Saying Goodbye to 2024
Highlights of the Year
Hi my friends. I hope you had a nice holiday. All is well here. I am sitting in my writing chair thinking of you and about all that happened in the last year. I feel grateful to still be alive and fascinated with how life works.
The biggest thing that happened in 2024 was I moved from Jonesborough, Tennessee to Greenville, South Carolina last July.
Jonesborough was lovely, but not a good fit. I needed a bigger town and more going on. So, I no longer live next to the cornfield. Alas. Or the snakes that make their homes near cornfields. Thank goodness.
I am an hour away from Asheville, where I lived for many years, and back in South Carolina. I lived in Charleston for many years, too, where my two daughters were born. But I am still in the heart of the South, which is more often than not, the setting of my novels. Trueluck Summer was the novel I wrote about Charleston, FYI. If you haven’t read it yet, give it a try. It’s a good story and also funny. I even laughed as I wrote it.
Also in 2024, I wrote half of a new novel in Jonesborough with Honey Honeycutt as a main character. After moving to Greenville, Honeycutt Farm is now located in Traveler’s Rest—down the road from me now. I also now have a bigger place and room for a home office and my writing chair. Life is good.
The new book has now transformed into The Widows Club. Three aging females who travel in their camper vans to meet up all over the country. (Remember my camper van days?)
The book is set up like Temple Secrets with alternating first person narratives of the three main characters. I am aiming for 10 books—God willing and the creek don’t rise. It is meant to be a humorous book.
Think of the places we could go!? Maybe we will even end up in Violet’s Tea Shop.
Book One is called Hitting the Road and is in process.
I also started a Substack this time last year. Thanks so much for being a part of that. I have plans for revamping it. Please email me of any suggestions you have.
And then in the fall, there was Hurricane Helene. After the hurricane, I became a dog-walker of small dogs. A sweet surprise. Two Chihuahuas and a toy poodle. They stay with me while their moms and dads are at work, and are my companions when I write during the day. Sometimes people laugh and point when they see me walking three dogs, all going in different directions. Sometimes I laugh when I get tangled up in their leashes for the hundredth time. They bring me joy. Plus my neighbors don’t have the guilt of leaving them alone in empty apartments.
I just spent my first Christmas totally alone. No friends and no family. Because of Helene, I couldn’t get to my kids in Knoxville this year. It wasn’t awful, as I imagined it might be. I enjoyed my solitude. I got a lot of writing done. I honestly enjoyed my time alone and did whatever the hell I wanted to do!
My goals for 2025: Write. Write. Write.
Yours?
Journaling prompts:
What fascinates you right now?
What are you struggling with?
Write about why you think you are here. What is your purpose?
Love you! ♥️