I’m excited to announce the winner of the Out of the Ruins cover reveal giveaway! I received 218 entries and Random.org chose entry 183. Who is #183? I’m glad you asked. It’s Linda Oliver Thompson! Congratulations, Linda! I went ahead and sent you an email. Linda will be choosing either a copy of MISTAKEN or … Read More
Author: Karen Barnett
Cover Reveal and Giveaway: OUT OF THE RUINS
I’m excited to reveal the cover for my upcoming novel, Out of the Ruins, the first book in the Golden Gate Chronicles series. The art department at Abingdon Press did a spectacular job on this artwork. It’s such joy seeing a character I have dreamed about for years come to life on a book cover! Meet … Read More
When God Hands You a Meal Ticket
“God, I can’t do this. I can’t make this story work.” I’d reached that point in the rough draft where everything seems hopeless. The characters feel flat; the plot twisted beyond help. I’d been there with Mistaken. I’d pushed through it with Out of the Ruins (Book 1 of the Golden Gate Chronicles, releasing in … Read More
Tween-Torture
I long ago gave up the idea of being the cool parent that all my kids’ friends would adore. Since I make up stories and talk to invisible people, I’m much better suited to being the “weird mom.” As a writer, I probably spend too much time locked in my house, or hanging out with … Read More
Treasures of Norway Sweepstakes
As a special treat for my blog readers, I want to make sure you are aware of a fantastic contest being offered in celebration of the release of An Untamed Heart by one of my favorite authors–Lauraine Snelling. Make sure to enter soon, the contest ends tomorrow–Thursday, October 24, 2013. In An Untamed Heart, twenty-year-old … Read More
Suffering from Vocab-lag?
It’s funny how certain words remain in our vocabulary even after technology has left them far behind. My 11-year-old daughter was just telling me how she’d seen a meme (and there’s a funny NEW word) on Instagram that joked how kids of today’s generation will never understand the satisfaction of angrily flipping a cell phone … Read More
Friday Book Pick: The Girl’s Guide to Your Dream Room by Sherry Kyle
My eleven-year-old’s room is in a pretty sad state: Beatrix Potter curtains, pale pink walls, scattered piles of forgotten toys, and stacks and stacks of books… It doesn’t match the young woman she’s becoming. After a long day of middle school, ballet practice, and an evening chatting with friends on FaceTime, the last thing she … Read More
My best ideas come to me in the shower. How about you?
Somewhere between the shampoo and the conditioner the idea hit me: the perfect solution to the plot problem I’d been wrangling with the past few weeks. My mind zeroed in on different scenarios. “And then the hero could do THIS. Woo-hoo, wouldn’t the heroine hate that? She’d react like this… And then in the next … Read More
Friday Book Pick: ON DISTANT SHORES by Sarah Sundin
I don’t know about where you live, but here in Oregon, fall has definitely, um… fallen. And with our gloomy, rainy weather, nothing cheers me up like cracking open a good book. (Do books really crack?) This week, I’m recommending On Distant Shores by one of my all-time favorite authors, Sarah Sundin. I’ve devoured every … Read More
Friday Book Pick: In Golden Splendor by Michael K. Reynolds
I just returned from a trip and one thing I enjoy about flying is l-o-n-g stretches of uninterrupted reading time. At home, there’s always kids, work, chores… not to mention TV and Facebook. There’s something about a trip that makes you want to dive into a hefty novel. This week I had the joy of … Read More