News and Events
Grateful for the Support of Patient Writers
As my debut novel launches, I'm excited but also immensely grateful to the writers who nurtured my journey from personal historian, nonfiction author, and newspaper columnist to fiction writer.
For more than five years, I've attended two writers' critique groups. The Inklings, which has gathered nearly every week for a quarter of a century, welcomed me into their group that meets in Centralia, Washington.
And when I discovered that one of my favorite authors, Melanie Dobson, had an opening in her critique group, I begged her to sign me up. It didn't matter that I drove nearly two hundred miles roundtrip once a month to the meetings. What I learned was so worthwhile!
My debut novel never would have materialized with the patient guidance of my critique group partners—Melanie Dobson, Nicole Miller, Dawn Shipman, Tracie Heskett, and Jana Kaye in one group and Kyle Pratt, Barbara Tifft Blakey, Carolyn Bickel, Debby Lee, Heather Alexander, Kristie Kandoll, and Joyce Scott in the Inklings.
I've also discovered the incredible importance of beta readers who review an early copy of the novel and offer feedback and point out inconsistencies. I was blessed to have Barbara, Heather,
Joyce, and Jana as better readers along with Robin Montgomery, Debby Lee, Sandra Crowell, and Nora Zander.
Of course, my husband reads everything I write—newspaper columns, personal histories, nonfiction books, and this novel—at an affordable spousal fee (free).
It's a blessing to launch The Reluctant Pioneer into the world this month. I'm honored to share the story of a remarkable historical figure, Matilda Koontz, whose courage, stamina, and faith shine as an example for all.
To order your copy of The Reluctant Pioneer, click here.
I am president of the Southwest Washington Writers Conference, which takes place in 2024 on Sept. 6 and 7 at Centralia College in Centralia, Washington.
This year our Saturday keynote speaker on Sept. 7 is Garth Stein, the internationally bestselling author of The Art of Racing in the Rain, which has sold more than 6 million copies worldwide and been translated into 38 languages. It spent more than three years on the New York Times bestseller list.
Our master class on Friday, Sept. 6, will be taught by Olivia Hawker, a Washington Post bestselling author of historical fiction. Her novel One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award and the Willa Award. Her other books are The Ragged Edge of Night, The Fire and the Ore, The Rise of Light, and October in the Earth.