The last D I made was in college in QBA—Quantitative Business Analysis, and even then I think my Harding University professor (Dr. Priest) had mercy on me after so many hours of private tutoring. Math and I have never been fast friends. Which makes it so funny that our son Kurt majored in Mathematics (with minors in Chemistry and Christian Ethics) and loves trig and calculus. Shoot me now. He definitely takes more after his father in that regard.

But last week… I earned my latest D.

The wonderful Thomas Umstattd—and there’s not a whit of sarcasm in that, honest, despite what’s coming, LOL—graded the websites of six Christian historical romance authors, and he included mine.

You may recognize some of the names…

Misty M. Beller, Abbey Downey, Linda Ford, Aurora Hanson, Lacy Williams, and moi

He graded them from A-F as you can see in his chart. Do you see me yet? Look closely. A little closer…

Yep, that’s me…

For starters, my SEO and H1s and titles and home page rankings are AWOL. Not to mention the format just needs a major overhaul.

But a funny thing, I just now noticed as I’m writing this post that while the other authors got Recommended Tools & Episodes, I didn’t. Apparently my website is even past recommendations and tools. Oy. Which, in all fairness, my site is old. I know that. I need a major redesign. I know that, too. I’ve been meaning to do it for a long time.

And I will this summer. AFTER I turn this current book into Tyndale.

All that to say…

Thank you, Thomas Umstattd, for that kind and very detailed nudge in your Author Media video. It really is informative. You get to see what different authors are doing on their sites, what plug-ins and options they’re using, plus we all benefitted from your expert advice. I took lots of notes!

So tell me…
What author website did you last visit? What took you there? What did you like most about it? What did you not like? Anything you’d like to share is something I’d love to know. And you know why…

Happy Tuesday, my friends! This post is late going up because I pulled a near all-nighter last night working to finish this book. I got 3-4 hours of sleep before the grands came for the day. So it’s off to the races again. #GramTamDay

But one last God thing before you go…

Something happened to me this past weekend that’s never happened before…

After majorly struggling with (and praying about) the ending of this current book for a while now, this weekend, in a flash, scene after scene after scene just “downloaded” into my brain. In an instant, I knew every last scene, in detail, I could see it all so vividly. It took my breath away. Still does.

These are the moments of writing I treasure most. Because it reminds me yet again that it’s not about me. It’s about Him. This was a gift from God for this writer’s thirsty soul, and I’m so grateful. And to be clear, the struggle has also been a “gift.” Just of a different kind.

More on this book (releasing in 2026) soon, but it’s an extra special one to me for many reasons. A new historical setting/place in Tennessee. Lots of real history. Lots of real people who impacted history—and my life—in a big way.

Hugs from my corner of Nashville!

A somewhat sleepy, but oh so grateful, Gram Tam

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Watch the Author Media Video on YouTube