Hello, my friends
I can't believe it's already the middle of July. We're halfway through 2026! I knew in my heart that 2026 was going to be a monumental year for me, and so far, I haven't been disappointed.
When I was ten years old, I attended a Halloween party where my friend's aunt pretended to be a fortune teller. She turned over a single tarot card for each of us and made up our future. I got the World card, and it's been "my card" ever since. Back then, I saw it as the promise of adventure and a life beyond the confines of the small North Carolina town where I spent the formative years of my childhood.
Sometimes, I turn to my own pink deck, not to cast my future, but because whatever card I pull acts as a sort of prompt for reflection. I can always find something happening in my life, some concern, worry, or dilemma, that mirrors the card's meaning. Much like tossing a coin and already knowing how you want it to land before it hits the ground, I'll already know what I want the card to tell me the moment I turn it over.
Lately, I've been starting to be stalked by the World card, and it still fills me with hope and optimism. It's not forcing me to make any decisions or giving me any warnings. Its message is clear, and it just wants to make sure I'm listening—I have completed an important cycle in my life, achieved a long-term goal, and stand at the threshold of a new journey.
And it's time to start all over again. With you at my side.
Reflections
What's old is new again.
The most valuable piece of writing advice you'll ever receive, especially when you're in the querying trenches trying to get your book out into the world, is to keep writing. Pat yourself on the back, celebrate the fact that you've already crossed a finish line many can only dream of reaching, and then start your next book.
A published book does not make you a writer. The stories in your head that keep you awake at night do. A writer is someone who puts pen to paper, or fingertips to keyboards, and doesn't stop.
In my case, my "new" book is an "old" book. A story I began working on eight years ago after I met my writing buddy Stephanie Kemp at the Annapolis Book Festival, and we started our Calamari and Cabernet Critique Clique, meeting at Carpaccio's in Annapolis once a month to talk about our book babies and dream of their futures.
I put that book aside when something about the story wasn't working for me. That was when I started the Oleander Message. I have learned so much since then and can now go back to my old WIP (which I will refer to as the Salem Novel until I settle on a better working title) with a fresh perspective. Turns out I did have the story wrong. I wasn't starting in the right place. When another character stepped forward and insisted quite strongly that she wanted to have her say (yes, our characters talk to us, sometimes at the most inopportune moments), I listened.
I know what you're thinking. Salem? Is it about witches? No, but it is about strong and defiant women forced to step outside of their era's traditional gender expectations to build an empire, one that was short-lived, but monumental, nonetheless. I can't wait to share their story with you as it develops over the next ten months (my goal for my first draft).
A lot has happened in the past eight years. We've experienced a global pandemic. I've battled and survived cancer. I've written a novel. I like to think I have grown and wizened as a person, and so I am bringing that growth and wisdom to my characters who have been waiting patiently for me to return to them.
