Early afternoon (via moonlight) musings

There's a full moon under all that glow. And yes, a little star to the left. Keep an eye on that star in the next picture!

It's been a longish day. I was up early, but I got to enjoy the moon, although snapping a decent picture of said moon is a crapshoot and today, well.... It's an okay shot, and a few minutes later I went outside again with a different phone that didn't give me anything better, lol. And now it's ten hours later, and I just finished formatting Home and Far Away: The Enran Chronicles Book Four, which might be one of my all times fave novels I have written. And not to get too distanced from Straight to the Heart, but man, I am one lucky writer to have crafted such tender yet witty tales.

That I considered myself lucky doesn't begin to explain how I feel about this craft. I'd say blessed is a far better adjective, as it's solely by God's grace that I write anything, including this post. But some people aren't comfortable with blessed, and as Paul said in one of his letters to abstain from this or that as not to offend or burden one's brother, I'll leave it as originally stated, and truthfully what I initially thought:

I am one lucky writer.

Why am I lucky, you ask? I'm lucky because I get to write heartwarming love stories that nearly always have a happy ending. Even in a saga, cliffhangers aren't always the end of someone's world. With The Enran Chronicles, each novel acts as a standalone, although the one directly after it proffers a deeper meaning. Home and Far Away doesn't require a reader to have digested Far Away from Home, but it will certainly benefit someone to have read that book previously. Conversely, a reader needs to have Books One and Two read to enjoy Straight to the Heart. But hey, you readers approach my novels however makes you smile.

Now the moon has slipped behind the trees, but that star remains, hehehe!

These books make me smile, springing from places in my heart I didn't know required such faffing around. Five years for The Hawk, and as for The Enran Chronicles (TEC).... The current four books were all written in 2023, but the first chapter of Home and Far Away was hastily scribbled in May 2022, then shunted aside. Yet when I needed a reason to pursue TEC, there was that singular chapter, screaming to be included. And from one random chapter emerged the pulse of a story that one of these days I hope to complete.

Yeah, um, yup. One of these days I'll finish writing this series, God willing.

In the meantime, there's The Hawk, all ten novels of it, LOL! A story teeming with joys, sorrows, surprises, magical realism, and hope. Lots of hope! Right now I need hope, maybe you do too. I need a sense of everything truly is going to be all right. As a Christian, that's often how I feel, but not every day. Some days are darker than others, and yesterday was one of those, where everything felt MEH: We live on a crappy planet where people treat one another like shite. How can anything carry worth when we still belittle each other, still maim and kill and disrespect and ignore and....

Yeah, yesterday was one of THOSE days. I mulled that over a lot as I observed the moon this morning, then gazed eastward, finding no marine layer. Instead the hills emanated this strange orange glow, as though the sunrise might actually appear! Which is truly ironic because rain was forecast for today, and the next couple, yet the morning began as though no rain was waiting, nothing bad could happen. I saw Venus and Jupiter, in addition to our beautiful moon, giving thanks to God that it was a new day, and for a brief time, a bright one.

I don't mean to again diss the marine layer, but JEEZ LOUISE I am tired of dark, gray mornings. And in returning to my main theme, I am thrilled to have formatted what will be my next release. Because it does have a marvelous conclusion, reminding me that yeah, life can be head-scratching, but love wins out, and not merely because I wrote it thusly. Nature might bat last, but nature is also that stunning moon, that golden eastern sky, the blessed rain falling, making the chickens race into their coop. They strutted around for a while while sprinkles fell, but actual PRECIPITATION sent them indoors. It's kept me glued to my computer chair for much of this day, but it's nearly three p.m., about time to find something else that needs accomplishing. Like making the bed, doing some dishes, giving the chicks new water, and reveling in how blessed is this life despite all that pains.

I was snug under my Kawandi quilt, this shot lit by the provided moonlight, assuring that indeed, everything is gonna be okay (nod to Future Me intended!).

Yes blessed, and yes pains. But as I try to relate in my stories, a broken heart that has healed is capable of much more love. I know this from experience, but sometimes I forget. Today I remember, and today I am grateful. I'm a writer of hopeful fiction, and I'm deeply loved by more than my husband and family. May you know that peace too.