“Stories are gifts…SHARE” – my Starbucks mug
(Notice the sparkly sunlight affect that happened when I snapped this pic?Pure magic!)
I LOVE this mug. I found it several years ago, and it inspires me every Christmas season—especially last year when I wrote MY CHRISTMAS
CURSE. I hope it will inspire me again this year. It already has today!
I have always loved the art of letter writing—of sitting down with a blank notecard or piece of paper and pen, and writing a heart-to-heart note to a friend or family member. I still love it. I attempt to write a note (albeit however brief) on each Christmas card I send out. I feel like a kid when I receive an actual written letter in the MAILBOX—which does happen once in a while. However, I am blessed to receive some amazing e-mails from readers. (My readers are wonderful!)
But today’s busy lifestyles and “connected” technology continue to drain my energy and stress me out. There is so much business advice about producing “content” and being completely available in social media. If I were to post, tweet, pin, and blog as much as the “experts” advise, I wouldn’t have time to LIVE.
I’ve been very absent from the social scene the last few months, focusing rather on my little ones. They are ages newly six and three and a half. As most mothers know, some days are very long (and here in Arizona, the summers are too) but the seasons and years pass quickly. My most interesting posts the last few months would have been the quirky things my girls said or did that made me laugh. I’m spending more time transitioning our home and lifestyle from ones filled with babies and toddlers to ones filled with young girls. This transitioning task, I’m afraid, will continue to be in my job description the rest of my life.
When I wrote SUMMER OF FIREFLY MEMORIES several years ago, I didn’t know what the future had in store for me as far as writing (or personally too I guess). The novel was written as a stand-alone story, but in my mind I always wanted to write the “next summer.” It just wasn’t planned when FIREFLY MEMORIES was published. It turned out that I loved not only the act of writing but also the process of creating a book. This was before self-publishing was such a viable option too. Now several years later, my personal life is completely changed. Technology and social media have exploded. AND I have fallen in love with all the characters in my stories—so much so that they all want their stories written!
I receive many inquiries about if and when there will be Book Three in the Loon Lake Series. There will be! In fact, I’ve found myself in quite a challenging predicament. I’m working on three separate books that overlap and weave in and out of each other. So, it’s taking me much longer to produce them than I had hoped—but it is SO FUN! In the interim however, I’m working on some “Lost Chapters” for my readers to enjoy.
But I am taking the time to be present in my girls’ lives. I think that’s the best thing I can do right now. Please be patient with me and hopefully you can still appreciate me in small doses. I understand that in this world of instant gratification, my “career” may suffer a bit from it. But my children—I hope—will blossom.