I’ve never understood how two authors with different muses, voices, and ideas, could, combined, form one cohesive work. Sure, Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim Lahaye co-produced the legendary Left Behind Series, but … those men are clearly brilliant, which I am not. I struggle to keep my own plot threads straight. Why in the world […]
Behind the Scenes: Author June Foster tells a shaggy dog story
Last summer, my husband and I spent three months in the tiny town of Shell, Wyoming, population 50, at the base of the Big Horn Mountains. In our RV, we performed what is called “work-camping” at Shell Campground and Cabins. Mainly my husband worked. We gave them 20 hours a week in return for a […]
Behind the Scenes: Author Susan M. Baganz and the tomboys
A couple of things went into writing Donuts & Detours. I was inspired by a young woman I once knew who hid her femininity and had a rocky past with her family of origin. I added that to another young woman who loved working on cars. Her parents tried to dissuade her from that line […]
Behind the Scenes: Author Bonnie Engstrom answers reader questions
As soon as someone asks what you do, the first question is either “When did you start to write?” or “How long have you been writing?” No one ever asks how long you’ve been published. Many people view writing a book like an ethereal cloud to grasp. They don’t understand how much hard work it […]
Behind the Scenes: Author Pamela S. Meyers dreamed of traveling back in time
Having grown up in the small resort town of Lake Geneva, WI, I’d heard for as long as I could remember how the wealthy of Chicago had come north to Geneva Lake after the Great Chicago Fire to build large (sometimes gargantuan) homes on the lakeshore to house their families while the city was rebuilt. […]
Behind the Scenes: Author Donna Schlachter loves “The Fugitive”
The idea for this story came from a love of a movie and a friend with a great train story to share. The movie was “The Fugitive,” both the original series pilot and the more recent remake. I loved the idea of a train ride leading to a second chance. My friend had recently taken […]
Behind the Scenes: Author Shannon Taylor Vannatter & the city girl living in an abandoned farmhouse
A few years back, a young single woman from our church had to move out of her apartment on very short notice. The only new place she could find where she could move in quickly was in the country. The house belonged to another church member, but it was old and had been uninhabited for […]
Behind the Scenes: Author Donna Schlachter’s desert oasis tale
A Prickly Affair came about as the result of a long-standing friendship, a step-mother who I dearly loved, and a desert oasis I longed to write about. Mary Davis, a good friend, contacted me because I’d worked with her on a previous romance collection, wanting to know if I was interested in another, and I […]
Behind the Scenes: Why Author Candee Fick Weaves a Theme Into Her Stories
My favorite part about being a writer is brainstorming new stories. However, even after years honing my craft, I’m the first to admit that my process starts a little differently with every story. Sometimes I start with the character, like a fledgling actress searching for her long-lost brother and her place on the stage. Other […]
Behind the Scenes: How Author Ada Brownell plots a story
Anytime you pick up a work of fiction, you’ll find a plot. Writers often talk about plotting. Even way back, it sounded boring to me. Too similar to an outline. But when I sat down to write my recent novels, the first, Joe the Dreamer: The Castle and the Catapult, published in 2013; The Lady […]