As I write this, I'm in the process of editing and revising the 6th draft of my upcoming women's novel, Feathers in the Sand. Part of this editing process, for me, is to pay attention to overused words. I'm embarrassed to admit that on almost every page someone was smiling or nodding their head! That's hundreds and hundreds of overused words right there! And don't even ask me how many times I used the words "just," "really," and "very."

Other authors are reassuring me that the same thing happens to them when writing a novel, and to be patient with myself as I go along with this process. So that is comforting!

I've been a Lover of Words ever since I could read, so it's been a good learning experience for me to be going through this draft to weed out these overused words. Not completely, of course. After all, people still need to smile and nod their heads, just not on every page! I've been enjoying this challenge to find different ways to say certain things, and I'm happy to report that it's tightening up my writing quite a bit.

Later this month, I'm heading up to Maine for six days of uninterrupted writing, editing, and revising time. I'm hoping to have my overused words all weeded out by then so I can clean up one final draft to send on to a copy editor. I'm looking forward to my retreat time AND to sharing Feathers in the Sand with you, hopefully this June! I think you're going to fall in love with Tess, Eva, Aunt Kit and all the quirky residents of Seahaven, Maine.

🏆 December Give-Away Winners 🏆

Darla from Texas

Tami from California

This month I'm giving away TWO paperback copies of Still Me by popular heart-and-soul-stirring author, JoJo Moyes. This one is a follow-up to her bestsellers Me Before You and After You. It continues the story of Louis Clark, the English woman who has now landed in New York and has more lessons to learn about following her heart.

If you want to enter, just fill out the short form here and I'll do a random drawing THIS SUNDAY January 16. I'll send you an email notice that you've won, and I'll just ask for your snail mail address after that! (NOTE: I use the random generator at random.org to choose the winners so it's all fair and square.)

Greetings! Thank you for reading my author newsletter and for your commitment to reading stories that serve your heart and soul.

One of my passions is live theatre, particularly musicals. One of the things I've missed the most during the pandemic is attending several excellent theaters near us. That's me, to the right, with my husband Jeff in 2015 in New York. We were celebrating our 20th anniversary that April. And yes, The Lion King was as amazing as we had hoped! This year we're looking forward (hopefully) to several excellent productions at Seacoast Rep Theatre in Portsmouth, New Hampshire as well as Ogunquit Playhouse in Maine, and North Shore Music Theatre right here in Beverly, MA.

In between newsletters, I'll be posting more often on Instagram, my blog, and/or my Facebook Author page, so I hope you'll visit me there too.

Wishing you a warm and wonder-full New Year,