Sorry for the silence.

Winter is a season of long nights, dreary days, afternoon coffee, and lots of writing. I try to stay consistent with my projects year-round. But something about the winter (maybe being trapped indoors and dreaming of escape?) inspires me to work hard.

I’m editing a project and am so excited to share all the details when I can. Yep! I’m being cagey, but it’s all good news. Working with a new editor is exciting. I’ve got a steep learning curve and am determined to rise to the challenge. I’m in the process of polishing the manuscript to a high shine and don’t have a release date or cover yet. When I do, I’ll post!

The process involves a bit of hurry-up and wait. During the downtime, I’m letting my imagination run free. I have ideas for six novels and novellas and am tackling them one at a time. I gave myself permission to write without any restrictions on the most current project. I didn’t focus on a certain length or on a particular line. The result is a first draft that flew out of me in eleven days. I’ll be continuing to add layers and develop the story.

It’s been a very fun project about a dream trip and a split second decision to tell a little white lie…

I’ll be working on another novella for Sariah Wilson’s Royals of Monterra Kindle World next. And today I submitted another unpublished project to a contest. Basically, I’m writing, editing, dreaming and having a fabulous spring.

I’ve been fascinated watching the tiny house movement from the sidelines. Let me be frank: I need space. I lived in studio apartments when I first moved to Chicago, which is fine for one person. The minute I moved into a two-bedroom condo, however, I started shutting the door just because I could.

I like the privacy to be found in rooms with doors. I’m also anti-open floor plan. But I digress…

I’ve often been struck by the reasons why a person or family chooses a tiny house. Wanting to move off the grid, seeking a way to make homeownership a reality, or re-grouping after a devastating loss are a few of the stories I’ve seen and read. The idea of living with less also resonates with me. All that is to say that despite the anti tiny-house stance in my second Golden Shores story, Coastal Erosion, I’m pro tiny house (if it’s the right fit). I joke with my husband that I’m going to need a tiny house/she shed once our little boys become big.

Coastal Erosion is anti-development, more than anything else. Watching as every spare field near my home in the Midwest is sold and developed, I worry what the point of all this urban sprawl is. Do we really need another large-scale shopping center when other retail buildings within a three-mile radius are vacant? Can’t we figure out a way to re-work pre-existing buildings without having to break new ground?

On St. Simons, the very real island featured in my Golden Shores books, they are also facing development and stressing the infrastructure. I’m grateful for the work of my county at preserving as much land as they can and similarly, such work is happening in St. Simons too. I hope your hometown is working to save your land too.

So, tiny houses? Yay. Overdevelopment? Nay.

Hi everyone,

I’m delighted to share that I’ve been invited to participate in Round Lake Area Public Library’s Creative Romance program. Join me and other local romance authors as we discuss fun and flirty ideas to show that special someone how you feel. I hope you can come out, I’d love to say hello!

Tuesday, February 6th from 6:30pm to 8pm

at the Round Lake Area Public Library

906 Hart Rd., Round Lake, IL