When We Make It to Autumn -- Book Celebrations Ahead

It's a hot muggy July afternoon, with intermittent thunderstorms. Everyone's taking photos of butterflies lately, and I just received my first bag of "extra" zucchini squash. Double chocolate zucchini bread and a cheesey zuke casserole will follow, this evening.

But as I tend the yard and gardens, tiny crickets hop out of the way, then dive under the greenery. At night, their chirps have replaced the peepfrogs as music in the darkness. And for me, that's the first reminder: Vermont's glorious autumn is not far away.

And it's going to be an incredible October for my writing.

 

Last year's release of THIS ARDENT FLAME, the second in my Winds of Freedom historical novels series, dropped into the hush of the pandemic -- no book launch, no events, no readers jumping into the pages. So this fall I'm re-launching the book. I'll be at the Pope Library in Danville on Saturday October 10. Then at NVU-Lyndon for Kingdom Connect on October 4, and with bookseller Kim Crady-Smith, I'll be in North Danville for a 7 pm book talk at the Brainerd Memorial Library on Thursday October 13. (More dates to follow!)

I'm eager to share the surprises I discovered about Vermont's thriving Abolition movement in 1852 -- and about "free black" residents here at that time. Plus, of course, there's the excitement of the novel itself!

Believe it or not, I have a SECOND book launch to savor this year -- Lilith Magazine's new short story collection, Frankly Feminist: Short Stories by Jewish Women from Lilith Magazine. My story in the collection is "What Was Cut," and it uses bits from my life as a La Leche League Leader, a person in 12-Step recovery, and a rededicated Jewish family member. I think you'll appreciate the spooky edge that it carries!

Watch here for more announcements ... September 4 is already booked for my poem "Sundown Psalm" in Amethyst Review, and some time in August, As It Ought To Be Magazine is publishing another of my poems, "Do the Next Right Thing." 

Come on, crickets, keep chirping!

Publication date for THIS ARDENT FLAME (Winds of Freedom Book 2)

Five Star/Cengage tells me that as of now, the publication date for THIS ARDENT FLAME is December 16, 2020.

Let's figure out how best to celebrate the book in Vermont, so everyone who wants copies for holiday gifts and holiday reading will be able to get them!

And the next big step will be the cover design, so ... watch for it!

More news on other topics, tomorrow.

PS: A taste of Chapter 1:

North Upton, Vermont, October 1852

Chapter 1

A cold wind off the ridge followed me as I trudged down the worn path, the pack basket of late apples heavy against my back. Dark clouds scudded from the west. When the first small raindrops struck my cheek, I tried to tug my woolen shawl forward, to keep my dark hair dry. But the weight of the apples and their off-balance shift in the pack meant I needed to grip the shoulder straps with both hands, so I couldn’t arrange the shawl any better.

            “Drat. Drat, again.” Had I spoken aloud? Well, nobody would hear my unladylike words. Cutting down through the field from my brother William’s home, toward the center of the village, wasn’t exactly ladylike, either. Pfui.

            Since I’d been a little girl, I’d taken this track. Of course, back then, the house beyond the mill belonged to my father’s older brother, Uncle Owen. Jerushah, my best friend, used to walk with me to visit Uncle Owen and Aunt Lina.

            Jerushah. I shivered.