New Season, New Novel

Hello, The Song of the Desert Willow

The Song of the Desert Willow is a Christian romance set in modern day El Paso. Clara Malone is a college graduate who’s in Texas to deliver her grandmother’s last love letter. Andrew Lee James is a young Army captain whose first shot at love and marriage imploded on the steps of a West Point chapel on graduation week.

When the retired Brazilian general Clara is waiting for is delayed in Germany with a weak heart, Andrew is put in charge of Clara’s well being. Andrew really wants to tell the girl who broke his heart at the Academy to cancel her upcoming trip to El Paso. If Clara would accept his advances, he could do it. But three generations of women in her family were ruined by Army men. The trend stopped with her. She did not date soldiers—not anymore.

Despite her reservations, Clara begins to cherish her time with Andrew, discovering that a month at Fort Bliss might be just what she needs to understand her family’s past and plan her personal future. But as she starts falling in love, the past refuses to stay in the past and puts her personal future in jeopardy.

I'm writing The Song in a month. Yes, I’m going from scary blinking line on a blank Word document to a 50,000-word complete first draft in the 31 days of March. This novel-in-a-month project has been way more fun then I’d expected. I will tell you why it’s fun.

It decimates the fear factor. It’s much easier to hand it to God when you are not too busy with stinking thinking.

A preacher during our church’s missions conference made it sound prettier. He said it’s hard to steer a car when it’s stopped. It’s easier when it’s in motion, and it’s even easier when it’s got a good momentum. It’s easier for God to steer the Christian when he’s in motion in ministry.

Novel-in-a-month is all momentum. Of course, just like in the Christian walk, it’s also preparation. I wouldn’t recommend starting without a 3-act structure and an inner journey for your key people. But don’t worry. It doesn’t take away the thrill of discovering the story and the characters during the writing. That was a concern I had, and 30,500 words into it, it’s a concern no more.

I want to finish editing The Song of the Desert Willow by September for the American Christian Fiction Writers conference. While there, I will take a class they are offering on sequels. National Write Your Novel in Month (NaNoWriMo) is in November. I’m going to do it. God willing, I will write the sequel to The Song of the Desert Willow in November.

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The latest from the publication front

The bad news is that I have no news.

The somewhat good news is that there've been no rejections since two early ones in late October, so A Season to Dance should still be in the to-read pile of five major publishers.

The awesome news is that Kara Bonnevie Isaac just signed a two-book contract with Howard Books - Simon & Schuster. Her debut romantic comedy, Then There Was You, will be released in early 2016. The awesome Chip MacGregor, one of the best agents in America, signed her two years ago, and they are just now seeing her publication dreams come true. I'm thrilled for her achievemnet and feel way less tense about waiting on the Lord.

I'm so thankful for having an agent. I don't want to ever get over that. The more I read about the life and achievements of Les Stobbe, the more I'm humbled by his wanting to represent me.

Thank you, Lord.

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I've always known that The Song of the Desert Willow would require both the leading man's and the leading lady's point of view. I thought I could wing a 3rd person POV by watching what some of my favorite authors were doing.

I know, right? What was I thinking? It got really confusing really fast. So I used the American Christian Fiction Writers romance loop to ask for advice. I got some great input from some great ladies. Angela Couch said I had to research deep POV before moving on, and I found Jill's writing on Seekerville. Rivet Your Readers with Deep Point of View is a must for any writer. How did I ever live without it? That good. And only 61 pages long. Recommend, recommend, recommend. 

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A dish from The Song of the Desert Willow

The boy can cook

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Rüdesheim am Rhein


Because I still love Ana and Peter and Claus


Can't wait to see A Season to Dance published one day. Bringing my first made-up people center stage again will rock my world. I miss them. I miss their lives, their places, their stories. Sometimes I hear authors say we have to craft a story like this or like that because we don't want the reader to be reminded that the people and the events are fiction. Oh, but to me they aren't fiction. They are as real as me and you.

Authors also joke saying writing fiction makes them liars. They lie for a living, they say. Cute. But I don't think we lie, not at all. Instead, I agree with Brazilian poet Mário Quintana. He says: A lie is a truth that forgot to happen. Amen.

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To ballroom dance classes

we go...

There is some ballroom dancing in the new novel, so my husband and I are starting ballroom dance lessons on this first day of Spring. We had an assessment mini lesson last week, and today we have our first waltz lesson followed by a Big Band event. 

All in the name of research. What can I say? It's a tough job...

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