Hi there! I see my stories in my head while I write. (Do you? But I do not see faces, go figure.) It only goes to reason that my novels would be inspired by images, right? Actually, The Last Bathing Beauty is the first of my four books to be inspired by a photograph and an article. I'd learned about South Haven and started digging around. I not only found out about the Historical Society of … [Read more...] about The Story Behind the Story #3
Going Green on WFW
My mother did one of those DNA tests and we found out she's like one smidgen Irish -- which makes me a half-smidgen Irish, which is enough to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, right? It also reminds me that maybe a long time ago my relatives weren't all eating matzah ball soup, and that kind of opens the window in my fiction brain. But I digress. I'm here because my schedule has eased a bit for a … [Read more...] about Going Green on WFW
The Story Behind The Story – Part 2
The Last Bathing Beauty is the first novel I've written with two timelines. I wrote each timeline separately, and then I wove the storylines together. I was unable to jump from from 1951 to the present to write the book the way it would ultimately be read. I needed to immerse myself in each time period and POV character completely. I wrote Betty's 1951 timeline first, and thanks a 1951 Skylark … [Read more...] about The Story Behind The Story – Part 2
The Story Behind The Story – Part 1
Guess what? I sent The Last Bathing Beauty off to my agent so she could have a final look-see before my April 1 deadline with my publisher. (yes, THIS April 1!!) After wrapping up Boop's history with South Haven, I started digging into my own. I had lived in the suburbs of Chicago for a total of 15 years when I discovered Southwest Michigan, thanks to my friend, author Lori Nelson Spielman. … [Read more...] about The Story Behind The Story – Part 1