Coffee Shops, Lakes, and Sleep

For those of you who’ve been dedicated readers since the early days, thank you for the incredible patience you’ve shown me as my publication schedule has shifted and languished under the pressure of publisher drama and life. I had hoped to release at least two books in 2017, but it seems the only words I had in me were used to document the monumental shift in my world. But I think that’s what was supposed to be, so it’s okay. I will forever treasure 2017 as a year of profound change for the better for me.

But now 2018 is slipping by as well, and it’s time to get some danged books out there. 

The 12 books of Throwaway’s World will always hold a special place in my heart. They changed my life. They helped shape me into who I am today. And wouldn't be surprised if the characters from them found their way into my new books, even if it's only via a brief nod. But the books tumbling out of my fingers now have taken a different path, just as my life has. Without me even planning it, they seem to be lining up with my own journey.

For the last year and a half, the little coffee shop on the corner of Maple and Main in downtown Buffalo has been pivotal to my world. The people in that shop have helped me through the aforementioned profound journey. In many ways, they gave me the strength to do the hard things. I don’t even think they know how much their friendship has changed my world for the better. So it makes sense that one of the new series I’ll be launching is set in that shop. The characters and stories are fiction, but the heartbeat of the story is truth - the truth of living in a small town, of finding your way in a scary and broken world, of the importance of the people in our lives. This series will deal with a lot of the tough stuff in life, but it’s me. You know there will be hope and love and laughter. Because, for real, without hope and love and laughter, what’s the point? Look for this series to launch with Recipe for Sunshine. The plan is for it to be at least a three-book series, but I have a sneaking suspicion that will turn into more. I'd give a tentative date but have finally learned my lesson: The universe laughs at my attempts to schedule things.

Some of my happiest memories as a child were at the lake. My family spent every spare moment there. Now that I have children of my own, we never seem to get to the lake as often as we’d like, but it still holds our happiest moments. We live for those stolen days in the summer. The lake, whichever lake it is, has its own culture. Its own way of doing things. When I was looking for inspiration for a lighthearted, fun series, the lake was the clear choice. I found an interesting lake town via Google to inspire me, fictionalized it, and there you have it. I was well into this series when my life shifted yet again and I now have the promise of a summer spent stealing every moment I can at the lake. So it’s appropriate that somewhere in the publishing mix is a trilogy set on the water. Again, I don’t want to promise a release date, but look for Tails, California to show up in the near future.

This past year, I launched a website called Hummingbird Charm with a collective of amazing authors. (Seriously, how did I get so lucky to call these women peers?) Anyway, we've been tossing around some ideas for a collection, so I've got my fingers crossed that happens this year as well.

I've got a couple of other projects up my sleeve, as well as quite a bit of blogging on tap. Look for this website to be redesigned soon with more and a wider variety of content. You can also follow my blogging over at Hummingbird Charm and at iSense Sleep, where I'm now the brand manager. They've turned me into a sleep nerd and much of what I've learned there is spilling into other areas of my life. 

Thank you, so much, for your patience during my long publishing silence. Thank you for being on this wild ride with me. I hope that you're having an amazing 2018!

~Heather​