If You Like….
Julie had an excellent suggestion for this week’s If You Like: marriage of convenience plots. It’s one of my favorite plot tropes. What happens when you take two people and put them in a situation where they’re stuck making it work? Will they grow and learn together? Will it be a massive disaster? The stakes…
Read MoreWeekend Amusement
Remember 18th Century Cosmo? From Christine comes Chaucerpolitan— everything you ever wanted to know about the Real Housewives of Bath! Clever no?
Read MoreWeekly Reading Round-Up
I’ve still been reading my way through the rediscovered books tossed up by the move, among them: — Alexandra Raife, Belonging. The old family homestead in the Highlans has been turned into a hotel and it’s up to Rebecca to rescue it when her feckless cousin Tony leaves wife and hotel in the lurch to…
Read MoreOn the To Read List….
Once upon a time, I used to go bookstore browsing all the time. It was my favorite way to unwind, to see what was out there, make mental notes about which books were out and which I wanted to read next. Sadly, both the bookstores on my usual orbit closed this past summer (bye, bye,…
Read MoreWriting Wednesday: Character
Fundamentally, the topic of the day is Getting to Know Your Protagonist, Getting to Know All About Her, but that was too long to fit on the subject line, so let’s just call it Character Development: Part I. (I’ll talk about developing side characters another day.) The best advice I ever read on creation of…
Read MoreTeaser Tuesday: DARE ME
Last summer, I found myself in an odd gap between books. I had handed in The Garden Intrigue freakishly early. While waiting to hear about more Pink books, I’d started writing a rather different novel, set in Kenya in the 1920s, but was waiting for publisher feedback before continuing with it, unsure whether anyone would…
Read MoreHappy Memorial Day!
If You Like will return in its regular spot next week. (As always, if there are any genres or themes you want me to cover, just let me know.) Stay tuned for a special Teaser Tuesday announcement coming up tomorrow…. In the meantime, enjoy the holiday Monday!
Read MoreSunday Closet Clear Out
In unpacking, I found myself with more books than bookshelf space. (Surprise, surprise.) So I’m giving away a few more books this week. After this, Closet Clear Out will go on hiatus for a bit, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be doing more clear outs again starting in the fall. Amazing the way those books…
Read MoreWeekly Reading Round-Up
The wonderful thing about unpacking books, aside from the benefit to the muscles of the upper arm, is rediscovering whole treasure troves of books you’ve forgotten. I’ve been grazing among the forgotten books of the back shelves this past week, including: — Bill Bryson, I’m a Stranger Here Myself. My friend Jenny gave this to…
Read MoreASHFORD Abroad
I just got the news that The Ashford Affair is going to be translated into Spanish! I can’t remember whether or not I posted about it here (my mind is in moving mush), but I found out last month that The Ashford Affair will also be available in German. I’m so curious to see which…
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