Looking for PARADISE? Well, it's finally here and available from your favorite independent book store, Amazon, and if it's not on the shelves at your local B&N, they'll order it for you ( Read more... )

Narrative voice. You know it when you hear it. From the first line of a story, narrative voice speaks like a best friend to a reader and says "Come with me on this journey. You know me. You can trust me, or maybe you can't but you're too seduced to let go ( Read more... )

Happy Valentine's Day ( Read more... )

The ARCs for my next novel PARADISE (JULY 2011) have arrived! Double SQEEEEEE!!! Truly, I'm still so thrilled with having one novel published that I have to keep pinching myself that this whole author thing is real. And so is Book 2 ( Read more... )

One of the traditions I love about baseball is the player's selection of a walk-up song -- the song that blares throughout the park as a he walks to the plate with nothing on his mind but a home run. Much goes into picking the perfect walk-up song. It must be reflective of the personality of the player and at the same time stir a fire, inspire ( Read more... )

I'm looking forward to driving to my old college stomping grounds this week -- Waco, Texas. I'll be presenting to the Central Texas area librarians and giving away the very first ARC of my next novel PARADISE. And it is smokin' hot. I may have to roll the car windows down. Check out all the Library Jubilee Conference info here: Read more... )

Tomorrow marks the end of my dad's cancer treatment. He has been radiated, chemo-ed, and cut on. Pops has, in great Hemingway style, endured. And he has held up when the rest of us broke down ( Read more... )

I'm kicking off Banned Books Week this Saturday, September 25, at the East Texas Book Festival. If you're in the area, drop on by. At 11:30, Heather Hepler (author of THE CUPCAKE QUEEN) and I will be presenting; Barnes & Noble will be selling books, and we'll be signing from 10-3. Check out the full schedule and other authors here: Read more... )

THE SWEETHEART OF PROSPER COUNTY hits stores today in paperback -- one year almost to the day of her hardback debut. She's all gussied up with a glossy -- and I do mean GLOSSY -- new cover, and bonus materials including a fun interview with me and an excerpt from my next novel, PARADISE ( Read more... )

Lawsy! Lawsy! We are less than one week away from the official release of THE SWEETHEART OF PROSPER COUNTY in paperback. I'm still gushing over the new cover. I smile every time I see Austin rockin' the straw hat. LOVE IT ( Read more... )