Welcome to Pairings

Quitter's Day has come and gone, and with it, 80% of our 2025 New Year Resolutions. It's not too late for this smoother means to success.

When Mark Twain advised to write tight, he surely hadn't been enchanted by the Buzz Words of 2014. Read on for my Fable of Our Times.

How does inspiration strike? For these authors, it's the random events in everyday life that sparked ideas for their novels.

My historical novel is coming in 2025. UNSPOKEN shines a light on women driven apart by disaster who persevere. It's perfect for book clubs

Here’s why Scrivener can easily become your go-to tool for organizing your research and writing and pictures.

It’s ironic many extra words writers have to cut once they hit the magic length historical novels are: 100,000 - 120,000. Cue the angst.

When you’re researching historical fiction, it would be so much easier to rev up the Time Machine. Here's how I did without time travel.

Whether you’re a Scrivener power user or a beginner, here are a few things Scrivener can do that you probably can’t do without.

Read my review of DAMAGED by Cam Torrens, which delivers the fast-paced, all too real-life suspense prequel Tyler Zahn fans await.

Henry Miller's own Eleven Commandments of Writing helped him maintain his focus on work in progress. Can they help with yours, too?

The panorama feature on the iPhone is Apple’s way of saying, “Go out and have fun with your phone" and use your pano wherever.

Here's how four words — Create First, React Later — can help to keep you on the writing track.

To handle photos of flowers with care, follow these steps.

The popularity of historical fiction with book clubs has soared. Read why in my conversation with historical author Janis Robinson Daly

How to amp up your photos: Think in threes when you lift your camera to your eye, squint and shoot.

Do rainy days always get you down, or are they the best days for creativity?

Let's say you're not from Texas. (Cue Lyle Lovett) But you got here quick as you could. Now you want to learn how to be a Texan. Here's how.

Perhaps only a lifetime environmental advocate could write a passionate 20th-century historical novel, packed with Hanford's nuclear...

Today is National Voter Registration Day . Think about the benefits of being registered to vote…there are many! But here are my Top Five...

Reading (and writing) historical fiction is generally my jam. But there are lots of other novels that nudge me outside of my comfort zone.