What do you notice or think about when you begin to see all the Back to School pictures populate your feed? This year something a little different struck me... 1) the need for Rest and 2) the importance of Friends in seasons of transition.

A fixture of my classroom culture is the provision of coffee, cocoa, cider, and tea for my students. Students let down their guard a little with a cup of something warm in their hands, or they get a pick me up after a long night of studying. Either way, I get a chance to pour into them literally, as well as figuratively.

I experienced one of the most emotional Julys of my life and certainly the most emotional writing conference to date. . . This year was my third year attending Realm Makers, second in person, and while I'm the furthest along in my writer’s journey than I've ever been, I also felt the most vulnerable and unprepared.

I drink coffee because I am NOT a morning person. (And many of you share my sentiments!). But I chose a profession where I have to get up and be ready to pour into others at an hour both my body and heart deem ungodly…

Have you heard people talk about POV? What about deep POV? If you’re an aspiring fiction writer, then the ins and outs of point of view are crucial to know.

Anyone else find themselves in the “hard” or “messy middle”? This is the term I and other writers use for the frustrating middle of the first draft of a novel that often becomes quite the slog to get through. It’s also the perfect metaphor for this season of my life.

As an academic, I have been trained to hyper fixate on the rules and the formality of my writing. However, in fiction writing the rules go out the window. (Not completely, of course! Fiction writing, in fact, has its own rules.)

As an academic, I have been trained to hyper fixate on the rules and the formality of my writing. However, in fiction writing the rules go out the window. (Not completely, of course! Fiction writing, in fact, has its own rules.)

What’s your word for the new year? What is your intention? What are your goals?

Questions such as these become extremely popular this time of year as we wrap up one calendar year and head into a new one. It’s true. I am one of THOSE people who enjoys picking a word and using it as a mantra of sorts to filter and focus the new year. This past year I selected the word “Faithfulness,” as I felt an intense need to dig in deep in the areas of my life I felt God was calling me to persevere and be faithful in.

How does a high school English teacher, cheer coach, and working mom of three pull off NaNoWriMo?

She doesn’t.

Or at least not the “normal” way.

For those who don’t know, November is known as National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, for us writerly types.

On the one hand, it’s just a hallway, but as I look down this hall, I see doors to so many classrooms where discussions will blossom, thoughts and ideas will take shape, labs will be conducted, and problems will be solved. More than that, these rooms and these halls will be a place where friendships are formed, life foundations are laid, and young men and women will rise…

Imagine a place where introvert readers and writers suddenly blossom, not only in their craft, but also in their writerly friendships, and even willingly deck themselves out as fairies, knights, monsters, steam punk characters, and more.

This place exists as Realm Makers Writers Conference, and this year I attended this conference for the first time in person.

I DID IT!

I finally got the chance to write those special two little words at the end of a document:

THE END!

While things have been exponentially harder, the perseverance and resilience I see in you, my students, makes me confront my own. If you can persevere, so can I. And YOU are worth sticking around for!

Reflections on a Writer’s Retreat…

Imposter syndrome can be an artist’s worst enemy. Do I really know what I am doing? Do I really have anything to say? I shouldn’t be doing this because I am not expert enough... The questioning of ourselves can be unending.

Here are Books 7-12 of my “Twelve Books of Christmas” list. When it comes to romance, there’s nothing like the magic of the Christmas season, and I think you’ll find the perfect book to cuddle up with from this list of festive historical and contemporary romance novels.

I am so excited to share twelve books with you this Christmas. Each of these I have read and are by authors I particularly enjoy. Whether a short story, novella or a full-length novel, these stories all deal with the heart and joy of Christmas in their own way.