Hello readers of this blog,

I hope everyone had a fantastic summer doing the things you love most! Despite the fact that for the first time in a (very) long time, I don’t have a project (book!) to work on, I stayed busy!

As some of you know, I turned in my seventh novel to my agent back in July. Check out the title – what do you think??? Wait until you hear what this story is about! Both my agent and editor had never heard of the history which makes up the premise of the book.

I continued doing events as well, and still have several more before the end of the year. I had such a great time at all of them, and really appreciated the effort that went into making them so much fun.

One was in Buchanan County, VA, hometown of the beloved writer, Lee Smith. I know many of you have probably read her books. Which one is your favorite? I have ON AGATE HILL, FAIR AND TENDER LADIES, and SAVING GRACE in my TBR pile. I’ve read DIME STORE, which made visiting her hometown of Grundy as part of the Lee Smith Speaker Series even more special. Here are a couple photos from that event:

Another great event was a fundraiser held by the Princeton Public Library at the Longleaf Tavern (now that name is REALLY special to me, and if you’ve read THE SAINTS OF SWALLOW HILL, you know why) where over $10k was raised toward a new library.

I spent time at the Greensboro Public Library for an Author Day where I had a lot of fun hanging out with Melanie Sue Bowles, founder of Proud Spirit Horse Sanctuary, and author extra-ordinaire.

But what’s REALLY kept me on my toes for the past several weeks? And before, I thought I was busy. Haaaaahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!  The joke is on me.

Meet Baby Daphne and Baby Chloe (1st two photos) and the last one was taken about two days ago. As you can see, they’re growing! We’re in the throes of it all, i.e., training. There are good days, and bad days. There was one REALLY bad day that dealt with a leash fiasco.

Book Eight! What is it going to be about? Good question. Right now I have an idea and that’s about it. Tell me about your summer, and what you did!