Happy 2008! The presidential candidates are touting this year as one of change. In keeping with this theme of change, my upcoming release will have a new title. I’ll keep you posted. Check back often.

If you were like me in 2007, you felt like you had two feet in swamp mud while the alligators snapped at your knees. You probably figured you were a contestant on Extreme Survivor. I know I did. Our patch of ground in Southern California endured the raging inferno of the 2007 October Firestorm. Our little community of Highland Valley literally ran for its collective life the night of October 21st. It felt like the whole world was on fire. We were evacuated twice in two hours. But I’m thinking someone with big push had a grand plan for me because the new house my husband and I just finished building did not burn. It was nothing short of a miracle.

Let’s rejoice together! We have made it to dry ground in 2008 and are shooing the pesky gators away. Repeat after me, 2008 is going to be a great year!

While you wait for news on my release, check out some of my favorite voices in Southern fiction: Joshilyn Jackson’s latest novel, THE GIRL WHO STOPPED SWIMMING, Dorothea Benton Frank’s BULLS ISLAND, and Sarah Addison Allen’s GARDEN SPELLS. If you have a particular fondness for quirky Southern characters, like I do, you’ll love these selections.

Happy reading!