Saw a post on Facebook yesterday that said, "No coffee, no workee." Lol ... so my life. But really, I think it should say, "No GOOD coffee, no workee." I mean, life's too short to drink bad coffee, am I right? (You know I am.)

Here's to the little things - like heart-shaped cappuccinos - that make our mornings special. Happy Wednesday, my friends =)

Christmas ... by the Sea

Congrats, Tim! You've won the book on Spiritual Gifts :) It'll be on its way to you this week!

It's nearly 8 pm here on the central coast. Time for me to dig back into this Christmas book I'm writing. Which brings me to a thought for you to ponder. The book I'm writing is set at Christmastime ... at the beach. No surprise there, am I right? Well, recently one of my publishers took a survey and the opinion is that Christmas books must include toasty fires (okay, check. I can do that at the beach) and pine scent (Fabreze, anyone?)

Seriously, there's this belief out there that Christmas and the beach don't go together. Tell that to the millions of snowbirds who flock to the coast in the winter! I just don't get it. As authors, we're told to avoid the same ol', same ol'. Readers want a new experience, we're told. But then sample readers tell us the opposite. Give us tradition, they say. Recycle the story I read last year, they seem to say.

But I think my readers are more enlightened than that, and so I press on. I'm writing a fun story with plenty of thoughtful candy canes to chew on. At the beach. At Christmastime. And I'm writing it with YOU in mind - the cool, laid-back beach readers I've come to know and love.

No worries - I've got your backs, my friends ;-)

Boo ...

I received a box of these in the mail today because, well, I ghostwrote the study in the back of the book. My name's nowhere to be found in the text, but it doesn't matter. A writer is a writer is a writer. When I'm not writing novels, I'm writing articles, and grocery lists. And study guides. It's one of my gifts and I intend to use it, name on book or not. Do you know your gift(s)? Do you want to? Okay, then, I'm going to give away a copy. Just enter a comment with a way to reach you and I'll pick a winner Saturday afternoon. Easy peasy!

Hello, Monday

It's Sunday night and I'm missing the weekend already. On Saturday the girls and I met up with our pals Angel and Emilee for some cupcakes and beach time. While the younger girls wandered the sand, Angel and I browsed through shops and gabbed as if we didn't have a care.

Only we both do. Lots of cares. Uppermost being concern for my precious father-in-law who's been very ill for weeks.

Eventually, A & I made it down to the beach ourselves. While the girls oohed over a sea lion bobbing in the surf, I hoisted myself onto this ladder-less lifeguard tower, and for just a few minutes, allowed all my worries to blow out to sea. When I hopped off that tower, I felt lighter, refreshed. Such amazing grace, that is.

May you go into this week with your burdens lifted, my friends ~ and have a beachy day, wherever you are ...