2/6/25 – The groundhog saw his shadow… can spring be far behind?

Hey there happy reader!

I don’t know about you, but I’m struggling through my third head cold of this winter season! The weather has been so wonky – one day warm, the next day frigid – it’s hard to get a handle on what to wear and how to prepare yourself to go outside. Earlier this week I woke to a snowstorm, only to have the temperature reach close to sixty degrees by mid-afternoon. Sheesh!

I have been inside working on my current novel (still no title. UGH) about Stonehenge. 

Here’s what I can share… 

There are two female protagonists, one living in the present day and one living at Stonehenge right before it was abandoned by the people who built it. My present-day heroine is researching the historical site, first at Columbia University where she is a graduate student, and then at Cambridge University in England. My past-day heroine is the leader of the people of Stonehenge. She knows that their task is complete – the stones are in place – and that her job is done. The question is what she plans to do next…

Both women are linked by a common ailment. They both suffer from migraines and they both use homeopathic remedies to alleviate their symptoms.

Some migraine sufferers have claimed to be able to see auras, and that’s an important detail for this story. 

My heroine in the past does see auras of different colors and uses those auras to help her make important decisions about the true motivations of the people around her. My present-day heroine sees them as well; they signal the appearance of the bizarre dreams she has when a migraine is forming in her head. Sometimes she thinks that she can see into the past, but can she? Or is her research influencing her life in a way that blurs the line between reality and these strange, headache induced nightmares?

As I’ve mentioned before, this book is my first novel to employ a bit of magical realism, a literary technique I’ve long admired but never attempted to write before this.

I continue to enjoy the challenge of dipping my toes into uncharted waters. I find it both a creative experiment and a stretch of my own imagination… I can only hope you enjoy it once you have this book in your hands!

This is the work-in-progress that I will take with me to Joyce Maynard’s Writer’s Intensive Workshop at the end of March at the real Bird Hotel in Guatemala. I can’t wait to have the chance to share my rough draft with other authors and get their feedback. It’s both nerve-wracking and exciting at the same time…

As for my current reading list, the above are just some of the titles I’ve read repeatedly in the past two weeks. 

My California family will be heading home to LA soon, but we’ve had so much fun for the time they’ve been with us. While the circumstance was scary, we’re all hoping that the rebuilding process can begin shortly and that things will go back to being “normal” once more.