How quickly time passes! March is already here and the robins have returned to my home, which is a sure sign that spring is finally coming. While I love the quiet solitude and peace of winter, spring is always welcome because with it comes the promise of warm, sunny days, vegetables growing in the garden (if I can keep the local deer from thinking my garden spot is an all-you-can-eat smorgasbord), and new additions to the homestead, like chickens and ducks! It’s a time of renewal and growth, in so many ways.
2024 was a very challenging year for me, which is why I’ve been so absent from newsletters, social media, and the world in general. I lost my mother in January and found myself reeling from it for the remainder of the year. Funny thing about grief – just when you think that, surely, you’ve grieved long enough, it blindsides you with little memories and moments that can paralyze you. Sometimes it takes a bit to move to the point where these bittersweet memories cause you to pause to wipe a tear or smile and still move on.
Also challenging was a set of circumstances that occurred in our family last year that opened my eyes to the fact that there are people in the world who are truly not worth your time and effort. People who behave so horribly that it causes you to question mankind in general. It’s painful to see people you love struggle, and be deeply hurt by, that kind of horrific behavior and know there is nothing you can do except support and encourage them as they make their way through such a difficult time. I am a firm believer that what goes around comes around, though, and have faith that these types of people will eventually be repaid in kind. Maybe that is why some of my characters that are truly evil get their comeuppance eventually!
In light of all of this, last year my focus was entirely on self-care and my family. Slow Living means deciding for yourself where your energy must go, and to whom, so I worked hard to give myself permission to take the time I needed and focus my energy accordingly.
My characters, however, never left me alone. They continued on with their stories in loud, technicolor video in my head until I was forced to make notes to return to when I was able. Book two is complete and is now in developmental edits – thank you to my beta readers for the invaluable feedback and encouragement! This book has been such a challenge for me because the girl goes through so much in this installment. She is unsure, uncertain, and struggling with her inner demons as well as her future and telling her story, while exciting and fulfilling, has really stretched me as a writer. I am on course for publication this year, though, and beyond excited to share her journey with you! As always, I will be looking for ARC readers for my ARC team, so if you are as excited to follow the girl on this rollercoaster ride as I am, please reach out to me on any of my social media channels or even respond to this newsletter. I read every message and email and will respond!
If you’ve read this far, thank you. I wish you joy and peace in a world that can be so chaotic and stressful. So often, we think that we have to do something big – buy something expensive for ourselves, go on an extended vacation, or perhaps make a major life change to find a little peace. I believe that we can find that peace by being present in our lives and our surroundings. Simple things like a few moments in the sun listening to the robins sing their spring songs, planting pretty flowers or yummy vegetables, or dancing with wild abandon in your living room when no one is looking can be healing and give us peace. Please do something good for yourself today and always, always be kind to yourself. You deserve it.
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