Hey there happy reader,

The holiday season is in full swing. Are you keeping your head above water? I’m feeling frazzled and frenzied — how about you? The only saving grace has been lots of time with both of my assistants…

These two rascals have kept us all on our toes of late. 

They are adorable together but double the trouble as well. It’s almost as if they know that as soon as an adult turns their back it’s time to reach for something a little bit dangerous! I can’t say it hasn’t been fun, though. They are awfully cute!

And as a bonus, I have the “Bluey” theme song stuck in my head forever now, lol!

Between the family visiting and the meal preparation ongoing, I haven’t had a concentrated amount of writing time. I’m feeling unsettled by that – I have a story to finish and only a certain number of hours in the day!

Everyone will be leaving here tomorrow, so it’s back down to my office with the door closed until I’m done. I feel like the end is in reach… I just need to reach out and grab on to it!

My gift to you in the coming months will be (hopefully) a new novel for you to read and enjoy.

As a matter of fact, I’m going to try and grab a few moments now to get back to it!

Hey there happy reader!

I hope your Thanksgiving celebration was fun and stress-free! We had a great time with family and friends… and I was happy to not have to cook the next day at all!

On the Friday after the feast we braved a very cold and windy New York City afternoon and took both of our grandsons to a special performance of “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.” 

I’m sure most of you are familiar with this wonderful storybook by Eric Carle. This show was geared toward a young audience, with large puppets and masterful puppeteers who truly brought the story to life.

Our almost three-year-old grandson was glued to his chair, enthralled by the entire experience. Our almost two-year-old grandson enjoyed dancing in front of his seat and participating in the antics of the caterpillar as the performers encouraged the children to interact with them. A good time was had by all!

For me, I’m thrilled that both of our grandsons have fallen in love with books. 

One doesn’t need to follow the multiple studies on reading to children to know that storytelling is an important component of early education. But storytelling serves multiple purposes…

In my work-in-progress, “Below the Horizon,” storytelling plays a key role in my plotline. 

Since the people who lived on Salisbury Plain had no written language, it was the oral history that gave historians a clue as to what happened there.

Storytelling is important; it links generations, offers a window into the past, and helps us understand where we’ve come from. I’ve developed a healthy respect for storytelling during my time researching this novel – and that’s a good thing!

I hope that you have the chance in this busy holiday season to spend time with family and tell the younger generation some of your own experiences growing up.

Either way, gobble ‘til you wobble!

Hey there happy reader!

Well, we’re here! Thanksgiving is just a week away, the marchers are set for the annual Macy’s Day Parade, and the magnificent Christmas tree is about to be unveiled in Rockefeller Center.

I am knee deep in holiday preparations. 

My shopping list seems never-ending… just as soon as I’m sure I have every ingredient I need for the feast, something else pops into my mind and I have to head back to the store. While it all feels overwhelming now, I do know that once the family is gathered, it will have been worth the effort.

Plus, both of my assistants — #1 and #2 will be staying for the week. 

They are adorable together and enjoy each other’s company. Once they go downstairs to our playroom it’s hard to get them to come back up for meals! I love to watch them interact… being a Gigi is simply the best!

For me, Thanksgiving is the time to truly reflect on the year that has passed and to concentrate on my goals for the next twelve months. 

(Why wait for January to set your expectations? I like to stay ahead of the curve!)

I know one thing for certain… in a time where the world can often feel like it’s spinning wildly out of control, this is the season to reflect on what good we do have in our lives. I’ve been so fortunate to have found this path, to be able to write stories and put them out into the universe.

I could have never imagined the goodwill that has come my way from you, my readers. Your kind words, your encouragement, and your continued loyalty are all things I am beyond thankful for. My hope for you is that you have love in your home and peace in your heart as we gather together this holiday season.

Whatever you’re doing next Thursday, I hope you take a moment out for yourself and breathe. Don’t let the stress of cooking a twenty-pound turkey change your day or your attitude. Accept your blessings, whatever they may be, and enjoy that extra dessert… you deserve it!

Hey there happy reader!

I had a great time enjoying California, with picture perfect weather and a whole lot of play time with my assistant #1…

I made it home from Los Angeles, but not without a whole lot of nail-biting! 

Surviving the anxiety of travel is not for the weak at heart – especially with the added bonus of a lack of air traffic controllers due to the government shutdown, which thankfully seems to have a shot of being resolved by the time you read this.

I was lucky. 

My flight left on time, but I was pretty nervous as we took off and then landed. I kept thinking about Rebecca Yarros’ book, “In The Likely Event.”

In this story, a young couple meets on a plane. She’s a nervous flyer; he’s calm and tells her that the most dangerous time on an airplane ride is the first three minutes and the last nine minutes. Of course, their plane crashes.

I won’t tell you more because it’s a good book and I don’t want to spoil it for you, but I guess I shouldn’t have read it just before flying myself! Happily, we took off and landed safely. Now if they only could have worked the jetway at JFK, maybe deplaning would have gone smoothly too!

I am currently in the middle of the November writing sprint. 

I mentioned this last week — it’s a terrific and motivating way to help writers keep on track. You log in each day and are held accountable for a certain amount of words as you move along with your writing project.

It’s truly helped me get ever so close to the finish line for “Below the Horizon.” I really think you’re going to like this book. It has a little bit of everything – history, romance, suspense, and a twisty ending. As soon as it’s done, you will be the first to know!

And if racing to the finish line with my work-in-progress wasn’t enough, I’m also planning to host family for Thanksgiving. 

What’s that old adage? “If you need to get something done, ask a busy person?” Truer words were never spoken, lol! I work on my novel in the (shortened) daylight hours, and menu plan at night! When my friends ask about which shows I’m watching, I just laugh. I’ll catch up in the New Year, I’m sure…

What about you? Are you planning to cook this Thanksgiving? What’s the one dish you must make or there will be a family uprising without it? For us it’s clearly sweet potato pie… I’ll be peeling those tubers for hours!

I hope you aren’t freezing wherever you are – we had our first snow shower here in the northeast this morning. If it’s cold outside, you can always curl up on the couch with a good book! Just don’t read one about a plane crash if you’re traveling this season!

Hi there happy reader,

I flew out to LA last Friday to experience a fun Halloween with my older grandson (assistant #1, lol!) who turns three this February. This holiday seems to bring out the creatives… I saw some awesome costumes!

It’s always interesting to see how young children react to different things. 

My grandson loved wearing his costume… for a bit. He did love getting candy (not so interested in eating it, just collecting it!) and running around with his friends.

But the blow-up costumes scared him, as did the mechanical rat on his neighbor’s porch. Honestly, I’m not sure why this neighbor thought it was a good idea to put a scary, screeching rodent out on a block filled with young children, but… to each his own, I guess. Every morning since Halloween, my grandson has checked the front window to make sure the offensive decoration is still gone. Happily, it is!

And now we move on…

I don’t know about you, but I love Thanksgiving. 

We always host a large blow-out feast. As our own children have grown up, so have our nieces and nephews, so they bring their significant others and it’s a lot of fun! I’ve begun to make my shopping list, have ordered a turkey and am planning what I’m going to bake. What about you? What does your family do on this festive holiday?

I’m also celebrating the month of November with a writing challenge. 

I’m trying my best to complete the final draft of my work-in-progress, “Below the Horizon” in the next thirty days. It’s a concentrated effort to get the last part of this story told. And once I do, I’ll be sharing it here with you first!

I’m not the only one doing this very thing. Many of my author friends have designated this month as the time to head into their offices to write. We have a friendly competition in the works, and I’m here to come out on top!

That’s it for now because I have a few more chapters to write. I hope you’re enjoying some glorious fall weather in your part of the world. As the nights get longer, it’s time to curl up with a good book and read… take the time to escape into the mind of your favorite author – you won’t be sorry!

Hey there happy reader!

Tomorrow is Halloween, one of my favorite days of the year!

I’m ready for those adorable trick-or-treaters… 

I’m lucky enough to live in a neighborhood full of children. When school’s out, the fun begins. I think that one of the major perks of childhood is going out to find your favorite candy on your walk in the brisk autumn air, costume on, pretending to be someone else – your favorite superhero, the animal of your choice, or my usual go-to as a kid – a gypsy!

This year I’ll be trick-or-treating in Los Angeles with my assistant #1. 

He’s going to be dressed as an airplane… he does love to fly! I will be accompanying him dressed as a flight attendant, lol. His neighborhood shuts down the streets to traffic and loads of kids come out. There’s an actual committee that provides the candy and surprises, and since lots of parents there are in the entertainment industry, the costumes tend to be very creative.

Plus, you never know who you’re going to see… lots of celebrities live nearby and often can be found with their own children, going door to door for the fun of it. I’m sure a good time will be had by all!

The concept of wearing a costume goes back to when people believed that ghosts would appear on October 31st, and that dressing up would chase the spirits away. 

I don’t know just how scary multiple Elmos and airplanes are – the outfits my young grandsons will be dressed in this year – but the tradition has most certainly endured. All I can say is bring on the pumpkin spice!

More seriously, though, as a writer, I can truly relate to the idea of wearing a costume. Authors need to get inside our character’s skin, creating a persona that we hope feels real to our readers.

We wear a lot of different hats while writing a novel – those of the protagonists, the minor characters, the heroes, the villains – all these “people” need to feel authentic for a book to resonate.

Maybe that’s why I love Halloween so much… on that one day a year, anyone pretending to be someone else is doing that exact thing, if only for a few hours. When I’m writing, I tend to jump into the mind of my characters. I hear their voices, I understand their worries, I walk in their shoes. It’s a transformative experience!

I do hope that you’ll greet your trick-or-treaters with the same joy that they display by wearing their costumes and carrying those bags for candy.