Welcome to Pairings

On This Day 90 Years Ago, the Biggest, Baddest, Blackest Dust Storm of Them All Struck the Texas Panhandle — and set the stage for the opening of my historical novel, Unspoken (A Dust Novel) ... on Black Sunday: April 14, 1935.

Nearly a century ago, the unthinkable happened: The U.S. was five years into the biggest ecological disaster we'd ever known.

These authors found inspiration in the hidden histories of accomplished women, whose achievements went untold.

UNSPOKEN shines a light on women driven apart by disaster who persevere, with themes of estrangement and upheaval that still resonate today.

When First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt met a Texas dust storm in 1939, her encounter gave me an idea for my historical novel, Unspoken

For Women's History Month, we're reading the stories of women once marginalized or totally overlooked in historical fiction

All it took in 1885 to build Houston a city library was a book club, begun by women with a desire for "intellectual culture."

There's a Magic to Celebrating Milestones...and It Begins With Champagne (and Books About It)

Just like everyone else, we face choices. But the choices authors face aren't exactly like the ones you're imagining.

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.

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?

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

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