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 […]
Behind the Scenes: Author Becky Melby tastes the cherries of Door County
If you look at a map of Wisconsin, Door County is the tip of the thumb of the mitten-shaped state—the part that gets frostbit on nippy winter days. This location, with its cooler spring months, makes Door County the perfect place for growing yummy, tart Montmorency cherries. At their peak in the 1950s, 700 cherry […]
Behind the Scenes: Author June Foster confronts flawed characters
Prescription for Romance is the sequel to Letting Go, both set in small town Alabama. Scott Townsend made a brief appearance in the first book and dated the heroine. He was a nice guy then. Unselfish, thoughtful, sweet. Or so I thought. He didn’t tell me much in that first book. It wasn’t until Prescription […]
Behind the Scenes: Author Gail Kittleson on War, Magic and Irony
Roald Dahl, who created the incredibly engaging tales my children and I used to read together, said “And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.” It may seem strange […]
Behind the Scenes: Author Zoe M. McCarthy and the igloo
Gift of the Magpie takes place in December a few days before Christmas. Richmond, Virginia has had a huge dumping of snow. I planned a scene in which Cam cajoles Amanda into putting her book deadline aside to build a snowman. But, for my story, building a snowman seemed such a cliché. Then I remembered, […]