Thrill of the Games

I missed my true life's calling. I've never watched short track speed skating before this winter Olympic games. But immediately upon...

Waving

When my two big kids got out of the minivan to cross the road to school, I called, "Don't forget to wave at me when you cross the s...

WIP Wednesday: Focus!

I'm having a tough time focusing this week, and I think I've finally figured out why. I have three projects going at once, and I...

A Story A Week: Little Gecko

I did write a story this week. I promise. It's about a gecko on a window ledge. A child sees it and wonders where the gecko will go when...

Literary Fiction Queries

Agent Kate Testerman (a.k.a. Daphne Unfeasible) answered my question about literary fiction queries on her blog yesterday. Click here to re...

Sign Wars

Olivia had a rough day last week. I found this posted on her bedroom door: Anna's response to the insult, posted on her own bedroom doo...

WIP Wednesday: Um, It's Research?

I've been rewriting my V-Day query so the book doesn't sound so much like a thriller. It's not a thriller. It's a contempor...

A Story A Week: Daughter

This week's story is dedicated to Olivia, though I won't be able to let her read it for many years yet. The red van smelled like ga...

The Sugar Doll

Thank you Krista V. (the former Krista G.) at Mother. Write. (Repeat.) for giving me this cute award. I feel so honored! In order to accept...

Contest Winner!

Dum da da dum! Announcing the winner of the First Annual Green Bathtub Valentine's Day Contest ! A huge thank you to the six participant...

Friday Free for All

This honestly made me snort hot chocolate up my nose. Happy Friday, everyone. And thank goodness for the long weekend! I'm so tired. Th...

Multitasking Preschooler

You remember how it goes. You're three years old. You're playing dress up in a swimsuit and a tu-tu, when suddenly you decide, ...

WIP Wednesday: Quail -- Not Queries

There's a lot cooking over at Miss Snark's First Victim this morning. The February Secret Agent contest is in full swing. Click here...

A Story A Week: Stranger

This week's story is a piece of flash fiction -- less than 500 words -- and is based on a nightmare I had the other night. I couldn...

Valentine's Day Contest!

The book I'm querying right now is set on Valentine's Day, so it's fitting that I should say thank you to my readers with a Vale...

Another Reason To Eat

I love how Americans find excuses to eat. On Thanksgiving, we eat. During the entire Christmas season, we eat. There's also Valentine...

Celebrity Children

Anna and Sophie got their two seconds in the spotlight last night. They actually made it onto our local news after dancing out on the court ...

I've Been Gone Too Long

Yesterday morning I heard a persistent, high-pitched beeping. "Is an alarm going off?" I walked around the house, but the sound di...

Need to Laugh?

Maybe you've already seen this, but it's always worth a re-watch.

Oh, How I Love Contests!

You probably know how much I love contests. This week I entered three! And they're still going on, so you can enter too. Agent Kathleen ...

WIP Wednesday: Too Busy Crying

Seriously. I'm not going to blog much tonight. I'm too busy crying, writing one of the last scenes in my new novel where I have to k...

Twins Update

The twins, Rosa and Linda, bloomed this morning. Since then they've been helping out around the house. I don't know how I ever lived...

A Story A Week: Falling, But Not For You

For this week's story , I'm using the same first line I did last week, but this time I'm working on weaving backstory into the a...

We're Expecting Twins!

...Twin blossoms, that is. For those of you who are not plant people (I know I'm not) this is an amaryllis. We named her Rosalinda. Ro...