For as long as I can remember, my father has been totally floored by how cute babies and toddlers are. His remark upon seeing a child behaving adorably was always the same: “God love him!” But the way he said it was accented with a laugh and such emphasis that it sounded more like “Gyod love ‘im!”  I have become my father. I mean, in this respect, I am now predictable. My own kids—young adults at this point—get a kick out of how passionately I react to little kids. Maybe it’s a grandparent gene that lies dormant until a …

Pixar’s Anglepoise Lamp. Public Domain Have you read the Pixar Story Rules (one version) yet? Rule #3 resonates with me. “Trying for theme is important, but you won’t see what the story is actually about til you’re at the end of it. Now rewrite.” This is so true. A lot of writers start with theme, and in Christian fiction that theme probably includes a scripture. Theme and scripture can keep a writer on track while getting the story on paper. There’s nothing wrong with doing things this way if it works for you. But I’ve discovered that most of the …

Lynne Gentry shares her favorite thing: Being there to celebrate every milestone in my children’s lives. NoF matter how many books I publish, I consider raising two good kids as my greatest accomplishment. I love being a mom and I’m discovering that the job doesn’t end after they leave home. Providing that stable, safe place that they can always come home to is one of my greatest joys. Lynne’s website:  http://www.lynnegentry.com/ Lynne’s latest release: Reinventing Leona  

Some authors browse the web or magazines to gather images of the characters for their novels. Pictures of movies stars like Matthew McConaughey or Gerard Butler  cover their storyboard and help them to describe their hero or perhaps a villain. Me? I search for images of beautiful and adventurous landscapes.The below images are what I had in mind as I wrote each of the four novellas for Oregon Outback, though perhaps they stayed in the background or the distance. I don’t want to give too much away. Each of my four novellas is set in a different part of Oregon’s …

 Seek the Lord while he may be found;   call on him while he is near. Isaiah 55:6 Wedding bands from the public domain Twenty-three years ago my husband asked me to marry him and slipped a beautiful and unique gold band featuring diamonds and emerald cut topaz on my finger. I’ve never seen another ring like it. Over the years, the ring would often draw attention because it wasn’t the usual fair of wedding rings.  In that way, I’ve always believed my ring was a perfect representation of my marriage—exceptional and special—especially  in light of our current culture. Next week …

Today I’m blogging at Christians Read about How Books Change Us. Join me over there!

Over the Memorial Day weekend I wanted to read a book for pleasure instead of all the other reasons I now read because I’m a writer. My Kindle was a great place to start, considering all the books I’ve downloaded –both free books and those I’ve purchased. I tried several titles hoping for that one that would draw me in. Don’t get me wrong—I’m a fan of giving a book a good hundred pages before I give up. Often those are the books that have the greatest emotional impact in the end. (Authors like Stephen Lawhead and Ken Follett come …

Fort Rock: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Rock, Oregon My latest book, Oregon Outback, releases in July so I plan to do a series of posts that I hope you’ll find interesting, relating to everything from the unique geography to the complex characters and their law enforcement backgrounds. Oregon Outback includes four novellas, all romantic suspense and heavy on both elements. As a reader you might wonder how and why writers choose specific locales for their stories. Why did I choose the south central region of Oregon?  Ayers Rock Australia photo by psmorrison on Flickr I’ve always been fascinated with Australia and would love to …

 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Matthew 7: 13,15 Abert Rim in Oregon (public domain) I started a new walking program and hopefully I can keep it up. The best part is that it gets me off the treadmill and into the outdoors, which I love. But summer is coming on, and I’m in Texas, which means I have to walk in the evening …

  If you’re familiar with my novels you know that I love my romance seasoned with a big dose of adventure and suspense. Setting can be a character in a novel and, in my opinion, is essential to an adventure story. Often writers set all their stories in a specific region they love or at least with which they’re reasonably familiar.While I’m an experienced traveler and have first-hand knowledge of most of my settings, I also love to step away from the familiar in my stories, if possible. As a seventh generation Texan, I love Texas much like Scarlet O’Hara …