Published on September 22nd, 2025

Hello there! Greetings again from [yet] sunny Central California. Happy First Day of Autumn! Fall is my favorite season, although where I live, we don’t really have four distinct seasons. It seems we have hot, [somewhat] cold, and very brief (maybe) periods of mild spring or crisp fall weather.

The only time I can remember living somewhere with four distinct seasons is when we joined my career Army father when he was stationed in Darmstadt, Germany. I loved the white Christmas where it started to snow on Christmas Eve, the crisp fall when the woods just across the street had leaves turning beautiful colors, the mild spring when it was a joy to spend outdoors, and a summer that was hot enough to travel to the community swimming pool the next town over.

Okay, moving on from childhood memories and weather (remember, weather nerd here), I have some “new” info about my book, Long Term Surrender. I’ve managed to pick up some very positive reviews on Amazon regarding this book and I am very grateful. I’ve given out some advanced review copies of the e-book version, and I have also taken the paperback to several doctor’s and other office visits I’ve had in the past couple of months and given them to the staff. Perhaps not surprisingly, there always seems to be someone on the staff who enjoys reading romance novels and these have been well received. The timing was right, I think, since it was summer – great for vacation/beach reading and I think my book is perfect for that!

After a brief respite where my daughter and I went on an Alaska cruise a few weeks ago, I’m back at work on the second book in this series. I had a bit of writer’s block a few chapters in, but I think I’m working past that now and charging full steam ahead. I find it very easy to fall back into my original characters from the first novel because I’m so familiar with them, so I have to remind myself that this book is no longer focused on Noah and Katelyn’s story. I wonder if other series writers have the same issues – or did when they first started out? Hmmm . . . maybe I should ask that in a Facebook group sometime.

Long Term Desire features Grant, Noah’s best friend and work colleague, and his growing interest in Brianne, Katelyn’s older sister. Since I like to incorporate my interests into my books, the first book was set on a cruise ship – my favorite type of vacation. This time around, with Brianne as a chef, cooking will be a recurrent theme throughout the second novel. As you can imagine, I love watching the Food Network shows, picking up new recipes and, of course, collecting all kinds of kitchen gadgets!. So, will Grant be able to keep up with Brianne when she starts brandishing terms like chiffonade, deglaze, julienne, emulsify, render or . . . spatchcock around? I guess we’ll find out . . .!

In closing, as always, I’d love to hear from you – about this book or future stories.