It is bitterly cold outside this morning, but as I watch the sun come up over the tree line, I am content and grateful. I am thankful for the warmth that my furnace provides and the opportunity to write another day.
When I was younger, I knew that I was meant to be a writer. I didn’t often express it because that wasn’t who I was supposed to be. I was a musician. I was a business owner. I was a church leader. I was a lot of things, but when I picked up a pen or pencil and laying on the desk in front of me was a blank piece of paper, my heart thrilled.
The physical connection between my hand and that pen and paper would sometimes become bigger than the individual elements and I could feel a surge of creativity. In those moments, there was nothing more important than releasing words. I knew that once I began, a seal might be broken and something wonderful would happen for me.
Then … I’d snap back to reality and answer a phone call at work or drive to another meeting and the busyness of life would overwhelm me once again. On Friday nights, I would stay up until three or four in the morning, writing until I dropped onto the sofa beside me. I’d spend every free moment of the weekend pouring out a story until Monday morning hit and my responsibilities once again became real.
Now, my responsibility is to write and I can’t begin to tell you how thankful I am for this opportunity. Every time I crest a plot point and ride it out until it is completely finished, I am surprised that I get to do this.
Book 5 of the Bellingwood series is in the final stages. Within the next two weeks it will be published and I will have far surpassed any dreams I had when I was a young girl holding a pencil over a piece of paper. The title is Life Between the Lines and once again, the cover is another beautiful photograph shot by Max.
In this book, a murder happens in the opening scene and Polly doesn’t have to go far to find the body. She meets a few new friends while she unravels mysteries she didn’t even know existed and Sycamore House prepares for its first anniversary with a Masquerade Ball. Lydia and crew decorate the main foyer of Sycamore House for Halloween and of course, the Percherons get involved in the festivities. It is great fun coming up with ways to involve horses in the events happening around Polly and fortunately, they are more even tempered than my cat and a little costuming can turn them into frightening beasts! It’s never dull in Bellingwood.
