Happy Advent! I hope you're having a blessed one and I hope you are able to focus on what actually matters this Christmas Season. That is always a struggle for me. This year I'm trying really hard to get all shopping done nice and early, with that in mind ... if you would like to... Continue Reading →
I am so excited to finally share more of the Altered world with you!!! I know it's been a long time coming! I wrote Altered before I wrote Haunted which means you had to wait a long time for Haunted and now you're waiting a long time for Unaltered - but it really is coming!! My full-length novels focus on my lead characters and sometimes... Continue Reading →
I am blessed to be in a house where there is often music. My husband plays guitar and piano, neither as much as he wants. My oldest son plays violin and piano, neither as much as he should. And my younger son is the true musician. He is constantly playing, listening, learning, and playing again—it... Continue Reading →
It’s already the middle of September – I’m not sure how that happened so fast! We’re in North Florida and experiencing uncharacteristically lovely weather! We are having temperatures in the 80’s, which is very much Fall weather for us. I have no doubt we will be back in the 90’s by the time you read... Continue Reading →
Some people are blessed to have all their family in one town or state or even region of the country, but I am not that person. Growing up we were in Florida and pretty much everybody else was in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri. As an adult I’m still in Florida and my family is still... Continue Reading →
There are moments as a writer that seem too surreal to be real. If you’ve read The Light Series, you know that Juliette was a piano prodigy. She was twelve in that story and her father’s favorite song was the “Sound of Silence,” the version by Disturbed. As I wrote “Before the Silence,” the short story that... Continue Reading →
It's spring and my garden is in full swing!!! These little sugar snap peas are my new favorite. They smell wonderful and taste even better! And they're purple which is my favorite color!!We are also in the middle of Lent, a time of spiritual preparation. As Lent comes to a close, we will enter the... Continue Reading →
I’m thrilled to announce Haunted is here!!! The third and final book in the Awakening Trilogy released today!!! I’m not allowed to post the entire book on my blog but here are the first three chapters. I hope you love it and keep reading! Be sure to order your copy this week, prices will go… Continue Reading →
Hello wonderful readers, I am in search of Beta Readers for my upcoming novel! You are likely wondering what is a beta reader. Great question! A beta reader is someone who receives a free ebook copy of my book before it is released. Amazing right??!! But they have a job to do! Actually, they have… Continue Reading →
It is almost Thanksgiving and while I think about the amazing country I live in, the yummy food I’m about to eat, and how blessed I am to have my family to celebrate with, I also think about the book that started me on this writing journey. The Light begins on Thanksgiving Eve, I also happened to finish writing it right… Continue Reading →
My new dystopian novel is here! Azalea Rose is no different from all the other gestates. Even though she’s been gifted a name by Mr. Northup, she’s still only a slave. She exists for one reason—to serve. How could she be worthy of anything more? After all, she isn’t even a person. People are born… Continue Reading →
I’m not sure how it happens but I really think I blink and days pass by. I remember as a kid things like Christmas and school breaks seemed to take forever to arrive, now as an adult I feel like Christmas is always just around the corner. And, of course, the more things we have… Continue Reading →
Gifted, book two of the Awakening Series is now available as an audiobook. Here’s the link for Audible. If you listen through other audiobook platforms, it will be to those soon or might already be there. I’m asked often about the inspiration for Gifted and Awakening. I understand why people are curious! The idea entered… Continue Reading →
Writing a novel was never something I dreamed of doing when I was a child or even a grown-up. I was always thrilled for those I knew who wrote but never imagined I would someday join them. In 2009 at the age of 30, my husband and I went on a trip to Colorado. The… Continue Reading →
This blog post is literally a year overdue! I meant to write this after I released Awakening, not Gifted, but as I discussed in my last post—it has been quite the year! So, since this is a year late, I’m just going to go ahead and assume that you’ve read Awakening and will hopefully be… Continue Reading →
I am thrilled to announce that Gifted, the sequel to Awakening, is now available in Paperback and will be available as an ebook on Saturday (6/12). I did not intend for these two formats to release at different times, but I guess after now seven novels and a children’s book/coloring book I still don’t have… Continue Reading →
“If you want to change the world, go home and love your family.” This is one of my very favorite quotes from one of my very favorite Saints. Mother Teresa was not known in her early life for being particularly extraordinary. Our priest told a story this past Sunday about how even after Mother Teresa… Continue Reading →
When I started writing I made a deal with God—I would write the stories, but He would have to do everything else. I wonder sometimes what He thinks of us. Probably similar to how I look upon my own children with love and care and general amusement. As I have continued on this writing journey,… Continue Reading →
I’m moving! Here’s is a picture of my new office. As you can tell, I am not moving tomorrow 😉 But I am moving soon, and I would love to get as many of my books out of my house before then as I can! Plus, Christmas is coming up (yes, it is we are… Continue Reading →
Four years ago, yesterday, I published The Light. Several years before I wrote it, I had visions of Bria and Jonah standing on the side of a frozen highway. They were not speaking, not moving. They were doing nothing except standing there. This is how my writing works. Until I write it, I have no… Continue Reading →
My newest novel, Awakening, is now available! Awakening is the start of a new series, with new characters, and new stories. It launched as a #1 New Release – thanks to all of you who pre-ordered your copy!! From the outside, seventeen-year-old Siena has the perfect life. She and her two younger sisters are adored… Continue Reading →
I’m thrilled to announce that my new novel, Awakening, is now available for pre-order! It releases June 30th, which is only 7 days away (envision nail-biting here – except I don’t bite my nails 😉 I’m very proud of Awakening and completely nervous to hear what you all think of it. Awakening is set in… Continue Reading →
These last many months, I have been working on a few different writing projects. The main one is my new novel, Awakening—scheduled to be released in the next few weeks! While I was writing that book, I had an idea for a picture book for young kids. In part, because my children are always asking… Continue Reading →
Awakening is so close to being here!! It is in the very final stages of editing. How long does that take? I should be ready to release it in late June. Just in time for summer reading – yay!! I absolutely cannot wait to share it with you!!!!! I’ll be sending you another exciting update… Continue Reading →
The fifth and final book in The Light Series, Out of the Darkness, is now available on Audio. Here is the link for Audible and the link for Chirp. If there is an audio site that it is not on, please let me know! And as always, you can listen to my books through your… Continue Reading →
Such a fantastic title for a fairy tale that until this weekend, I had never heard of. This almost 200-page story by George Macdonald is one that is perfect for almost all ages (I would say 7 and up), genders, religions, etc. It truly has it all: a beautiful great great great grandmother who is… Continue Reading →
I’m super excited to announce that I am a guest on Danielle Bean’s hugely popular Girlfriends podcast! It was a treat to get to speak to such an incredible woman! If you have a few minutes take a listen. You will hear me talk about how I transitioned from psychologist to author (the cliff notes… Continue Reading →
One of the best parts about being a writer is that people very often tell me about wonderful books they think I would like. I love hearing about these books, but I feel guilty because I know I will read very few of them. I am a ridiculously slow reader and I have so many… Continue Reading →
About 18 months ago I received an email from a woman asking me if my books were available on audio. I told her I wished they were but that I probably wouldn’t be ready for that career step for at least 6 months. Her follow up email spoke of how one of her daughters had… Continue Reading →
Out of the Darkness, the 5th and final book in The Light series is now available! Here is the link for ebooks and the link for paperbacks. (If you are a bookseller you can get the books through Ingram or NewDay/Spiritus.) Thank you all so much for being my very faithful readers, the preorder sales… Continue Reading →
Out of the Darkness, the fifth and final book of The Light Series is now available for ebook preorder. If you are one of my many readers who prefer a physical book, then hold tight for a few more days. My plan is to release the paperback a few days before November 7th (the release… Continue Reading →
18 years ago (yesterday) I walked into a bar (the bar section of TGIFridays) and sat down beside a cute boy who was sweet and shy. This past summer we celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary. This is a picture of us on a recent trip to Las Vegas. We were there for him to attend… Continue Reading →
A common question authors are asked is, what music do you listen to while writing? I have always found this question slightly odd, or perhaps the question simply highlights how odd I am. Very often authors have tons of playlists for their writing. For me, I have silence. When I write I try and stay… Continue Reading →
Summer is over and I have to say I’m not super sad about that. I absolutely loved having my kids home with me and already miss them, but as far as summers go 2019 was not one for the happy record book. We followed up the awfulness we experienced at the beginning of summer, with… Continue Reading →
It’s been about six months since I released Into the Embers and I am hearing often from readers asking when the Fifth and Final Book of The Light series is going to be out. I love this question!! Here is the answer – I don’t know 😊 But here’s what I do know: I have… Continue Reading →
This past weekend my family and I went to Disney World. We live 2-3 hours away and are fortunate to go about twice a year. Every time we’ve gone for the last 2 years, we have tried to get fast passes for the Avatar Pandora ride, and every time we have failed. (For those who… Continue Reading →
Why are some lives valued more than others? You want to tell me, no you’re wrong all people are equally valued. That is what you want to tell me and what I want to hear, but we both know it isn’t true. In The Light Series I write of a world where only the young,… Continue Reading →
A few weeks ago, my family and I went skiing. While I was swooshing down the slopes, I was thinking a lot about a new, non-Light Series story. (You’ll hear more about that in future blog posts!) And I was thinking about how analogous skiing is for life. I found myself feeling very confident on… Continue Reading →
Bria, my lead character from The Light series, and I are very different. Where she always knew the right outfit to wear and her hair and makeup were always flawless, I am typically woefully dressed for any given situation with hair that likely needs to be brushed and makeup that may or may not make… Continue Reading →
One of the prayers my family and I say together every night is the Our Father, also known as The Lord’s Prayer. My kids have heard this prayer hundreds and hundreds of times. They are both amazing at memorizing random facts and can flawlessly repeat much longer and lesser known prayers, but they both consistently… Continue Reading →
