Revising on the Porch

A few readers have asked me what’s happening with my work-in-progress, The Lies We Told, due to be published next June, so I’m here with an update. I’ve shared with you the synopsis process, the outline process, the writing process, the revising process and the torturous rush-to-deadline process. That was followed by two weeks of…

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Unexpected Gifts

Sometimes you find the prize when you’re not looking for it. John and I were traveling the backroads of eastern North Carolina recently as I researched the setting for my work-in-progress, The Lies We Told. We stopped for an ice cream cone at an out-of-the-way restaurant, and we sat on the restaurant’s tiny porch, licking our yummy…

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One Paragraph, Three Drafts

I write many, many drafts as I work on a book. Recently, someone on Facebook asked writers to share different drafts of a single paragraph. I thought this would be an interesting exercise for me to share with you, my blog readers. I want to give credit to the Facebooker who suggested this, but I don’t…

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Naming Characters and Coffee Shops

Someone on Facebook recently asked me when I planned to auction off another character name, which made me realize that I forgot to auction one off for my work-in-progress, The Lies We Told. Life got a little crazy during this book! It’s too late now, unfortunately, but I will definitely remember for the next book. Meanwhile,…

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Gimme Shelter: The Winner!

Well, my loyal readers, you outdid yourselves this time! I’ve never had such an enormous response to one of my blog questions, and you made my job extremely difficult. You offered many, many ideas that would work well as a name for my fictional spit of water-logged land, and I had a hard time choosing. It was Glen,…

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Going Crazy

The contest continues! Win a vacation on Topsail Island and help me celebrate my 20 years as an author by clicking here to learn more. You may enter once a day.  Yes, it’s that time of year when I start to lose my marbles. It always happens around now, three months before deadline. Deadlines are always challenging,…

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