#5  Fro-yo at Fuse

Self-serve with a ton of delicious toppings. What trip to the beach is complete without a treat. This is what I remind myself when we stop there every day on vacation…

Fuse Frozen Yogurt website

#4 Breakfast at Palmer’s Village Cafe

Whatever the special is, it’s delicious. That’s just a given. Do yourself a favor and make a visit.

Palmer’s Village Cafe website

#3 Coffee at Palm Coast

This quirky little building in the Pier Village is open from morning to night. The coffeehouse/cafe transforms into a pub at night, often with live music. Their menu is delicious all day (my favorite stop for lunch) and the big porch and garden invite you to sit and stay a while.

Palm Coast Coffee website

#2 Crab cakes at Barbara Jean’s

Also in the Pier Village, Barbara Jean’s serves yummy, homestyle food everyone will love (a favorite with my kids). But you owe it to yourself to order the crab cakes. Seriously. You’re worth it.

Barbara Jean’s website

#1 Pulled Pork at Southern Soul Barbeque

A top pick of Southern Living Magazine, also appearances on the Food Network, the delicious smell of the smoker at mid-island seems to waft in every direction. Drive-by the airport with your windows rolled down and I dare you not to stop.

Southern Soul website

My grandmother had the most incredible garden in northern California. Every visit involved taking a tour of her backyard as she named plants I’ve long forgotten and wish I remembered. We’d often stop to sit side by side in the big cushioned swing. She’d sing and I’d peel a fresh-picked tangerine. To this day the burst of citrus when I peel a cutie for my kids takes me back to the sound of her voice humming and the warm sun on my upturned face.

I love and miss her dearly. She’s in my thoughts every day, especially when I’m gardening.

My grandmother loved roses above all else. In my yard, I have one tiny section of a flowerbed that gets the perfect amount of sunlight. When we first moved into our home, my father-in-law planted rosebushes for me. I learned a trick my first spring that has my roses earning me rave compliments (and I like to think my grandmother smiling down on me too).

Plant a banana peel at the base of the plant, about an inch deep, in early spring. So far (and I’m knocking on wood) this has worked to keep my roses blooming nonstop once summer officially starts and keeps the bugs from devouring the delicate plants. I’ll often have blooms through Halloween on my Midwestern plants.

Happy planting!

Hi everyone!

Wow. It’s been a long time since I’ve blogged. Kind of shocking, honestly. But then again…

Since the beginning of the year, I’ve been heading in a different direction. As I’ve shared before, I love self-publishing and intend to continue my series but I’m also hoping to reach more people with a major publisher. I am working on three projects behind the scenes (in various states of editing and writing). You will see them….eventually. But this year I want to focus on pushing myself creatively to put out the best story I can. I want to continue to learn and grow my craft and that might mean nothing out in 2017.

And I’m okay with that.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the blog while I’ve been writing. I want to take things in a different direction here on my site. I want to use the blog to share the occasional update about my books but I don’t want to focus on selling my novels.

If you’re here, I hope it’s because you already like what I write. I’d like to share posts that interest me and hopefully you as well. I want to talk about topics that I love, share stories, and connect in ways that are NOT about selling or advertising my books. I promise to share another update on my projects in August (unless something exciting happens before then).

If you want to hear about book news, sign up here for my newsletter:  http://eepurl.com/bS6den

I will only send out emails when I have an upcoming release available for pre-order. This year that might mean only a couple emails. Next year might be different. But don’t worry about me spamming you or selling your email.

Sound good? Great!