Weekend Roundup - Y

 This week's assignment: Starts with Y, Favorite, and Yellow.

Starts with Y: YARN starts with Y. This is the beginning of a baby blanket for great-granddaughter.

Favorite: Flowers are always a favorite, but this YELLOW one is one of my favorites.

Yellow: How about A YELLOW butterfly on YELLOW wildflowers? Oh, and a honey bee hiding in the corner.

Linking to Weekend Roundup

Thankful Thursday

 As the year winds down and the house begins to feel a little more like Christmas, I find myself pausing to feel thankful.

Today, I’m thankful for small but satisfying accomplishments—Christmas presents bought, the tree glowing in the corner, and cards sent on their way. Those little checkmarks on the to-do list bring a sense of calm I didn’t know I needed.

I’m deeply thankful that most of my family will be here for the holidays. Time together is something I never want to take for granted, especially as the years seem to move faster and faster.

This year also brought something I’m especially grateful for: finishing two books. One is already published, and the other will be very soon. There were moments of doubt, long days, and revisions that tested my patience—but seeing those projects come to life has been incredibly rewarding.

As I look back on 2025, I’m allowing myself to reflect on both the good and the hard parts. Every year carries its share of lessons, and I want to carry those forward with intention. It’s time to think about what worked, what didn’t, and how I can grow from it all.

Looking ahead to 2026, I’m setting a goal that excites and challenges me: to publish two more books by the end of the year. Writing continues to be a gift, a discipline, and a joy—and I’m thankful I get to pursue it.

For now, I’ll sit with gratitude—for family, for finished projects, for hope, and for the promise of a new year just around the corner.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Linking to Thankful Thursday

 

Whispering Pines

 It's here. This is my third full length novel.

This story has lived quietly with me for a long time, and I’m so excited to finally share it with you. Thank you for reading, for supporting my work, and for stepping into these pages with me. I hope you like it. It's available on Amazon. Thank you very much for your interest. Please feel free to share.

https://a.co/d/6PJSuR2

In the shadow of a savage tornado that claims their parents in a fiery crash, sisters Willa and Skye Stanley cling to survival—and each other—amid the wreckage of their young lives. But as grief gives way to suspicion, a web of small-town murders unravels around them. Whispers of sabotage and buried secrets point fingers at Willa, Skye, and their foster brother Finn.

After college, Willa inherits a family home in Illinois—a crumbling castle laced with ancestral spirits—Willa seeks solace in her writing and a tentative romance with enigmatic contractor Ethan Gray. Yet the killings follow. Finn's shadowed origins collide with a vengeful phantom—a red-haired specter whispering warnings of "he's coming"—as familial wraiths rise to shield the living from a monster born of betrayal.

In this pulse-pounding blend of cozy mystery and supernatural suspense, Whispering Pines weaves a tapestry of love, loss, and lethal legacies. When the cellar door creaks open on a blood-soaked reckoning, one family's unbreakable bond must bury the killer forever.

Weekend Roundup - X

 This week's assignment: Has an X, Favorite, and looks like X.

HAS AN X: TEXXAS Jam 1980. Don't think we could see these bands for $16.50 these days.

FAVORITE: With an S - eXquisite view. Wish I could be there on this snowy, wintry day.

LOOKS LIKE X: I'm reaching here, but this Monarch butterfly is clinging to the center of an X. Sort of. :)

Linking to:  Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup - W

This week's assignment: Starts with W, Favorite, and Winter.

Starts with W: Black and WHITE WARBLER

Favorite: Beautiful WHITE horse named WHISKY. I sure miss seeing him out the WINDOW every day. But he is happy in his new home.

Winter:The first real snow of the WINTER came this past weekend. Brr!

Linking to Weekend Roundup