I haven’t blogged since November. While I’ve missed our weekly visits, I found it necessary to step away for a while to focus on writing, deadlines, and family obligations. Over the years, I’ve come to recognize things I must relegate to the back burner for a season. Blogging’s one of those things.
You may remember my father is in the latter stages of Alzheimer’s. I’d love to say this isn’t so. It’s still surreal, and acknowledging this is painful. Knowing a loved one will never get better, at least this side of heaven, shifts our perspective. I’m not sure it gets easier. We adjust.
We navigate on, knowing life continues. We still must work, care for our families, and balance daily routines with the added dimensions that Alzheimer’s brings. Not easy, but necessary.
We draw strength from God’s word and in the promise of eternity where there will be no more sorrow or sadness or shedding of tears.
So, while the weight of earthly “stuff” sometimes overwhelms, God ministers in ways unique to us. He sends necessary boosts just when we need them.
This week, one of those boosts came my way.
My debut novel Her Hope Discovered is a 2020 Selah Award (Double) finalist! HHD finaled in the First Novel and Contemporary Romance categories, and I’m so honored and delighted to be among such a talented group of authors. Winners will be announced at the annual Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference on the evening of May 27th.
This writing milestone would tickle Daddy, always my biggest cheerleader. Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but I’d like to believe he somehow knows. That he knows, too, his tenacity and perseverance rubbed off, and that his daughter is continuing the dream he fostered.
If you haven’t yet read Her Hope Discovered, book one in my Welcome to Ruby series, you’ll want to be sure and catch up before His Love Revealed, book two, releases in November.
Check out my Her Hope Discovered Pinterest board for character inspiration and insight into the little town where “stranger” is merely another word for “friend.”
HHD is Charla and Sam’s love story about hope, healing, and second chances. HLR centers around Ida Mae (from the Come and Get It Diner) and Chuck, her childhood friend. If you love small-town fiction with quirky, lovable characters, you’ll enjoy my heartwarming series set within the gorgeous Missouri Ozarks. Oh, and book three—Her Faith Restored —is humming along! HFR is set to release in 2021!
As I await copy edits on His Love Revealed, I’m hard at work on HFR, as well as other projects.
Stay tuned!
Grab your copy HERE.
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Sometimes, God sends necessary boosts just when we need them. Here’s one that recently happened to me!
Image Credit: AnnaliseArt/Pixabay
What are your favorite small-town attributes?
What do you like most about your own hometown?
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Much Love and Many Blessings,
Comments 12
Love your shiny new award! Congratulations, my friend! Do you get to put two on Her Hope Discovered since you are a DOUBLE FINALIST? *wink* So exciting!
I’m a small town gal. Our community helps one another…the best!
Author
Sherida, thanks so much for stopping by, my friend ~ I appreciate your kind words!
Communities that help one another are the best!
I’ve always loved your cover but knew it needed “something”…like a gold seal for an award!!!! 🙂 So happy for you!
Author
Karen, thank you! You are such an encourager and a tremendous blessing!
Yay, Cynthia!!
Author
Congratulations to you, too, friend!
I’ve never lived in what I’d call a small town, but when I was a girl, we’d visit my cousins in Turlock, California. That was what I’d consider a smallish town at the time. You could walk from her home to the candy store and the community pool, all of which I considered VERY INDEPENDENT. Her school friends seemed to pop up wherever we went. So it was the everybody-knows-you quality I liked the best.
Author
Your cousin’s town sounds lovely. 🙂 I grew up in a small town where friends and neighbors walked to many places—the little supermarket on the corner, the town library, the post office, and the Square. Everyone knew everyone, and older adults also looked after others’ kiddos if they were out and about.
And I’m so thrilled for you over the award. I agree it is well deserved. Such a lovely book!
Author
Thank you, Dana!I’m so happy you enjoyed it!
Cynthia, congratulations!! So excited for you!
Author
Sharee, thank you! You’re a great cheerleader!