Category Archives for "Writing"

Imagine you’re sitting in your seat at the Dallas Fort Worth airport on your connecting flight for ACFW Conference in San Antonio. The flight is so full that they’ve committed your carry on luggage to checked bags. You’re assigned seat is B the middle. Seat C on the aisle is filled, and A, the window […]

Knowing how to talk about the size of a horse might seem like a mundane topic but a writer should know certain trigger words because their incorrect use is a dead giveaway to horse lovers.Where to measureHorses are measured from the withers to the ground by hands. The red line in my parts of the horse […]

Recently I did a presentation called “Horses for Writers” for  my local ACFW chapter.  As I prepared, I was amazed at the amount of basic  equestrian terminology require for historical fiction. Horses were used for everything and a life without an equine meant less progress, less food, less travel, and more work. Writers of contemporary […]

Organic Writing Organic writing is described as ‘seat of the pants’ writing where story falls out of the pen possibly leading down the dark halls of no return.  Adversaries claim the writer dives in and searches for story structure as they go. This opposes advocates of story structure, or architecture, for which the writer develops […]

When I was a kid and wanted to learn to ride, I spent hours practicing not just for a summer but year after year. I took lessons riding any horse available, went to summer camp, competed in horse shows, and read everything I could get my hands on. I practiced continuously. Then over the years […]

While I am writing each day, a myriad of unresolved questions swarm my mind. Should I pursue traditional publishing? What about Indy? Should I continue to enter contests? How soon should I tell people about my stories? I have to tell you—there are a lot of questions. Another question is when should I tell my […]

As writers we are told to discover or determine our character’s worst fear. Is she afraid of losing someone? Losing a job? Sickness? Losing her life? I had difficulty pinpointing just one worst fear for the protagonist in my first manuscript. Certainly she was fearful for her daughter’s safety but her daughter was only part […]

I’m excited to share that Remember Not is a finalist in The North Texas Romance Writers of America Chapter Great Expectations Writing Contest 2018. This is our first contest entry for 2018 in the inspirational category. The process of entering was easy and the contest coordinator, Amanda Byrd, is super helpful. Why Do I Enter Contests? […]

What is a Dressage Test? A dressage test is a performance done by a horse and rider. There is a prescribed pattern during which the rider and horse perform certain movements. A judge with the benefit of a scribe scores each movement, makes comments, and at the end the scores are tallied and the winner […]

Writing the end should be a peak among peaks for a writer but the problem with mountains is they rise out of valleys. The highs and lows for a writer. I was with Rylie when the world tried to gobble up a naïve Pollyanna. We lived through her horrible college experience and crushing demoralization. Rylie […]

I Choose to Laugh There are days that I sit back and laugh (yes out loud) at myself, because crying would be just plain dumb. Besides, I never feel better when I cry. My writing journey has been a path of adventure with periodic highs and plenty of opportunities to stumble. I’m firmly committed to […]

I’ve been diligently working on a book proposal to send to prospective literary agents. This, I can tell you, is no small undertaking. One of the larger stumbling blocks in this project is book comparison. Book comparison? If my book was like someone else’s, why would I even write it? I’ve spent a couple of […]