If you're a book lover (and I know you are!), I bet you also love music of some kind. Me too! I love reading AND I enjoy incorporating music into my books. If you've read my recent release, Sea Glass Memories (or my other novels) you may have noticed this. So I thought it would be fun to create a playlist to go with Elena and Aunt Kit's story.

First of all, the musical that is playing at Sands of Time theatre is Into the Woods so I've included the song "No One Is Alone" from that soundtrack. This is the song that spoke to Elena as she watched the dress rehearsal, and again as she watched the show with her brother Carlos.

The well-known play, Our Town, by Thornton Wilder, holds deep meaning for Elena also, so I've included a track called "Music for Movies: Grovers Corners" by the famous composer Aaron Copland.

Then, of course, there is the theme of sea glass that weaves throughout all the characters' stories. As a metaphor for the process of grief, it gives visual imagery to how—with the tumultuous waves of emotion that accompany grieving, along with the passage of time—the sharp edges of our grief can soften and smoothe. With this in mind, I've included two tracks on the Sea Glass Memories Playlist that are about sea glass. One is a soothing instrumental by Maddie Stephenson and the other is a vocal by Yazmin Lacey.

A fun part of Sea Glass Memories (and one of my favorite parts to write) is the Great Big Seahaven Halloween Scavenger Hunt, a well-loved town tradition. One of the "treasures" that Elena and Jonathan need to bring back is a video on their phone of them singing "Monster Mash" so I've included that track as well.

I am a big fan of Jason Mraz so towards the end of the novel, after a big turning point for Elena, she listens in the car to his uplifting song, "Have It All." No surprise, that song is on the playlist as well.

At one point in the story a Carrie Newcomer song is playing at Aunt Kit's store, Coastal Soul. So I've added Carrie's song "The Gathering of Spirits." I encourage you to look up this artist as her songs are full of heart and soul (as are the stories I like to write!).

I hope you'll give my Sea Glass Memories Playlist a listen, and if you have any favorites, or other songs that you think I should add, please let me know.

Sea Glass Memories has over 100 positive reviews on Amazon and GoodReads! Here's what some enthusiastic readers are saying:

The theme of overcoming grief and then living and loving a whole new life, as opposed to one that had been previously planned and lost, is very relatable.

~ Sherry

... read for yourself how life can take unexpected turns, both good and bad, and still be filled with fresh perspectives and new beginnings. ~ Jan

I felt and found some healing from my own losses . . . ~ Lisa

The author's connection of sea glass and grief will help many start to heal from their own losses, including myself. ~ Erica

Anne Marie aims to write books that stir the heart and soul, and she has done just that with Sea Glass Memories. ~ Jessica

You'll find lots more reader reviews on this page and several professional editorial reviews are all here.

 🏆 September Give-Away Winners 🏆

a paperback copy of Dragonflies at Night: More Than a Love Story (by me!)

Felicia from Arizona

Carol from Maryland

Laura from California

Brandi from Ohio

This is a lovely autumn read, by another one of my favorite women's fiction authors.

Annie Harlow knows how lucky she is. The producer of a popular television cooking show, she loves her handsome husband and the beautiful Los Angeles home they share. And now, she’s pregnant with their first child. But in an instant, her life is shattered. And when Annie awakes from a yearlong coma, she discovers that time isn’t the only thing she’s lost.

Grieving and wounded, Annie retreats to her old family home in Switchback, Vermont, a maple farm generations old. There, surrounded by her free-spirited brother, their divorced mother, and four young nieces and nephews, Annie slowly emerges into a world she left behind years ago: the town where she grew up, the people she knew before, the high-school boyfriend turned judge. And with the discovery of a cookbook her grandmother wrote in the distant past, Annie unearths an age-old mystery that might prove the salvation of the family farm.

To enter, just fill out the short form here

and I'll do a random drawing

I will send you an email notice that you've won,

(NOTE: I use the random generator at random.org to choose the winners

Greetings! Thank you for reading my author newsletter! This is me with our 12-year-old Louis. I count myself lucky that I am one of the people he lets get this close to him (my husband is #2).

Did you know? I always include a feline (or two) in my novels. In Dragonflies at Night, Savannah's two cats were named Chandler and Bing (my heart was so sad at Matthew Perry's death). Eva's cat in Feathers in the Sand was a big gray cat (just like Louis) named Jasper. In my recent novel, Sea Glass Memories, Elana's close companions is a black cat with white whiskers named Jezebel.

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

Also, don't forget to enter our November fiction give-away, Family Tree by Susan Wiggs.