Newsletters
Dear Reader Letter – December 2015
Dear Reader, Christmas is just around the corner and my house is bursting with holiday cheer! With several dinner parties coming up in December, the table is set and ready for my first group of eight dinner guests. Book News SHAMELESS, the sequel to SINFUL, will be...
Dear Reader Letter – November 2015
Dear Reader, It's hard to believe that snow has appeared in my mountain view. With Thanksgiving here, it's time to set the dinner table and go through my holiday recipes including my all-time favorite, delicious mashed potatoes that you can make a day ahead: Peel 8...
Dear Reader Letter – October 2015
Dear Reader, Happy Halloween! I couldn't resist black-and-orange table decorations for my next dinner party, complete with spider web napkin rings and a pumpkin centerpiece. I usually have some way to indicate who sits where at my table. I've asked each of my guests...
Dear Reader Letter – September 2015
Dear Reader, It’s hard to believe another year’s gone by and I’m already celebrating my birthday again! It’s been a great year filled with dinner parties, interesting travel, and new book releases. I feel so fortunate to be able to do what I love and really appreciate...
Dear Reader Letter – August 2015
Dear Reader, I had a wonderful weekend with Kristen Hargrave of Orlando, FL, winner of my "Girls Only Dinner Party" and weekend trip to Denver. In addition to hosting six local authors at dinner, including 2015 RWA Golden Heart winner Kimberly Buckner, we packed in a...
Dear Reader Letter – July 2015
What makes a "Girls Only" dinner party different from one that includes men? It may not be what you'd expect. For example, the guest list for my next party includes a rocket scientist, a former journalist, a psychotherapist, and a New York Times bestselling author....
Dear Reader Letter – May 2015
Dear Reader, Hooray! SINFUL, my newest Bitter Creek novel, the first in my King's Brats series, is #15 on the New York Times and #12 on the Publisher's Weekly bestseller lists. Thank you so much for your support! To celebrate, I took a short break from writing while...
Dear Reader Letter – April 2015
Dear Reader, I just returned from a research trip to Fredericksburg, Texas, for the "King's Brats" series and took this photo of the beautiful roadside bluebonnets and Indian paintbrush. I returned home just in time for today's release of SINFUL, the first book in the...
Dear Reader – March 2015
Dear Reader, Now that spring has officially arrived, even though there still may be snow on your back porch, who isn't ready to pick some daffodils? This is how Cowboy Cooper, my daughter’s Schnauzer, welcomed spring. You can see he's really happy to shed his winter...
Dear Reader – February 2015
Dear Reader, Happy Valentine's Day! I just finished packing up a box of Valentine goodies to ship to my daughter, son-in-law, and grandkids—more paper hearts and flowers than candy ones. I’m enough of a romantic to have been married on Valentine's Day (a very long...
Dear Reader – December 2014
Dear Reader, Happy holidays! This year I decided to have three dinner parties instead of a single come-and-go party. It’s been great fun decorating my table for each party and then figuring out what meal (lamb shanks, Boston butt pork shoulder, and orange chicken) to...
Dear Reader – November 2014
Dear Reader, Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays, since it's a time for families to come together. As my five sisters and (only one) brother grew up and had kids, and our kids had kids, Thanksgiving dinners often involved as many as fifty people,...