In 2021, I rediscovered a stack of notes I’d scribbled during many happy hours reminiscing with my mother about her life. A story of Christmas miracles emerged. I found myself falling in love with Christmas all over again as I wrote about an era I only experienced through my mother’s memories.
By the time I completed the book, I’d outlined two additional novels, and more than a dozen short stories. With the memories of my beloved mother ever near to my heart as I write, my stories pay homage to the many colorful people from my mother’s life who inspire my characters. One Christmas, released in late 2022, is the first novel in my long career as a writer.
What’s next for me? As I contemplated the treasure trove of ideas that bloomed from the stories of my mother’s life, one stood out…the day she and her friend fell through the ice on the creek next to her childhood home. I decided to write that story and see where it led me. To my surprise, a small-town historical mystery emerged. Although the plot lines in Edge of Summer are fictional, the characters bear similar traits of many of my mother’s family members, friends, and residents of the rural Midwestern railroad town in which she grew up in the early years of the 20th century. This opened the creative door to my Anna Ghere Mystery Series. While these novels remain in my “to do” pile, my second book in the series picks up a couple of loose treads I left dangling (on purpose) in Edge of Summer. I’ll leave it to my muse to guide me to what I’ll write next.
Watch for a re-release of “One Christmas” as “Christmas Angels” in January of 2025.
