Sometimes the most productive days don’t end with a higher word count. When most people imagine an author at work, they picture someone sitting at a desk, typing away until another chapter is finished. Sometimes that’s exactly what it looks like. But more often than not, writing begins long before the first sentence ever appears…
Sometimes people ask where a story begins. Was it a character? A single line? A plot twist? For me… more often than not it’s a song. The more I think about it, the more that makes perfect sense. Long before I became an author, I was a theater girl. I grew up loving Broadway soundtracks,…
Music has always been part of my writing process. Sometimes a song helps me find a character. Sometimes it helps me understand a scene. And sometimes it’s simply background noise while I stare at a blinking cursor and try to convince my characters to cooperate. Lately my playlists have been a mixture of old favorites…
A coffee shop, a notebook, and a few new story worlds. I have a list. Not a serious list. Not a productivity list. A coffee shop list. Whenever I hear about a cozy café, a local coffee shop, or a place that looks like it belongs inside a story, I add it to the…
For a while, the Atrium sat quiet. The lights were still on. The books were still on the shelves. The stories were still waiting where I’d left them. But after a season of burnout, I found myself spending less time in the spaces that once felt like home. I wasn’t writing as much. I wasn’t…
February didn’t begin the way I planned. I started the year sick. Off rhythm. Behind on things I thought I should already have done. And for a little while, that old pressure crept in, you know that one that says, You’re already late. But here’s what February actually became: A month of listening. A month…
A Personal Reflection on Growth, Chaos, and Choosing Hope 2025 was… a year. A beautiful one, a difficult one, and one that pushed me in ways I didn’t expect. I wrote through grief, celebrated milestones, launched new books, juggled motherhood and homeschooling, and built deeper connections with this incredible community. Here are a few highlights…
Holiday stories are supposed to be warm and bright… but I’m me, so there’s always a little danger, a little emotional wreckage, and a loyal animal somewhere nearby. Readers have asked how I balance tension with tenderness, especially in stories like When Hope Began or next year’s Waldon Springs Christmas novella. So here’s a peek at my…