nao Triponez: https://www.pexels.com/photo/shallow-focus-photography-of-macbook-792199/

Welcome Back

 

It's been awhile! It's so good to see you again. Have a seat and let's catch up.

I moved my blog to my website several years ago - 4 years to be exact. Recently I had problems with my website. It gave a warning that the site was trying to collect data, and I couldn't get in to fix it, and couldn't find anyone who would fix it. The best solution seemed to be to get rid of the website altogether. Not that I had been writing on there very often either. 

In the past four years I have written more. Holliday Hotel has three more books and one more set to come out soon bringing the series up to 6 books. On top of those, there are a few more Christmas novellas that I've written: The 12 Dates of Christmas, Maui Christmas, and A Mom for Christmas. 

I also went back to work. I started in second grade as a part-time teacher. The following year I started teaching fifth grade full-time and I just finished my second year in that position. While I love it, it does make writing a little more difficult. It's harder to find time to write when I'm working and still being mom and volunteering at church.

Last year I won a six month subscription to write articles for #BecauseFiction, and I remembered how much I loved to write my blog posts, to share a little bit about me or how God was working in my life. Those six months are over now, and I decided to get back into my original blog.

Enough about me. How have you been?

(Photo by Tim Mossholder from Pexels)