I’m so excited to share my new cover and title with you! It blows me away! :-)

Here’s a secret: We’re all afraid. Every person who succeeds at something has had to confront fear at some point to get to where they are. The trick is to start anyway.

Humans are made of stories. And, no matter the "world" that a story may be set in, at the heart of every good story is a character who is overcoming difficult situations that must be relatable to the reader in some way, or the story would not resonate with us. In this post, I talk about some ways that fantasy and other genres of fiction have benefited me, and why I think everyone should read or watch it.

I’ve always had a semi-structured writing style, but recently discovered that I’d been running my business like a writing pantser. (As in, “flying-by-the-seat-of-your-pants.”) But times, they are a-changing. How a little “plotsing” will (hopefully) make a big difference.

Being an author, I have discovered, is nothing like anyone ever expects it to be. And today, I made a decision to go down a road in my career that surprised even me.

Whenever we have guests over for a cookout, they always ask me for my ketchup recipe. Here it is—5 ingredients, 5 minutes, and no fuss is all it takes.

My 7 “No-Duh” tips for creating a happy, healthy relationship with your partner.

There is an old joke that goes, "How do you eat an elephant?"

"I don't know, how do you?"

"One bite at a time."

The not-so-hidden truth in here can be applied to so many things—projects, goals, ginormous meals. But today, I'm going to talk about how I have found this true when tackling emotional hardship.*

*No elephants were harmed in the making of this blog post.

Photo recap of a whirlwind weekend road trip to Seattle, Washington, with a ton of natural beauty along the way.

Some days, writing fiction for a living feels like walking through sludge in a mudstorm. I'm going to be honest—I spend a little bit of every day wondering if I'm actually going to be able to pull this off. But no risk, no reward. Right?

For some people, the Christmas season is their most difficult grieving season of the year.

Not me. With the passing of Noah's birthday on February 26, I have been descending pell-mell down the slope of anniversaries that bring up bittersweet memories of Levi.

Apparently, getting puppies is how I deal.

On Sunday afternoon, I had the privilege of being interviewed on Facebook by author Joy Norstrom, one of the authors with whom I am co-hosting the Inspiring Women event at Audreys Books in Edmonton on Thursday. (The other is P.D. Workman.) For posterity's sake, and in case you missed it, I am copying the interview here.

I work alone, people. And usually, I love it. But on days like today, when all I wanna do is drink tea and read books, this is what conversations around my office sound like...

Obligatory blog update. Mostly about writing. But also with a motivational Facebook Live video and guest post mention, in case you missed it. ;-)