I’m thrilled to introduce to you this month’s Inspirational Western Woman. She’s my friend and 2024 Women Writing the West President. She’s one of the sweetest, caring, kindest gals you’ll ever meet and talented as a singer and musician too. Let’s meet Gayle Gresham! The West has captivated me since I was a child. My…
I am so excited to share this month’s Inspirational Western Woman and her lifelong love of reading and writing. She is my writing craft partner. We read each other’s work, encourage one another, and help promote the other’s book upon launch day. She is one of the most kind, courteous, smart, and talented women I’ve…
Welcome back! Incredible Western Women Series For those of you just joining us, here’s a little background… Born in the small town of Colville, WA, I was raised in the Spokane suburbs and moved to rural America with my husband a little over three decades ago. Country life is an amazing place to raise our…
Welcome back! Incredible Western Women Series For those of you just joining us, here’s a little background… Born in the small town of Colville, WA, I was raised in the Spokane suburbs and moved to rural America with my husband a little over three decades ago. Country life is an amazing place to raise our…
After writing my first novel (which a publisher has for consideration) in the Seven Tine Series, beginning the second book, and reading back issues of Western Horseman for inspiration, I decided the ranch for my new romantic suspense series needed a philosophy to live by. Especially now that one of the daughters and her…
This pretty much describes me… “The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul.” ~ Dieter F. Uchtdorf In past years, I’ve created some beautiful necklaces, earrings, mocassins, bags, and baby boards for family and friends out of beads and buckskin. Then I discovered writing. When I put pen to…
Children grow up way to fast! The only thing on my fall schedule was writing. After a couple of hectic years, I looked forward to a new book, fresh characters, researching medicine, and adventurous settings. Until one of my grandson’s babysitter found out she had cancer. Even though doctors had caught it early, thank goodness,…
All fictitious stories, short or long, have five elements in common. Without one of these five foundations, your story will fall flat, like a house built on sand. It’s important to know and use these so your story will make the reader satisfied, wanting to read more. ~ Character ~Setting ~Conflict ~Plot ~Solution When writing…
Tucson, where cactus grows, cowboys live, and Diamondbacks are revered. You pack sunscreen and sandals. But it’s a blizzard outside your window. Rain. Snow. Howling wind. Plummeting temperatures. Do you pack your parka or a light sweater? Cool mornings and evenings. Hot days. When you return home it’s back to frigid temperatures. How do you…
I just hit the send button for a national short fiction contest. Whew. Re-writers are complete. I decided to take the last two chapters of an unpublished novel and see if I could rework it for this short fiction contest. With changes, it worked. Here is what I had to cut and edit to make this piece…
It was six weeks when I heard back from a publisher about my latest work-in-progress. Waiting to hear back from a publisher tests not only one’s patience but self-esteem, too. While waiting and soaking in my lesson in patience, biting my fingernails, I was hunkered down under my fair tent as rain tumbled down during…
I used to hate editing. Now I love it! Due to Jerry Jenkins and his ferocious editing techniques (I am currently a founding member in the Jerry Jenkins Writer’s Guild), Self-editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King, Revision and Self-Editing or Publication by James Scott Bell, and Doctor Dennis Hensley I have…
Have you ever thought your book, essay or short story was complete, just the way it should be? I have. Until an expert laid her eyes on it. My current young adult novel places my female character, a young Okanogan Native American jockey, on the ledge of the World Famous Suicide Race hill in Omak,…
A mixture of relief, anxiety and sadness flooded me as I sat in my superintendence’s office last week. With tears running down my cheeks, I simply said, “I’m done. Because of health issues and my need to be with my husband (He works in a town two hours away and stays there during the week.)…
From the onset of my work-in-progress, I have wanted to find a teen artist to portray my protagonist’s art project in the book I’m currently writing. The art project weaves history and the old ways into modern culture and attitudes. He or she needed to be Native American and preferably of the Colville Tribes….
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