Merry Christmas Eve-Eve!

Per our yearly tradition, I have a little excerpt from KENNEDY coming up for you as your Christmas Eve-Eve gift, but first, an update on what I am writing next year…

You know how at the beginning of the year some people pick a word that is their theme for the new year? Something you want to work on or focus on in the coming year? Well, I never did that. But looking back at 2020 if I could pick a word that was my theme, it would be persevere. I’m sure the rest of you can probably relate.

Last year at this time I was planning my writing goals for 2020 and wrote down writing all four Legacy books and then getting two books published. I did that. It wasn’t pretty. A pandemic hit right in the middle of all of it. It was utterly exhausting, but I still did that. As I look to next year and what I want to write, I’m hesitant for once. I think I can thank 2020 for that.

I’m hesitant because I don’t know at what point I may have to switch back to homeschooling my boys. I’m hesitant because we might get sick. I’m hesitant because I feel like I was in survival mode all year and was a piss poor friend to a lot of my friends. I’m hesitant because after a year like this one, all I want to do is binge read for a week or two. And also give my grandma a hug.

These last two years have been so exhausting. So very worth it, but so exhausting.

So as I pray over and plan out 2021 and what I want to accomplish, I’m going to do things a little differently this time. I’m going to make some self-care goals right next to my writing ones. And I’m not going to write four books. Maybe just two. Maybe three. I don’t know for sure because I don’t know if I will be homeschooling or not.

That being said, it’s crazy how my brain works. I know I need to write the final book in the Snowed In series. I know that’s first on my to-do list those weeks that Eli and A New Era are with my editor. But this new series just will not shut off. I have random scenes that just came to life that I wrote in the notes of my phone. I have characters' names figured out. I have reference pics for the location. It’s all slamming together in my head and I’m not even ready for it. I know I have to write that last and final cozy Christmas book and have plenty of ideas for that too, but this is seriously taking over my brain.

This same thing happened with The Legacy series too and it was such a fun ride. I have always loved writing, but there was a point last spring where I would literally RUN to my computer whenever I was finally free from motherhood snack duty. (And if you are a mom, you know that’s bedtime.)

I really want to rant on why I’m writing my next series, what compelled me to do it, and give you some deets on what it will be about, but I just cannot yet. Its already threatening to take over my brain and if even one of you got super excited about it, I fear it’d just take over entirely and I wouldn’t get Eli or A New Era out on time.

So the final cozy Christmas book is up first. Then it’s time for the new stuff. And that has me excited. That has me ready for 2021.

2020 was unprecedented. It was cruel. It was brutal. I don’t know what 2021 has in store. But Lord willing, I’ll still be writing. I’ll still be chiseling away at my writing dreams. My problem has always been that I have more stories in my head than I have time to write. So believe me when I say I’m not done yet. But I also have these three little boys that call me mommy. I want to cherish these movie nights, game nights, even after-school homework sessions, because they mean the world to me. So next year, I’m going to do less of a daily wordcount, less pressure to finish an entire series, and just write. Saying that out loud makes me feel a weight lifted off my shoulders. I may write two books next year. Maybe three. Maybe four. However many I get done, there will be less pressure on myself to do it. I’m also going to take weekends off and spend them with my family. I’m going to write the books that take over my brain. And I am going to love life with all I’ve got.

2020 proved to me I could persevere through anything, but it also reminded me how fragile life is. Next year I want to attack my goals just as hard, but with more of a respect for my limitations. I want to avoid burnout. I want less of a to-do list and more of an “I get to” list. Because life is too short and too precious to waste it by not doing the things I love. (One of which is writing!)

I sincerely wish you all the merriest of Christmases. I know it looks different and feels different this year. The thing about Christmas is that it comes regardless of your level of readiness. The packaging doesn’t matter. We need only to look to that manger to see that. Hug your babies. Belt out your favorite songs. Flour bomb your kitchen and make those cookies. We all survived a year that tried to tear us apart in every way imaginable. And that’s something to be proud of. Merry Christmas and much love to you all! I can’t wait to get the rest of the Legacy series to you! Now. What you all really came here for…

THE LEGACY: KENNEDY Chapter 1

Her tears fell into the tub around her, quietly plinking in unlike the monstrously loud sniffing she had going on. She felt sick to her stomach, as if everything she thought she knew in the world was flipped. Like this was an alternate reality she was stuck in but couldn’t get out of.

She couldn’t breathe right, not because her lungs couldn’t work, but because her heart was busted.

She wanted to fix it; she wanted the pain to stop. But the emotions kept rolling through her, rendering her incapable of doing anything but letting them leak out.

Disappointment.

Anger.

Shame.

Despair.

She popped the drain and turned the faucet handle to hot, since her tub water had gone cold who knew how long ago. She wanted her family to hear the sound of the running water, so they’d know she hadn’t done anything drastic. Plus, she wanted to stay in the tub a little longer and relish the alone time.

Earlier, her family had kept checking in on her when she’d been huddled away in her bedroom. It was nice of them, but every time they looked at her with that same worried expression, it served as a slap-to-the-face reminder that this was real life. That it had all really happened.

That Josiah was a jackass.

And maybe had been all along.

And that she was so, so not okay right now...

So there you have it! You get to read that whole book in a few weeks. The entire Legacy series should be out by next summer. We have a lot going on in the next few months and I am just going to run away from my computer before I drop some serious spoilers.

Merry Christmas! May your stockings be hung from the chimney with care in hopes of KENNEDY to soon be there. 😊 P.S. If you haven’t been around for a while, no judgements! I’ll leave the links for the two books out this year and the Kennedy preorder right here for you. Locked In James Preorder for Kennedy