It’s currently 28 degrees here in coastal North Carolina, the fire’s on, there are cookies in the oven, and I’m snug in a heavy sweater, slippers and woolen socks! Where am I? I moved south to be warm in winters, well, reasonably warm, to write, enjoy evenings of great music and to be close to the shore!

Most of my years here, 7 altogether, winters have been mild. A light jacket, fleece or even a sweater would do. But today, not so! Wrigley was ready to run. But my face was half frozen.

So, I returned home to my journal, my writing and my stack. December and January have been my months to take the polar plunge…not in water, that’s for sure! But a time of immersion, of reading books in my genre, but also in the adult world of writing as well. The stack above, some books I’ve read, a few on my TBR list are my close companions these days. Adult reading happens on my Kindle or in Audible as I walk along with my dog. I always have three books going…the last, my faves, are the middle grade and YA books that I purchase in the real tangible hard and soft cover editions. I’m a writer of children’s books. I want to see and hold, highlight and admire the books written by the many awesome authors out there.

I’m also a consumer. My mentor, Patricia Reilly Giff, always told us, the best way to learn how to write well is to study, to emulate, to carefully consider the words and sentences and paragraphs, the plot line and story structures of authors you admire. There are so many authors I admire!

I’ve recently finished another Dan Gemeinhart book, The Midnight Children. I’m a huge fan of The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise, an adventure story with a widely diverse cast, one that asks you to suspend your disbelief and jump into a pretty unbelievable storyline. Dan’s books always amaze me with their quirky casts, their humor and the many poignant moments he packs inside his pages. The kids in The Midnight Children escape an orphanage and  take up residency at an abandoned house across the street from a lonely boy, Ravani Foster. The Hunter is sent out to find them and bring them back to the home. But these seven kids are feisty and resourceful and find their ways to evade his capture. What I admired most, was Dan’s ability to balance the wide array of characters, fully fleshing them out while keeping the adventure alive. Ravani is a hero to me, and he certainly will be to you! I’ll soon be reading his Coyote sequel as well to study his writing, his words, but also to make myself a part of the fun!

Soon, my debut novel, Ivy Leigh Ever After will find her way out into the world…mid-February is the target date! I hope Ivy will find her way onto your stack by then! Whether you’re a middle grade reader, a teacher or librarian, or even an adult reader at heart, Ivy’s life challenges, I hope, will resonate with you. It’s a multi-generational story of second chances, something everyone can relate to, I think! 😉