That Time of Year

This is the time of year I hibernate to crank out some words, meet friends for coffee (hopefully around a fire pit or two) and just take in the season.

Mist fell from the heavens during one one of my morning walks this week. Leaves are finally changing colors and gently swirling to the ground. And the forecast for this weekend calls for a possibility of snow. All while I’m still running my air conditioner. 

That’s how quickly we transition from summer to winter in Nebraska. Don’t hear that as a complaint, though. I love both fall and winter, but I wouldn’t mind fall lasting a little longer (winter too!). 

National Novel Writing Month (November) is quickly approaching, and I’m gearing up for that. And I’ve booked two events for early November – a writers conference in Kansas City (where I’ll be teaching two classes about fiction writing) and a book signing at a holiday craft fair in Kearney, Nebraska. 

What do all of these things have to do with each other? 

This is the time of year I hibernate to crank out some words, meet friends for coffee (hopefully around a fire pit or two) and just take in the season. It’s also the time of year when I step away from this newsletter for a couple of months. I’ll take November and December off, as I ordinarily do, then return sometime in January.

Oh, and in December, I plan to continue revisions on the second book in the Cricket Springs series. I’m finishing up the fifth draft this week and have two or three more to go. I hope to release that book in February 2024, then jump right into the second draft of the third book in the series (I’ll be writing the first draft during National Novel Writing Month). 

It’s a little early, but I’d like to wish you a happy Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year. And I look forward to returning to the newsletter in January with fresh eyes. 

Take care!

Lee

P. S. If you haven’t read the Mercy Inn Series, then you might want to check it out. It’s a series of Christmas novellas set in southern Colorado at an inn that’s ran by two elderly innkeepers who just happen to be angels. You can buy each book separately or the entire series (in e-book format only).

• Book 1: Mercy Inn

• Comeback: A Mercy Inn Short Story

• Book 2: The Reunion

• Book 3 The Revelation

• The Entire Series (including the short story)

P. P. S. I also have a family Christmas devotional book you might enjoy.