Lost Cause – Music FROM the Chalam Chronicles
Well, folks, the time has come. For years I have teased about music I've been working on. If you've been following closely, you know that I have something a little different in store for you: namely music from my books. That's right. Music. As in a soundtrack. A score. Like a movie. Being an author who is also a musician (or maybe a musician who writes novels, I can't decide), it was probably inevitable that I would write these scenes and characters and moments with a bed of music in mind. And yes, that's what I did. So I decided
Music that Inspired The Song in the Shadows
If you've followed me for any amount of time, you know that music plays an important role in my writing process. Even when my fingers aren't on the keyboard, I'm listening to songs that remind me of moments in my books, characters, story arcs, and even emotions I experience writing certain scenes. Listening to these songs helped me to develop the story in my mind long before it ever hits the page. The Song in the Shadows was no exception to this process. So many of the songs on this playlist have become some of my all-time favorite songs,
The Birth of the Chalam Chronicles
One thing I get asked a lot is, "Where did you get the idea for your books?" I think somewhere back in the annals of history (read: one of the past acknowledgments) I mentioned that these books started in my brain when I was a kid. That is absolutely true. I remember lying in the clover patch in my backyard next to my dog, looking up at the sky and imagining a fantastical world beyond ours. I wondered if I could ever visit it; I wondered if it would have the same redemption story as ours. Over the years, that
The Music that Inspired The Stag at Hand
As many of you know, I always make a playlist for the book I'm writing. It's a way of inspiring me to write certain scenes, to get me in the mode, and to connect more deeply with each character and their respective journeys. As a musician, I suppose it was inevitable that music would play an integral role in my writing. So today, I wanted to share with you the playlist I listened to ad nauseam during the writing of The Stag at Hand. Each song has particular meaning for moments in the book, or characters themselves. But I
Why Book 6 is the Most Difficult Book I’ve Ever Written
I think some of you are going to be a bit taken aback by this next book. There are reasons for that, namely that the content is a lot darker, the subject matter is a lot heavier, and the imagery is a bit bleaker. No, I'm not going through an existential crisis that I projected onto these pages. The truth is, I pushed myself to write something more honest than I've ever written. I took off some of the dampers I had self-inflicted and allowed myself to explore some of the darkest themes I have personally faced. Abuse. Neglect. Fear.
The Music That Inspired The Chalam Færytales
I listen to music when I write. It helps set the mood for certain scenes, helps me to get my mind and soul into the moments I'm creating. It's my own version of method acting, I suppose. I have a playlist for each book from the series* which you can find on Apple Music. Some of the songs that particularly inspired these books are below. If you don't know of them, you need to. They are epic and breathtaking and a story unto themselves. Inspiration There are many songs that inspired me while writing these books, but these are a
In Egregious Lapse in Judgment, Christian Author Includes Sex in Her Novels
Dear Mom, if you're reading this, I'm sorry. Sex has never been a comfortable topic for me. Partly because of my upbringing, and partly because of my faith, sex has been, for the majority of my life, somewhat of a taboo. Even after marriage, there were aspects of my sexuality that I could not bring myself to terms with (because God forbid a woman should not only enjoy it but... you know... want it). But here I am, writing this, knowing that people I know will read it. Knowing my MOM will read it (good lord in heaven). Maybe even
The Story I Almost Didn’t Tell
Dear Christian, I'm sorry my books offended you. I almost didn't release these books. That's right. When I started writing The Promised One, it was for fun. A labor of love. But I had no intention of releasing it. No, not because I didn't think it was good enough, or because I was suffering from imposter syndrome. I almost didn't release this book because I knew I was going to take the series in a direction that most of my Christian community would not understand. You see, if you've read my books, you know two things: they're blatantly spiritual, and