Musketeers, Vampires, and Fairy Tales, Oh My!

Finally. Finished. The Three Musketeers . It took me over three months. It wasn't boring. The plot was intricate and interesting, if not...

Flawed

Here's a question for all you fiction writers out there. How do you make a character likable, but still human? How do you include flaws ...

WIP Wednesday: Finished Yet?

Last night I finished the first edit of my new novel, Any Day But. I sat back in my seat after I typed that last word, staring at the comput...

Tags

If you see my daughter Anna, age three, walking around with her thumb in her mouth and her other hand down the back of her pants, you might ...

Discovery in Three Parts

Before we left China, we read the story of Noah and the rainbow. "Mom, are rainbows real?" Gabe asked. "Yes, of course they...

WIP Wednesday: Confessions of a Writing Fanatic

Many Wednesdays have come and gone since my last WIP Wednesday update. That's only because of all the technical difficulties that made w...

A Step in the Right Direction

Yesterday afternoon I sat down at the computer and saw a reply from an agent I'd recently queried. I didn't open it right away. Aaro...

A Whole New Kind of Dog Doo

You're not going to believe this . Or maybe you will. If you've lived in China for any length of time, you'll definitely believe...

Provision 2

I told you that my husband Aaron (a.k.a. Golden Boy ) recently landed a high school teaching job. I didn't tell you the story behind the...

Only $19.95!

I had this conversation with my seven-year-old philosopher Olivia this morning. (I think she may be watching too much TV in the mornings bef...

We Ain't In China Anymore, Toto!

I am such a nerd. Aaron took his grandma to her hair appointment today in downtown Prosser. I decided to drive the kids down there while she...

Holding Out for Elvis

I needed an injection of happy this morning. Not because LIFE is bad. Life is great! Aaron has a job, we're house hunting, it's ras...

Burn, Baby, Burn!

My children are turning nut brown in the summer sun. I guess swimming twice a day will do that to you. But I'm still culture-shocking ov...

Dog Mountain

Yesterday we climbed Dog Mountain. I know now why it's called Dog Mountain: after we climbed it we were dog tired. I wasn't as tired...

Kidnapped!

I can't stop smiling. I've been kidnapped and am being held hostage at the unbelievably gorgeous Skamania Lodge in southern Washing...

Golden Boy

I promise this will be one of the rare times I show off about my husband on this blog. For those of you who already know him, you will not b...

Gaping

Saturday morning, 4th of July. I was entering the farmer's market with my double stroller, passing the barriers that closed the street t...

Big Foot

Just now, as I cut the tags off some new flip flops, it occurred to me how nice it is to live in a country that carries my shoe size. (I wea...

The Ups and Downs of Story Arcs

If you're a writer, did you miss this on story arcs at the Blood Red Pencil, one of my favorite writing blogs? I'm excited to use t...

Prompted

Over at Agent Kate Schafer Testerman's blog, there's a contest going on. And you all know how much I like writing contests. Click he...

Short Fiction: Deceived

I didn't expect to actually go swimming when Mrs. Boosalis called me on the telephone and said, "Taylor, darling. Come to my house....

Alphabet Books

I'm catching up on reading the posts in my google reader. This one by Editorial Anonymous cracked me up. If you're a children's...