While I’m putting the finishing touches on my next series, I’m still celebrating the completion of my debut series: The Sinclair Sisters of Cripple Creek. Are you a Sinclair Sisters fan? While each of the sisters and their supporting characters sank deep into my heart, I have a favorite or two. I’m curious. What about you? Do you have a favorite …
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Research, Cookbooks, and Christmas Plum Pudding
Research can be many things: Fascinating, engaging, time-consuming, surprising, delightful. Even yummy. If you’ve been reading The Sinclair Sisters of Cripple Creek novels, you know Miss Hattie attends First Congregational Church in Cripple Creek, Colorado. In Two Brides Too Many, the Sinclair sisters began attending the church. By the end of Too Rich for a Bride, Ida’s husband Tucker Raines …
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Endorsements for Sinclair Sisters Novels
The folks who write the enticing blurbs about a story for a book cover or a front page receive ARC’s (Advance Reader Copies) from a publisher to read ahead of a book’s release. What a blessing it was to have so many well-respected authors read The Sinclair Sisters of Cripple Creek Series and offer endorsements! Gargantuan Thank You’s to each one of the …
History Matters: Remembering Western Author Stephen Bly
Bob and I live at the base of Mingus Mountain, home to the historic copper mining camp known as Jerome, Arizona. About sixteen years ago, my fellow writers and our friends, Stephen and Janet Bly, along with their son Aaron, came for a visit. Actually, our house served as home base during their research trip for Stephen and Janet’s contemporary …
The Intersection of Reality and Character Experience
Many of my closest friends are liars. Those friends may prefer the title storyteller extraordinaire. Tale-weavers. And whether the literary yarn they spin is set in an actual place or based upon real life events and historical characters, like me, they are authors of fiction. As novelists, we have chosen to write fiction, not fact. But even so, is the …
Guest: Kelly Howard, Cover Artist for The Bride Wore Blue and Twice a Bride
You’ve been raving about the covers for The Bride Wore Blue and Twice a Bride, and rightly so. Do I have a fun surprise for you! Today’s guest isn’t an author. But as a Senior Designer at WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group, Kelly Howard is a key member of my publishing team. MONA: Kelly, thanks so much for joining us on Hindsight …
Got Laughter? A Twice a Bride Devotional
A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones. Proverbs 17:22 KJV “Hattie covered her mouth, but the giggle escaped anyway. Boney Hughes lay under her kitchen sink, his upper body concealed by the cupboard. His legs sprawled over her linoleum flooring. Boney scooted out from under the sink and peered up at her. …
Sinclair Sisters of Cripple Creek RECIPES
I read fiction for a variety of reasons: compelling characters, fascinating settings, appealing hypotheses, historical information, a sense of community, spiritual nourishment, encouragement, distraction, insight, entertainment. Oh, yes, and the food. My favorite stories often feature teatime or mealtime conversations. It’s no wonder then that my Sinclair Sisters of Cripple Creek novels include dialogue centered around a supper table or a tray of goodies in a …
Undergarments for the 19th Century Lady
Luxurious fabrics. Stylish necklines and skirts with elegant swish and sway. The extravagant, Victorian ball gowns of the 1800’s. Ever wonder how those Victorian ladies achieved their extraordinary silhouettes? Layers upon layers of uncomfortable undergarments. Bestselling historical romance author Deeanne Gist commissioned professional seamstress Kelly Cochran to make Deeanne a ball gown she could wear to author events. Kelly provided Dee with an informational …