1/9/25 – 🎉Happy 2025!🎉 I hope your new year ahead is full of fun adventures!

Hey there happy reader,

I’ve missed you! I took off a bit of time around the holidays to refresh and recharge, but as we all know, things don’t always go as planned… I spent more than a few days sick in bed with a stomach virus, and then the worst happened – my husband caught the bug from me!

It was bad enough when I had it, but he needed little reason to stay in bed all day and complain. Sheesh!

Seriously, though, this virus was not fun. I’m just glad we both survived it, lol. It made me think of that scene in the film, “The Devil Wears Prada,” where Emily turns to Andie and says that she’s, “just one stomach bug away from her goal weight.” I lost three pounds, but my husband lost seven!!! I’m happy to report that we’ve both recovered – at least he has. I think I’m emotionally scarred for life…

I did get a chance to catch up on some of my TBR list. 

If you haven’t read “James” by Percival Everett, I highly recommend it! It’s the retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” through the eyes of Jim, or in this case, James. The story is familiar, but the point of view is entirely different. I’d love to hear your take on it.

I also read “The Women” by Kristin Hannah, a saga about the women who served in Vietnam.

While I’ve never been a Hannah fan, this book did keep me turning the pages long into the night. The female protagonist, Frankie, was a brave solider, who like many of her generation, was not credited for the trauma she faced during that war. It was well worth reading!

For now, I’m hard at work on my Stonehenge book.

I’d like to have the first half of it done by the end of March when I head to Joyce Maynard’s intensive writing seminar in Guatemala. I’m excited (and a bit nervous) to attend this event, but I’m sure I’ll get a lot of work done there. Plus, there’s the bonus of having Joyce weigh in on my writing, and I get to stay in the actual Bird Hotel.

Looks like paradise, right?

And finally, as 2024 ended, I’m happy to report that I was able to send a sizeable donation to the Alzheimer’s Association after I received my first royalty check from the sales of “Question Everything.” 

It felt great to make good on that promise, and I owe it all to you! Thanks for buying and reading this book – and if you haven’t done so yet, it’s not too late. I’ll send more funds to help support their research after next quarter’s royalties hit my bank account!