A Gratitude Challenge

A Gratitude Challenge

by | Nov 2, 2023 | Thoughtful Thursdays

Last year I presented this challenge to you. It’s a new year, a new November, and I wanted to challenge you again with this. Original post published 11/3/22.

It’s November. Every November, as I scroll through social media or blogs, I see people posting about what they’re grateful for. Thankful for. People taking the whole month to appreciate all they’ve been given from the Lord. Beautiful, obviously!

But you know…sometimes I see or hear those same people doing something we all fall into so easily, even during a month of gratitude: COMPLAINING.

I very nearly titled this post “Hey, you–yeah, YOU–stop complaining!” … but I wasn’t sure it would come through that I was talking to myself as much as you, LOL. But I totally am. Because here’s the thing, friends: complaining is addictive.

Seriously. It releases one of those chemicals into your brain, and it also elicits responses from people–either they jump on board with the complaining (bonding!) or they argue, but either way, it feeds our need to be seen and heard and to engage with others.

Complaining can sometimes help us articulate a problem and, hence, find a solution to it. Sometimes stating, “Man, I’m tired,” can mean, “I should probably stop working now and rest before I make a mistake,” or “Wow, I’ve put in a hard day’s work today!” Sometimes, when I say I’m sore, what I’m really saying is that I need to take a few minutes to stretch. There is simple observation…

But how often do we instead use our complaints as a constant lens through which we view the world? How often do we go looking for what we disapprove of in a situation, instead of focusing on the good?

Just think over your latest conversations. Food, politics, religion, your car, your work, your clothes, your family…how much of your focus on these topics was on the negative? Sure, we can be grateful we have all those things, but if we then turn around and pick it apart, are we really exhibiting the gratitude and thanksgiving that God calls us to offer up to Him?

In a book of efficiency called Effortless, the author had caught himself in a pattern of complaining so issued himself a simple challenge: every time he complained out loud, he had to put a dollar in a jar. Well, he soon curbed the spoken words, so then it was every time he thought about complaining, he put the money in. Pretty soon, he’d stopped even thinking complaints. Every time something came up that would usually have made him grumble, he consciously reframed it. Maybe into a mere observation: So maybe, “She is late AGAIN” turned into “Huh, that’s the third time this week she’s been late” and then–here’s the real trick–into a compassionate response like “I wonder why she’s late again? Are her days stressful? Is there anything I can do to help her with that?”

This month, I’m going to be issuing myself a challenge, and I’d love it if some of you would join me. Let’s turn our complaining into compassion and our grumbling into gratitude! Every time we think or speak a complaint, let’s pause and reframe it into something positive–something to be grateful for. Let’s stop being put out by people and start trying to help them.

My example: when walking along the beach with my best friend in September, I observed, “Man, it’s crowded out here! I hate crowded beaches.” We’d just been talking about complaining, so we laughed and immediately reframed it to: “Isn’t it great that so many people are out with their families enjoying God’s creation? It’s pretty awesome that I get to be here sharing that with them too.”

To help us all out with that, I’ve even created a little printable mini-journal. To help us develop the habit, let’s keep this with us and jot down our complaints–and more importantly, our reframing of them into a praise–throughout the month. I bet as the weeks wears on, we’ll find fewer and fewer occasions to use it…because we’ll stop complaining in general!

What things or topics tend to evoke the most complaints in your conversation? How can you check that impulse?

Download the Printable Journal
Word of the Week – Halloween

Word of the Week – Halloween

by | Oct 30, 2023 | Holidays, Word of the Week

Here we are again, back in the last days of October…which of course means HALLOWEEN (imagine me saying it in that exaggerated spooky voice, will you? LOL). So of course, I looked up what I’ve posted about it before. And yes, this is just last year’s post, recycled. But hey, why not? It’s a perfect post for the day!

And whether you are pro or opposed to Halloween (or something in between), one can’t ignore the fascinating history of both the word itself and the traditions surrounding it. I’ve blogged about it before in a post that combines all my recollection as I looked into the holiday for my own family’s celebrating, but today I want to focus mostly on the word.

We’ve probably all heard that Halloween is a shortening of All Hallow’s Even or All Hallow’s Eve, and it’s been called such since the 1300s, at least (though the single-word spelling, as we have it now, is recorded first in Scotland in 1781. Even or eve are of course, in turn, a shortening of evening. We most famously still use this, of course, on Christmas Eve, to denote the night or vigil of the sacred day itself.

But what about that Hallow? We know that word primarily from the Lord’s prayer–it means “holy” or, in this case, “ones who are holy”–saints. November 1 is All Saints Day or All Hallows Day, the day marked on the calendar for celebrating all the saints–a day so important that, in the Roman Catholic Church, it’s one of only six Holy Days of Obligation in the year. (Those are days when going to mass to remember the event is required.) Why is it given such honor? Because this is literally the day to remember all the Christians who have come before us, who are gathered now in heaven. This is a day to honor the Church as the Bride of Christ and remember each member, each cell throughout time.

In the post I link to above, I mentioned the very real spiritual warfare style traditions that sprang up as Christianity clashed with paganism in Celtic Ireland and Scotland, and those are a big part of the story. It’s also worth noting, however, that as Christianity took hold, this holy day was so important that children anticipated it as much as Christmas and went around their neighborhoods asking for donations of sweets so they could make “soul cakes” to remember the neighbors’ loved ones on All Saints Day…sometimes even dressed up as saints themselves.

As with many of our holidays, there’s a mix of the holy and the not-so-holy in today’s traditions…but no shortage of fascinating history to both the word and the day!

Do you or your family have any fun Halloween traditions? I’m feeling very nostalgic in general this year and have been remembering picking out my costumes as a kid and running through my grandmother’s neighborhood (I didn’t live in a neighborhood, LOL) with my plastic pumpkin. Some good memories there!

YOUR Creativity!

YOUR Creativity!

by | Oct 26, 2023 | Thoughtful Thursdays

Well, I’ve just gotten back from another writing retreat, this one in Pensacola Beach, FL, with my best friend/critique partner, Stephanie. We spent a whole week together this time (first time ever, in honor of her 40th birthday!), and we alternated our time between writing, walking on the beach, and talking and laughing.

These creative retreats–always writing for me–are amazing things. I’ve talked about them many times before. And what I love is that so many of you are inspired by them and email to ask advice for how to make the most of your OWN retreats you’re planning, whether it’s time away with friends or a few days you’ve taken off work at home to finish up that project you mean to be a gift before a special day.

As I’m in the midst of my own season of retreats and creativity, and as we’re approaching November, which is National Novel Writing Month and many writers I know will be putting their creative noses to the metaphorical grindstone–not to mention that the holidays are approaching and many creatives are making gifts for loved ones, or even for sale–I thought it was the perfect time to doff my cap to you all. Whether writers or crafters or quilters or seamstresses or yarn-artists or any number of other things, YOU are creative. Each and every one of you. Made in the image of our creative God.

A while back, I conducted a survey, which 125 of you took the time to fill out (THANK YOU!!). It was a LONG survey, so the fact that so many of you completed it is amazing and humbling! But I absolutely LOVED learning more about you. I loved how open and vulnerable you were on the questions about your hopes and fears, your dreams and disappointments. And I also loved seeing how you each express your creativity in the form of your hobbies.

I never actually shared those results with you all, which was such an oversight! I’m not doing to go into ALL the questions, of course, but as I’m pondering creativity, I do want to share the results of the hobby section–specifically, the creative aspects.

Baking/Cooking

We all need to eat and most of us have other people we’re responsible for feeding now and then (or constantly) too. Sometimes this very basic act of creation–creating food meant to take the basic act of sustenance from necessity to pleasure–can be a chore. Sometimes it can be true artistic expression. Often, it’s something in between.

Now, I will readily admit that cooking usually feels like a chore to me, but baking is always a delight. I love making homemade breads, cookies, cakes, muffins…you name it. If it goes in the oven, I love to make it, and that goes for savory as well as sweet dishes.

And 60.8% of you also said that you consider baking or cooking to be a hobby! Now, how many of you who checked that box pause to think of it as creative? Hopefully all of you. Or if you haven’t before, I hope the next time you’re stirring together ingredients in the kitchen, you pause to consider that you’re taking bits and pieces of separate things and creating something new from them, just like an artist with a brush.

Dancing

Creative expression through dance is another art form that I have such great appreciation for! From ballroom dancing to modern and everything in between, dancing is a performance that turns our bodies into our metaphorical paint brushes. I danced as a kid, and while I haven’t lately, my daughter took ballet for 13 years, and I love watching their shows. There’s something so amazing about seeing how the grace God granted humanity can be used to create these visuals with our limbs. Synchronized movement, then variated movement among the dancers…dance is something that always amazes me, impresses me, and makes me smile.

In my survey, 14.4% of you love dancing and do it enough to consider it a hobby. You are all artists!

Gardening

Talk about imitating our Creator!

I am not a gardener. I love the idea of it and had great goals of getting into gardening when I was a young woman first out on my own, but then reality set in, and I realized I would rather spend that time doing other things, LOL. But I absolutely love the RESULTS of gardening and love seeing what other people grow. If you’re a gardener, I’d love to hear whether you focus on flowers or fruits and veggies, or both! What do you most love bringing forth from the ground? What’s the most fun for you to grow? The biggest challenge?

22.4% of you reported loving to garden! I imagine when you see what has sprung up from once-barren earth, you have a little sliver of the same “it is good” feeling that God had when He fashioned the earth and planted it.

Hand Crafts

When the kids were little, we did so much crafting! Sometimes it was using paper and glue and (that dreaded) glitter, sometimes it was craft sticks and hot glue and paint, sometimes it was molded string. We have Modge Podge in every variety, balsam wood, clay, paint…I actually just cleaned out our old craft basket and smiled over all the things my kids and I used to create. And we were just amateurs! When I scroll through Etsy looking for unique, handmade gifts, I’m in awe over how creative and skilled so many people are! From decorations made from old book pages (a fabulous way to recycle books otherwise destined for the trash, for sure!) to woodworking, to handmade ornaments and so much more, people’s crafty creations always make me smile.

And I’m not the only one! 29.6% of you claim crafting as a hobby, and I would LOVE to see some of the things you create!

Music

Performance arts are so interesting, aren’t they? Music and dance and other performances are a unique kind of creativity, in that they vanish as soon as they’re completed. They can be appreciated only by being there and watching or listening, at least until relatively recently. Today, of course, we can record them and rewatch or listen. But that wasn’t the case for most of human history…and yet music has always been part of our story. So even without being able to trot it out over and over, humanity obviously placed great emphasis on creating and performing music, whether with an instrument or voice.

My first part-time job was playing the organ at my church. At one of my early office jobs in college, it soon became a joke that Nicole (who worked at the desk beside mine) talked to herself, and I sang to myself. So true. I have always been wont to break into song without warning (just ask my sister, who threatened to disown me as a teen if I didn’t stop singing first thing in the morning…).

And I am definitely not the only music lover among us! The survey reported that 36% of you are also musicians! This includes both vocal and instrumental music. But I’d love to know more! Do you sing? Play an instrument? Which ones? Do share in the comments!

Performing Arts (stage and screen)

Of course, there are more performing arts than dance and music, so I lumped them together as “stage and screen.” When I was in middle school, I fancied myself destined for an acting career for, oh, a year or two. I did some community theater productions–a one-act Christmas play and then The King and I. After that, I decided that while I loved it, I didn’t love the time investment and didn’t actually see myself pursuing it as a career, so I shrugged and decided to write another book instead. 😉

But the love never left me entirely, for sure, and in recent years as my husband has learned the film industry, my respect for everyone involved in creating such entertainment has only grown. The creativity involved in writing, acting, set-creation, lighting, sound, and more is awe-inspiring. And then if you toss in CG for screen stuff, not to mention costume design, choreography and staging…I mean, wow, right?

There were 12% of the survey-takers who are involved in this sort of performing arts. If you’re involved in stage or screen, I’d love to know what your favorite show you’ve worked on has been!

Photography

As a graphics designer, good photographers have my infinite respect and awe. I am TERRIBLE at photography. I don’t know why, but I learned long ago to pass my camera or phone to one of my kids instead of trying to take it myself, even when they were little, LOL. There is so much creativity, skill, instinct, and artistic eye involved in capturing an image in just the way you want to.

15.2% of you claimed photography as a hobby…but I bet many more of you than that take joy in capturing that sunrise or perfect flower, snapping pictures of your families and friends, or immortalizing a moment in time with the help of your camera or cell phone. And each time you do, you’re creating a lasting memory.

Quilting

I probably only thought to include this one because I have 2 quilters in my P&P group, which means I’ve gotten to watch some quilts come to life before my eyes. So much fun! Before I got married, I decided I wanted to quilt, so hand-pieced a quilt-top, along with my best college friend…but I never actually finished the quilting, LOL. And I have no idea where the top is…my MIL took it to someone to finish, but we never got it back, and that was 20 years ago, so…

Anyway. Candice and Deanna aren’t alone, but they’re in the minority. There were 5.6% of you who reported loving to quilt. Few, but we can all appreciate the artistry and functionality of the beauty you create with fabric and thread. =)

Reading

A not surprising 96.8% of you reported reading as a hobby, and I’d love to know who on my list doesn’t love reading, that we’re missing 3.2% LOL. 😉

Seriously, though, my P&P group debated whether reading was creative, and I decided that OF COURSE it is! Reading is how we interact with writing, but it’s more than that. When we read, we create too. We add ourselves to what the writer created, we take it in and make it our own. We visit new places, we imagine new people, we hear their voices and experience whole worlds with them. And we do it creatively. No two people experience a book in the same way, no two people imagine the characters exactly the same. Each book you read is YOURS, and part of your own creativity.

Sewing

I love listening to the stories people tell about parents and grandparents who sew, about learning it themselves, about passing it along. We laugh over stories of kids who either love or hate what’s created for them, and what sort of sewing people excel at. I daresay we ALL love that so many people DO sew! That’s how we get the clothes we wear, the dresses we drool over, the items we need for our homes, and so much more.

My own use of a needle and thread is minimal, but sewing is something I wish I could do better, and which my daughter hopes to master when she has the time, so that she can create or alter her own clothes (necessary for someone as petite and slender as she is–nothing ever fits!). There were 23.2% of you who checked that box, and I’d love to know what your favorite thing is to sew. =)

Visual Arts (drawing, painting, sculpting etc)

Often when we think of creatives, visual artists spring to mind. These are the drawers and painters, the sculptors and creators that we usually think of when we say the word “artist.” I love visual arts, though I’m by no means an expert. I have an artistic eye and a small dose of talent (very small), enough to make me really appreciate those who can just take a pencil, paper, and make something beautiful appear on it. My daughter and niece are both amazing artists and make me so proud.

According to my survey, 11.2% of you take joy in creating this kind of art, and of course I would LOVE to see what you create. =) What’s your preferred media? Subject? Style?

Writing

I was so excited to see that 43.2% of you are writers too! I’m obviously partial to this form of creativity, and I talk about it enough that I daresay I don’t need to wax poetical here. 😉 But I am curious about whether such a huge percentage of ALL my readers also write, or if it’s just that fellow-writers are more likely to fill out a survey for one of their own, LOL. 😉 In either case, three cheers for the wordsmiths who create whole worlds, filled with people and stories, in their minds and put them down for others to share in as well!

Yarn Crafts (Knitting, Crocheting, etc)

In 2015, a wonderful lady at my church decided to start knitting and crocheting lessons before our weekly Bible study, so I thought, “Sure, we’ll go.” I’d always had a fascination with the simple beauty of yarn, but I had never picked up either a knitting needle or crochet hook before. But after the first lesson, once I’d figured out what in the world that basic knit stitch was, I attacked knitting with the single-minded focus I occasionally get for anything that I find interesting. Yes, we can call it obsession. It was, LOL. I didn’t want to wait for the next week to learn how to purl, so I had YouTube instruct me. And then I watched some other videos. And I went into my next lesson with a potholder-sized piece in three colors that I’d created with no pattern, just watching a pretty stitch someone did on YouTube. Judith (my teacher) was dumbfounded. The next week, I’d made a cabled scarf (because how was I supposed to know that cabling was difficult? It looked easy enough to me!). I definitely operated on the “I don’t know what I can’t do” mentality and dove off the deep-end, for sure, LOL.

I wouldn’t consider knitting an obsession these days, but I do absolutely still love to do it. I’ve learned what I can’t do yet (short rows, man…I need to watch videos every time!) and also learned that smaller projects suit my time constraints better. I get bored with larger ones. I’ve only crocheted a few small things, but one of these days when time permits, don’t be surprised if I determine to master that too. 😉

And clearly this is still a very popular pastime! 29.6% of you claim yarn crafts as a hobby. Do tell me whether you prefer knitting or crocheting, and if you have a favorite type of project or particular pattern you return to over and again. I think shawls are always going to be my go-to…so much variety and beauty!

And Write-Ins…

I also gave people the chance to write in other hobbies I hadn’t put on the form. There were many that included physical activities that I’m not defining as strictly “creative” for the purposes of this post, but the other creative ones included writing encouraging notes, puzzles, woodworking, soap making, candle making, journaling, and scrapbooking.

You are all SO creative, in so many ways! And I love seeing the variety that creative bent takes in us all. =)

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Word of the Week – Sophomore

Word of the Week – Sophomore

by | Oct 23, 2023 | Word of the Week

We know sophomore as “second”–second year of school, primarily, both high school and college…but it’s been extended to other “seconds” as well. One’s second book is called one’s sophomore work, and so on. That primary meaning has been in use in English since the 1680s, of university students.

But when you dig a little deeper into this word, you find a good laugh.

The word was originally sophume, which literally meant “arguer.” It traces it’s roots back to the Greek sophia, of course: “wisdom.” But more particularly, to sophist, which at its own root was supposed to be “a master of one’s craft, a wise or prudent man”…but which colloquially came to be seen as someone who argues a point, not much caring whether it’s right or not–they just want to win. They’ll say whatever sounds good. (There are quite a few ancient documents that delineate the difference between a sophist and a philosopher. By the time Plato wrote, sophist had a definite negative connotation among the learned.)

And that connotation was rather purposefully drawn into this English version, too. It was chosen for second year students because they tend to argue and think they’re right. Evidence for that can be seen by the variation from sophume to sophomore. That -mor is an appeal to “moron.” Yep. Sophomore is a deliberate mash-up of “wise and prudent” and “moron.”

I can laugh because I’ve been a sophomore twice in school and as a writer too, and boy, do I see the truth in that! 😉

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An Invitation to the World of the Awakened

An Invitation to the World of the Awakened

by | Oct 19, 2023 | Book News, Books, Fantasy

An Invitation to the World of the Awakened

Where the magic is in the meeting of those who should never be friends…

Imagine a world thousands of years in the future, where the Lord has tarried in His return…

A world where a great cataclysm has struck,
sending a portion of the population beneath the sea
in search of safety. Imagine a people who learned
to thrive and survive beneath the waves.

They are still men. But they are also mer.
And they will not be dictated to by land-dwellers.

Imagine a world that cried out to God for help…and He answered.

A gift from God…combined with the technology of men.

“Magic,” they call it, knowing it is truly
science and faith combined.
But it doesn’t show up just anywhere.

Magic only comes in the meeting.
The meeting of worlds,
where enemies find a way to become friends.

And magic must be Awakened.
Awakened by the blood of another with this Gift.

King Seidon

In that world, King Seidon rules the tidal kingdom of Daryatla. He is the latest–and perhaps last–in a line of powerful half-mer rulers whose “magic” helps him control water, especially the sea. He is the strongest monarch since the days of the evil first Sea King, who tried to subjugate the mer. Seidon is a man of faith and conviction, and during his 200 years of rule, he has grown his power more and more, so that he can bring prosperity to lands all up and down the continent and extending ever farther inland.

He brings rain when it is needed, holds it off when it would flood. He calms storms and keeps the rivers in their courses, keeps a hand on the tides and can change them at will. It is a dangerous power–but one that he knows is kept in check by the Lord. If ever the Triada’s favor is revoked, all his people will know it. The Waters of Mercy won’t surge their blessing in the great cathedral, and his power will be given to whoever arises as worthy of it. He must seek God above all, always.

The stronger he grows, the longer his life stretches out before him…but Seidon is alone. His friends age and die while he grows only younger. And never, in all his years, has he been able to find the thing he craves most: a family, children to raise to take his place.

And now, the mer kingdom off his shores is in uproar…
and war is looming for them all.

Arden never expected to be called upon to help her kingdom.

Arden Bleu

She still remembers the lonely years, when her father, Guardian of the Barrier Banks–one of the king’s most trusted men–waited for her mother to come back and prove herself alive. She’d said she was dying and must return to her people before she did…but Arden doesn’t even remember her mother. She only remembers the haunted look in her father’s eyes, and how it all changed when he finally admitted his first wife was gone forever, fell in love with Sapphire, and married her, giving Arden a little sister and a best friend–Jade.

Jericho Bleu, Guardian of the Barrier Banks

Sapphire Bleu, Artist

They were inseparable as children, they’re inseparable still as adults, even though Jade is so beautiful that it surely means magic waits in her veins to be Awakened. Arden has always known Jade is special–so special that one of the Great Golden Sea Hawks circles them every day, and has ever since the day Jade was born. Arden doesn’t even know what her own dreams are, only that she can’t imagine what she’ll do when Jade leaves. After their Awakening ceremony, she’ll surely be swept into service by the king, or she’ll chase her dreams into a position as ambassador to the mer…and Arden will no doubt still be here. On her father’s island. Alone, always the outcast. It’s enough to make her hate the king she’s never met, who has been away from his capital city all her life.

But then the unthinkable happens.
Jade is kidnapped by the mer.

 

And not just any mer…
it seems the mysterious Black Tails have returned.
And where there are Black Tails, there is war between mer and men.

Jade Calimore

Arden will do anything to save her stepsister, even appeal to the king she hoped never to meet, the king who could have taken her father from her at any moment, the king who would surely have seen Jade’s potential too and called her into service. With her cousin, Storm, who her father has been training to be a member of the king’s Elite Guard–and who is in love with Jade–she goes to the palace to make her appeal, on the day of the biggest celebration Daryatla has seen in a century:

The king’s 275th birthday and 200th coronation anniversary ball–The Blue Ball.

Together, Arden and Storm beseech King Seidon for his aid.

But Seidon knows that more than the fate of one of his oldest friends’ stepdaughters is at stake. He knows that the mer would not have kidnapped Jade unless they thought she possessed strong magic.

 

Storm Bleu, Guardian in Training

Magic like he sensed in the water when she was taken. Magic that may just be strong enough to match his own.

Magic that could finally make a way for a future for Daryatla…if only he can rescue her from the mer.

Beneath the waves, Jade finds a kingdom on the brink of revolution.

Her kidnappers, the elusive Black Tails, are fighting for their very survival. When the Crown Princess ascends to the throne in a few months, she has sworn to kill all other Awakened, thinking it will strengthen her own power enough to challenge Seidon. But her siblings, cousins, and the other magical mer aren’t about to give up without a fight.

Prince Finn Sael

Prince Finn is the leader of the rebellion, but he knows that alone, and even with the help of his comrades, may not be strong enough to defeat his sister once she holds the power of the crown. So when his cousin, a priest of the One, tells him a prophecy foretells someone with Sky Magic, and that he thinks he’s found her, Finn agrees to kidnap Jade…and secure her powers for his purposes.

Electra is none too pleased with the plan, but she goes along because Finn is her best hope of survival. When she’s charged with training Jade, though, Jade isn’t sure if she is an ally…or the most dangerous enemy.

Electra, Black Tail Warrior

Librus, Priest of the One

Electra’s brother, Librus, the priest advising Finn, takes Jade under his wing…and reveals to her a magic no one on land knows. A magic that could well challenge Seidon and threaten everyone she loves. A magic she can’t convince him she doesn’t share, no matter how she tries.

What neither Arden nor Seidon could know is that more than Jade is waiting to be found.

Jade’s guardian hawk soon swoops down to help in the search, but even that isn’t the biggest surprise. What neither king nor guardian’s daughter could have expected was the quick connection they find in each other. No one ever took the time to know Arden at all, as long as she was in Jade’s shadow…and no one looks beyond the king to see the man beneath the fearsome powers and strength of the crown.

Ora, the Great Golden Sea Hawk

But in order to save Jade and all of Daryatla, they’ll have to be willing to sacrifice everything…and be willing to trust God to do the impossible.

The Tidal Palace

If you’ve read this far, then you may be interested in exploring new worlds with me–or rather, a vision of what our own world could become if God so ordained it. A world in which the hearts of His people must still seek Him, and seek unity with each other, to unlock our true potential. A world of romance and royalty, mermaids and giant sea birds, rivalries and friendships in unexpected places.

This is a story that has nourished my mind and heart and spirit over the last few months as I’ve developed it…but obviously a far cry from my usual historical romances. Oh, there’s still much the same–deep characters, swoon-worthy heroes, heart-racing romance, and an invitation to look deep into your own heart and soul. But this time, it’s on a backdrop of my own making, a future earth, instead of a world of centuries past. (Don’t worry though, historical romance fans! I’m still writing that too!)

I don’t want to bore my historical romance readers with news and updates of this story if you’re NOT interested in joining me on this adventure as it unfolds…but I definitely DO want to invite along anyone who thinks this story world sounds like a place they’d like to spend some time. I envision it eventually unfolding as a series, exploring the various regions of this new version of the world and what this God-given “magic” looks like in different kingdoms. First though, of course, is this book. I’m about halfway through the first draft.

In the next several months, I want to call upon YOU, you readers who are interested in joining me here, to help me decide on a title, on the cover, and so on. I’ll share images like the ones I’ve created (with AI) for this post, bits and pieces as I write, and what my plans are as they develop. I want to make sure the story I’m telling is one you want to hear. So if you’re interested in being part of my new core of royal fantasy readers, please let me know!

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