Stories that Matter

Fiction

The Next Best Step

The one sure thing about life, the one thing you can pretty much count on, is that it won’t always be easy. You know this. You’ve already been through some tough stuff. And you’ve survived. Maybe even triumphed. But then it all comes back for a second round. Or a third. Maybe you’re getting hit…
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My Favorite Christmas Gift!

     I hope you’ve all been enjoying this fun giveaway, and enjoyed learning about all our favorite Christmassy things! Today, as we wrap up our twelve days, it’s my turn. And I’m delighted to tell you about my favorite Christmas gift! Actually, I have two, but they kind of tie together, as you’ll see.…
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Summer Fun, France And Family!

How did it get to be July already? And I haven’t blogged since my book came out in May! Well. To be honest, I’m still on the fence with the blog, as it doesn’t seem to be the best way to connect anymore. But anyway, here we are, so until I decide to close it…
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What To Do After Launch Day!

So Where Hope Begins is now out in the big wide world. Godspeed, my lovely. And yesterday was a little nuts. The nerves. The onslaught of notifications. The well wishes and fun comments, and feedback. All wonderful and totally mind blowing, not to mention a tad overwhelming. Oh and did I mention a Facebook LIVE…
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10 Stages of Book Birth – An Exposé

Today we are one week away from the release of my new book, Where Hope Begins. And there are a million things I should be doing right now. So I’m blogging. As you do. Also, since I connected my blog to my new website, I’m really not sure anyone is seeing it. So if you…
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Write, Straight Up

Not on the rocks. Not with a splash. Maybe a twist, that’d be fun. But don’t water it down. Write what you want to say, write from you heart, and write, for the love of everything, like you mean it. If you don’t mean it, don’t waste your reader’s time, or yours. After 20 something…
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Newsy Book Related Stuff and Giveaways!

So blogging is clearly not at the top my ‘things to do’ list lately. Life is crazy busy and I’m working hard to carve out writing time in between babysitting and book release stuff and laundry and trying to remember to make dinner. 🙂 But anyhow, for anyone still popping over here, I’ll share a…
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Full Disclosure

Happy Monday, friends. Not sure why we say that, really, since most folks I know aren’t all that jacked about Mondays. Me included. But hey, maybe it helps the motivation pick up a little speed, who knows. Positive thinking is always a good thing, right? So, April 2017. Which means I have survived the release…
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A Different Perspective

Welcome to another Throwback Thursday Post! We’re talking about my California anniversary trip that inspired me to write The Memory of You! If you’re just jumping on here, you can read last week’s post here. Today we’re going to to talk about perspective. Meaning, how we view things, the world, our families, friends, co-workers. Sometimes…
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#TBT – A Dream Come True!

As you may know, my upcoming release, The Memory of You, takes place in Sonoma, California. As we count down to March 28th, we thought it might be fun to use “Throwback Thursdays” to share the origin of that story, and how the seed was planted back in 2010. One of my bucket list trips…
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Spine Poetry Challenge!

May 4, 2015 |

If you’ve ever been to Vermont, you’ll remember the covered bridges. I’ll never forget my first glimpse of one, as a girl traveling with her parents, from a tiny island surrounded by ocean, to see this long red wooden structure perched precariously over the rushing water beneath it … I was mesmerized. Even cooler was…

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IT'S RELEASE DAY!!

April 9, 2015 |

If you don’t like champagne, grab a coffee or your favorite beverage of choice, but come on in and join the party! Bridge of Faith HAS RELEASED!!!  Stay tuned for more excitement over the next few weeks – we’ll be having an official Facebook Party to celebrate on May 29th, which will give you all…

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The Next Best Step

The one sure thing about life, the one thing you can pretty much count on, is that it won’t always be easy. You know this. You’ve already been through some tough stuff. And you’ve survived. Maybe even triumphed. But then it all comes back for a second round. Or a third. Maybe you’re getting hit in a different way, from a different direction, but that punch still slams just the same. Sucks the air right out of you.

Anybody?

Yes, it is. Hard. And sometimes my coping skills go into hibernation. Like the turtle who shrinks back into her shell at the first sign of trouble. It’s good to have a shell, sometimes. Sometimes we just need to feel safe for a while. Until we’re ready. But sometimes? Sometimes we have to leave that safe place, ready or not. Because until we do, we can’t move forward. And if we don’t move forward, or at least try to, we’ll just be stuck. Safe, but stuck.

Is that any way to live?

Deciding what to do next with my writing career has been a challenge. An unexpected challenge, but one that I’m grateful for. While I’ve been sitting in my safe place, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. And here’s what I know.

I’m not giving up. I’m moving forward. And I couldn’t be happier about that.

So all that to say, be encouraged. If you’re in that place of not knowing what comes next, wait it out. Answers will come. And then, take the next step. The first step.

What’s next for me? Well, I’m glad you asked. 🙂

First of all, I’m going to be publishing a new Indie novel in September. It’s called As the Light Fades, and I’ll be sharing more about the book soon. If you’ve read The Things We Knew, you’ll be familiar with Liz Carlisle, and this is her story. So if you haven’t read The Things We Knew yet, you may want to do that!

As I mentioned in my earlier post on Change, writing for the general market was one of my options going forward. After much discussion with my agent, family, and friends, I have decided that this is the direction I want to go. Which is exciting and daunting at the same time. BUT, I’m taking that step in faith. I also know I have a lot to learn. This is a MUCH bigger pond with many, many more fish, and I don’t feel quite ready to swim in it.

To that end, I’m going to be working with a writing coach, a former NY editor with vast experience in this arena. I’m likening this to going back to school for my masters. Because that’s how much I feel I still have to learn. We’ll be working on the book I completed a few months back, The Rose Garden. The story is set in my island home of Bermuda, a first for me. But it’s not a great story yet, good, but not great. So I’m really looking forward to seeing it soar to the next level. It’s going to be a lot of hard work, but I’m jumping in with both feet, because this is what I want.

I’m a dream chaser. If you’ve followed my blog for any length of time, you’ll know this. And my next big dream is to get a contract in the general market. Yeah. It’s lofty. But if you can’t dream big, what’s the point?

Do I have the chops? I don’t know. I’d like to believe so. Others say I do, so I’m holding tight to that encouragement and moving forward. But it’ll take time. And did I mention a lot of hard work? So I can’t say for sure if and when I will have another book published by a traditional publisher. But I can say that this is still my dream. Still my goal.

So I’m going for it. As always, I can’t do it without the support of friends and family, so this is my thank-you for being there, and keep all the good thoughts and prayers coming please! I’m going to need all the cheerleading I can get.

Thanks for joining me on the journey!