May has always been my month for releasing my books. In May 2014, my first novel, The Truth About Drew, came out. The following year it was Goodbye, Magnolia, and then last May I released Until Then. So when this May rolled around, it left me feeling a little sad that I didn’t have a new release for you. I am writing my next novel right now, but it might not come out until next May. I’d love to get it to you before that, but I’d be OK with another May release. And it takes place in the summer, so it’s going to be a nice beach read.
For quite a while now, I’ve been wanting to put all the books in my Cornerstone series into a boxed set eBook. I loved the idea of having them all in one eBook so readers could gobble them all up at one time. 😉
One major change I made when putting this eBook together was to move the epilogue of Goodbye, Magnolia to the very end of the series. At the end of that book, we jump forward in time nearly a year and you see where Maggie and Simon end up. The second book, Hello, Forever, which is the sequel novella, then jumps back to the same night Goodbye, Magnolia ends and continues on for a couple months into the early days of Maggie & Simon’s relationship. The final book, Until Then, tells Michelle’s story, but also goes back even further for a glimpse at their college days and continues on through the days following Hello, Forever. So the epilogue from Magnolia really belongs at the very end of all of the books and that’s exactly where I put it. It felt right to have it end that way. It made sense to me, because my brain likes things to be chronological in order.
And since I hadn’t originally planned to write a series, making this big 3-book boxed set allowed me to put everything in its proper order. Yes, I am a little bit picky when it comes to my books. Is this the end of the series? I don’t think so.
I still have plans to write Emma’s story at some point. And there are some other side characters whose stories I would like to tell eventually. But for now, these three books tell a complete story and I’m fine with that. Other books that may come in the future will probably stand on their own, so you won’t have to have read the other books to read them. But I’m sure Maggie, Michelle, and Simon will make an appearance in those, because I love my characters and already miss writing about them.
I did one of these posts a while ago, but Facebook is always changing, so I put together a couple new updated graphics that will help both desktop users and smartphone users make sure they are seeing all of my FACEBOOK AUTHOR PAGE posts and get notifications if they want to when I post.
3 EASY STEPS FOR DESKTOP USERS
5 EASY STEPS FOR SMARTPHONE USERS (used an iPhone for this example)
The Mackinac Island wedding at the end of Goodbye, Magnolia is pretty much one of my favorite things about the entire book. Besides the fact that some very sweet, swoony moments happen there, I truly love the place and I just could not have imagined setting that important wedding anywhere else.
Get your copy of Goodbye, Magnolia FREE today for Kindle and journey with Maggie, Simon, and their wedding photography team to Mackinac Island.
I really wish I could bottle up the feeling I had when we returned from Florida and give myself a daily dose. My entire body felt relaxed, more so than it has in a very long time. I realized that I had no aches and pains really, that I felt pretty darn good.
But now that we’ve been home for a couple days, I can feel the tightness in my right shoulder returning. I don’t know why my stress always focuses in on that spot. My neck and upper back are a little stiff. And all I want right now is to hop in the pool, float around on a pool noodle, and soak up the warmth of the sun. 🙂
It had been nearly three years since our last vacation and we needed it. Badly.
Before we left, I felt stalled as far as my writing goes. I’ve been editing the YA book for a while now, but I’ve longed to write something new, whether it was the next book in the Cornerstone Series (Emma’s story) or a new book idea I had been thinking about and researching for a while. But I just could not do it. Maybe it was the heavy reality we’ve been faced with this year with my Dad’s need for a liver transplant. All I know is I couldn’t really write.
I took the laptop along on vacation thinking maybe I would sit down and get something started, but I didn’t touch it. The only thing I typed was a recap of the things we did each day so I wouldn’t forget. 😉
But something happened while I floated around in that pool. My mind wandered through the beginnings of the new story. I had all these ideas and thoughts and conversations between the characters filling my mind. And I just let it all play out while I relaxed. It was just what I needed — to step away from our everyday life, away from bills and schedules and gymnastics practices and going to the gym, and let my mind take a break. And it opened up that little creative part of my brain again and let the ideas flow.
Yesterday, we were back to our regularly scheduled program (aka gymnastics practice) and I sat there with my coffee and wrote 3,000+ words of the new book. I love it so much already, and I’ve got that giddy feeling about writing that I haven’t had in a while.
Also, floating around in that pool, listening to all the snowbirds chatting about their lives (we stayed with Jake’s parents in an RV resort for retired folks), gave me lots of ideas for future characters in my books.
This weekend was very emotional for our family as we had a special prayer breakfast for Dad, surrounded by his close friends, pastors from his church, and my grandfather, who is a retired pastor as well. It was a most amazing thing to witness as those men laid hands on my dad, anointed him with oil, and prayed over him for his health, for God’s will and timing in all of this. The presence of God could definitely be felt in that room.
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
Matthew 18:20
Dad is trying to go about his days as normally as possible while he waits for a new liver. His options are basically what they call a CADAVER LIVER, which is when someone is on life support but has been diagnosed as brain dead and the family chooses to turn off the machines and donate organs, or a LIVING DONOR, which is when someone gifts a portion of their liver to save a person’s life.
In order for my dad to get a part of someone’s liver, there are many tests that have to be done — the person donating has to be similar in body size (make sure the liver will be the right size for my dad) and their blood type must be O (my dad is O+). They also must be 55 years of age or younger.
The coolest thing to me about living donors is that after they gift that portion of their liver to a person in need, their own liver will regenerate in a couple weeks, fully regenerating over a couple months (I believe) to a normal size liver. And the portion that would replace my dad’s failing liver will regrow to a full liver in a couple month’s time as well. That is the most amazing thing I have ever heard. The way God created our bodies to function is just mind-blowing.
If you feel led to gift a portion of your liver – a gift that could save my dad’s life – please let me know and I will put you in touch with them so you can get more information. There are many tests and things to consider.
And feel free to share about my dad’s condition. There just might be someone out there among your family/friends who God has chosen already to be a part of all of this, someone who is a perfect match who could get my dad the liver he so desperately needs.
Of course, the very BEST option of all would be if God just healed the liver he has. 🙂 What an amazing miracle that would be.
We know God has a very specific reason for all of this, and we trust Him and His timing in Dad getting a new liver or one from a Living Donor. Please pray for us through all of this. We need as many prayer warriors as we can get.
Last fall, Jake traveled to New Hampshire for a work conference, and I was able to join him and visit New England for the first time. It was such a blessing. I even took a little day trip down to Concord, Massachusetts and visited Orchard House, the Alcott’s home, where Louisa wrote Little Women. That was such an incredible experience for me. To walk through the rooms where she and her family walked and talked and laughed. To see the little table in her bedroom where she wrote Little Women and glance out the window she must have looked out so many times while writing. To hear the stories of so many of the little details of the house and learn more about their family. The entire trip was worth it just for that. But I also got to spend some time with my hubby and even take a little drive across the bridge into Maine one evening. It was a wonderful trip.
Currently, I’m working on two very different projects. One is the young adult dystopian novel I wrote a couple years ago during NaNoWriMo. The other is still mostly in research phase, but I did write the first lines of chapter one recently, which was awesome! This one will be a historical romance. I’m excited to share more about both when they get closer to completion. The YA book will most likely release first, hopefully later this year, but I don’t have a set date for publication yet. There’s still a lot to be done on this one as I edit through it. The whole point of NaNoWriMo is to get the novel out of your head and onto the page, so it’s very rough and needs a lot of filling in at this point.
For now, the pictures above give you an idea just how different the settings are for these stories. 🙂
Second Chances. If we’re honest, they’re not only something we want. They’re something we need . . . most every day. A fresh start. A do-over. A chance to learn from our mistakes and seize the opportunities we missed in the past.
There’s something intrinsically beautiful and redemptive about seeing that theme come to life on the pages of a compelling romance, isn’t there? With the start of a brand new year, we can’t think of a better time to celebrate that theme than a sale and giveaway of some of our favorite second chance romances.
Sales, Gift Cards, and Giveaways!
Each day, Jan 16-20th, one author will be highlighting a clean romance we’ve put on sale for you this week. Be sure to visit each author’s website and Facebook page to catch every deal, see what each author’s giving away, and enter the grand giveaway of five signed paperbacks!
Don’t miss out on the giveaways each author will be offering. And enter the grand giveaway at the bottom of this post for your chance to take home five signed paperbacks!
Today’s Feature • Until Then
While thinking about which of my books would be best for the second chances theme, my mind immediately went to Until Then. On Michelle’s first day of college, she meets handsome, tall, blue-eyed, basketball star Sean. What happens between them changes Michelle’s heart in a profound way and alters the course of Sean’s future, sending him on a bit of a downward spiral and out of Michelle’s life.
Sometimes a lot of time must pass before that second chance comes along, and it can be downright painful with all the past hurts, uncertainty, unanswered questions. All the whys and what ifs. But God’s plans are better than ours, and in this book, they’re better than anything Michelle could possibly dream up for herself.
Here’s a little excerpt for you from the moment Michelle finally sees Sean again:
Michelle arrived at the game and took a seat low on the bleachers to watch. Cornerstone scored several baskets in a row, and the crowd roared. Her eyes wandered the room. There were familiar faculty members there, a whole section of rowdy cheering students, and cheerleaders on the sidelines. People filtered in and out of the entrance. She looked closer at a small group of people just outside the doors. There were two dark-haired men standing with a teenaged boy and girl. One of the men looked very familiar to her. He stepped through the door into the room, holding the teenaged girl’s hand. Michelle squinted. No! It couldn’t be! They walked toward her. The man was speaking to the girl as they passed by. He looked a little older, and his hair was shorter, but she would recognize those eyes anywhere. Sean! She watched them walk toward the far end of the gym, closer to the rowdy students, where they found a seat near the top. She couldn’t believe he was actually there. Her heart raced, and her palms began to sweat. Her nerves kept her from jumping up and running to their end of the gym. It had been more than fourteen years, after all. Maybe he wouldn’t recognize her. She glanced in their direction again. He seemed to be looking her way, but she couldn’t tell at that distance. He could have been watching the action in the game. She turned back to watch a foul shot and played with a loose thread on her sweater. Oh, Lord, what should I do? He’s here. He’s actually here. Should I go talk to him? Or should I just let the past stay in the past? “Michelle?” Her prayer was interrupted, and she looked up into those blue eyes she remembered so well. “Sean.” “Oh my gosh, I thought that was you.” He shook his head back and forth and blinked a few times, like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. She stood and awkwardly held her hand out to shake his. He let out a little nervous laugh and hugged her instead. Oh, man, he smells good. The noise of the crowd around them grew louder. He turned his head and spoke into her ear. “It’s so good to see you.” She smiled. He pulled back, keeping a grip on her forearms. “You look great.” “So do you,” she managed. He motioned toward the bleacher behind her, and she gave him a shy smile as they sat down together. He kept shaking his head, another nervous laugh escaping his lips. “I’m sorry, I just … I can’t believe it’s you. You’re here. I thought about you when we got here today. I wondered if you still lived around here or if you ever went back to Chicago.” “I’m still here.” “I think I was secretly hoping I might run into you, but I thought that was pretty much impossible. I’m … I don’t know. I have no words.” The smile never left his face. “I actually saw you come in, and I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me or something.” They sat in silence for a few moments, his attention turned to the game. He made a few comments on the game play, but she wasn’t listening. She was distracted by his presence, by how good he still looked, and by the glint of gold on his left ring finger. She knew he was married. Simon had told her so years ago.
You can read Michelle’s story, Until Then, for just 99¢ from January 16-20. Kindle eBook
This book is part of my Cornerstone series and, while you can read this book without having read the first two, I highly recommend reading them in order because this book gives away the ending of the first book. You can start reading the series for FREE right now with Book 1 – Goodbye, Magnolia. (Find it on your favorite eBook site HERE.)
Back in my wedding photography days, dates were super important. Just about everything I did revolved around the date of a couple’s wedding and those dates still stick in my head sometimes. I often booked weddings more than a year in advance and committed to that special date above all else. My schedule – my life, really – was all about those dates.
So when I was writing Goodbye, Magnolia, it was a no-brainer that the chapters would follow along with Maggie’s wedding photography schedule. And I stuck with the dates for the non-wedding chapters as well to keep things consistent. What was going on in Maggie’s life on this date? Oh, right … meetings. What happened to her on this date? Oh yeah, this was the day Simon showed up and blindsided her with his “brilliant” business proposal. And really, that’s sort of how I looked at my life at that time, too. Based on my work schedule. Based on the dates. Meetings and engagement sessions and weddings and tons and tons of photo editing.
Going with the dates rather than Chapter 1, Chapter 2, etc. may not be the norm, but it felt like the right choice. For the other two Cornerstone books, I actually used the dates as chapters during the writing process, too, so I could keep the timeline straight in my mind. But Hello, Forever wasn’t focused on Maggie’s wedding photography and in Until Then, Michelle isn’t a photographer, so it didn’t really make sense for those books.
Goodbye, Magnolia got spruced up a little recently with new fonts in the chapter titles (shown above). I’m loving the new look.
Hope you enjoyed this little behind-the-scenes. Happy reading!
As I sat down to write this to you, I took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. That’s how I feel about 2016. It’s been a year of change for our family. In so many ways. There were happy moments and sad ones, too. Busy times and times of rest. Cherished traditions and new experiences. Endings and beginnings. New job. Drivers ed. Middle school drama. It’s been interesting and tough at times, but we’ve seen God work through it all.
This year really stretched me as far as my writing goes, too. I released two books – one in May, the other in November. I’ve been a one-book-a-year girl until now, so writing, editing, formatting, releasing, and marketing two books required me to push myself more than I ever have before. I came out of all that a little stressed but happy to have two more books in my series, stories that I absolutely loved writing and felt God wanted me to tell.
Until Then, the second book in my Cornerstone series, is Michelle’s story of finding love after a rough upbringing while also searching for God’s purpose for her life, and Hello, Forever is a novella that takes place just after the events of Goodbye, Magnolia and gives more of Maggie & Simon’s love story. You can start reading the series for FREE with the first book, Goodbye, Magnolia today.
I hope 2016 has treated you well. I don’t know where you’re at this Christmas, how you’re feeling, if you’re surrounded by loved ones or on your own, but just know that you are thought about and prayed for. From my heart, I wish you so much happiness and peace this holiday.
Thank you for being a part of my writing journey. Merry Christmas!
Well, after eight months of writing the first draft, editing, and putting the finishing touches on this baby, HELLO, FOREVER is finally ready and releasing into the world today. I’m so excited to share it with you, and I hope you will find it to be a sweet addition to Maggie and Simon’s story.
HELLO, FOREVER is available on the following sites:
What’s it about? Maggie James spent years all-consumed by her wedding photography business, hiding out from love after a painful breakup. When fellow photographer and consummate rogue Simon Walker came into her life, she held him at arms length to protect her fragile heart from being broken again. But after discovering how he selflessly helped her business in a very big way and admitting her mistaken assumptions about him, she is finally ready to give him a chance. Will fear keep her from truly opening her heart to him? Or will secrets tear them apart?
From small town Michigan to the sunny shores of Malibu, California, Maggie and Simon must navigate their budding relationship, survive family drama, and come face to face with the past to see if their faith and ever growing love are enough to get them to forever.
NOTE: This novella is the sequel to GOODBYE, MAGNOLIA, so I highly recommend reading that one first. 😉
