Before I get long-winded, I should tell you two things:
1. The ebook of Autumn by the Sea is still only $4.99 but only for a few more days.
2. There’s super sweet release day giveaway way down at the end of this post.
Okay, onward…

It’s release daaaaayyyyyy!!

True story: I wrote a long launch day post for today about how Autumn by the Sea came to be. About how creatively frustrated I was last summer, how hollow I felt, and how, in the midst of some pretty intense anxiety, God gave me the idea for this new book.

It was a long, emotional post . . . which I ended up deleting.

Not because there wasn’t any value in being a bit transparent . . . but because I realized I don’t want to talk about the frustration that led me to write a whole new series in a whole new place.

I want to talk about the joy.

***

Autumn by the Sea is probably my favorite thing I’ve ever written! (Well, maybe tied with Now and Then and Always.)

It has a Scottish hero!
A blueberry farm!
A charming seaside town!
A loving Muir family!
Romance and mystery—multiple mysteries!

And it has Sydney Rose, a woman who doesn’t actually know who she is. She doesn’t know why she was abandoned as a toddler. She doesn’t know where her life is going.

She only knows she’s disappointed. She used to have hopes and dreams . . . now she has hurts and haunting pain leftover from the only few minutes she’s ever spent with the woman who may or may not have been her birth mom.

But then a private investigator comes crashing into her world with news that might change everything. And the next thing she knows, she’s on her way to Maine—halfway around the country—to a big yellow farmhouse by the sea filled with people who will in turn come to fill her whole heart.

Her entire life changes when she meets Maggie Muir and Neil MacKean, when she chases the secrets of her past and, in the process, stumbles into a whole other mystery and even some danger . . . and oh my goodness, I had fun traveling with her.

***

I resonated so much with Sydney as I wrote this book, even though my story looks nothing like hers. But writing her story taught me something . . .

For Sydney, the revival of her hopes and dreams took a massive life change . . . a huge leap of faith.

For me—I think, for many of us—it’s not necessarily about the huge leaps or massive changes. It’s about the little choices. The little jumps. The little moments of trust, however fragile.

When I was hard-core frustrated last year, I remember so many moments of thinking, “That’s it! I should quit writing!” or “That’s it! I should quit my day job!” or “That’s it! I should quit everything and move to England!” Some of that was just my dramatic and sometimes stormy Enneagram 4-wing taking over (lol!) but I think some of it was this sideways belief I didn’t fully realize I carried—a belief that in order to get out of the rut, to be happy or successful or both, I had to make big, huge changes.

But then I started brainstorming this story . . .

And instead of setting it in Iowa like so many of my books, I gave in to my own creative wanderlust and set it in Maine. Instead of a straightforward contemporary romance, I let myself follow unexpected twists and turns until I realized I was writing an actual mystery. On a complete whim, I let myself give Neil a Scottish accent *swoon* and wrote a ghostly old legend into the story . . .

They were little changes. Little choices. Little new things. And in them, I found a new storytelling joy.

***

I don’t know where you’re at in life as you (hopefully!) crack open the pages of Autumn by the Sea. But just in case you find yourself in a season similar to where I was last summer or where Sydney is at the opening of this story, I just want to encourage you today to embrace “little.”

A little change.
A little new thing.
A little moment of trust.

Two of my favorite lines in Autumn by the Sea are on page 310:

Maybe there were times when her deepest desires were the echoes of divine whispers. And maybe it was time she finally listened.

I’ve repeated those lines to myself so many times since they first found their way onto the page, reminding myself that my desires and dreams didn’t come from nowhere . . . often, they’re God’s whispers and nudges in my soul. And it’s more than okay to listen to them . . . it’s good. It’s vital, even.

Desire for change and renewal is what led me to write my favorite book yet! And yet, it didn’t take huge leaps to get me there. It took little steps and little moments and little changes. (And lots of prayer!) Sometimes we need the big, sweeping life change. But sometimes . . . sometimes the joy is found in the “little.”

What’s your divine whisper? What’s your desire? Is there a little that might help lead you there?

I hope you find it.

Just as I hope you find wonder and intrigue and exhilaration in the pages of this book of my heart. Thank you for the joy of getting to share it with you.

p.s. It’s my birthday today! If you’d like to give me one of the best, best gifts possible, well, a) I’m just gonna say it—I’d be so grateful if you’d buy my book! but also b) leaving a review on Amazon, Goodreads, BookBub and elsewhere is so very helpful. It doesn’t have to be crazy long or in-depth…but it helps other readers find the book. Thank you!

Okay, this prize package is pretty great, if I do say so myself! In addition to a $50 VISA gift card and a paperback copy of Autumn by the Sea, one winner will receive a cutting board and fall house artwork—both hand-lettered and lasered by Nicole Letters, who also happened to letter the title for my new book! You’ll also get a couple of fall candles, a bookish magnet and a bookmark. You’ve got through October 8 to enter.