Welcome to my website!

Hey, everyone! Are you enjoying Dragons and Drinks? 

This blog post is for those who are attending the event RIGHT NOW – Tuesday, Sept. 23^rd – 730-930pm EST.

If you’ve gotten this far checking out my website, I have a prize to offer. The first six (6) people who leave a comment about what kind of glass/cup I’m drinking out of during the event will win a print of Tzmet’s Window! 

My bestie, Kim Sponaugle, www.picturekitchenstudio.com  designed and drew it for the front cover of my YA fantasy novel, Fairyeater. Isn’t it fabulously creepy?? 

Here it is on the cover!

Yep, that’s the witch, Tzmet, who captures, dries, and eats fairies to gain their power. She also loves her bling, so when she goes out to hunt fairies or generally wreak havoc, she looks like (as my husband put it) she’s going to the prom.  haha! 

Here’s what the story is about:

All fifteen-year-old Akeela has ever wanted is an ordinary family who will love her. But the only mother she has ever known is the old hag, Krezma, who berates her night and day. Why did the old woman even take her in?

But Krezma knows her charge is no ordinary child. She can see the auras surrounding living things and can communicate with fairies. And the birthmark on her palm reveals a secret Krezma must hold close for the child’s safety.

A secret that the witch, Tzmet, hunts for night and day, drying and eating fairies for the power they contain. When Akeela discovers her fate lies in being the next Fairy Guardian, all hope for an ordinary life dissipates like the dreams they were. She must protect the fairies from the witch—and an even darker power that threatens them all.

Akeela is unwillingly thrust into an adventure that will not end until she decides to accept her fate and give up on her dream.

Maybe even her life.

If you buy a copy of Fairyeater and enjoy it, please consider leaving a review on Goodreads or Amazon. Thanks!

Hey FFFers!  Boy, do I have a fabulous cover to show you. My friend and fellow Realmie, Sophia Hansen’s first novel, Water’s Break, has a super intriguing cover. Cover designer, Kirk DouPonce (also a friend and fellow Realmie), did his usual stellar job. I mean, really. It’s on my bucket list to have a cover designed by Kirk for one of my books!

But before I show off the cover, here’s a little about the book:

What if fear itself is the deadliest undercurrent of all? would do anything to avoid the hassles of her sister’s bonding ceremony—the wrap fittings, hairstyles, and braided fire coral—but she never imagined that the waters covering her planet would be broken. As the heavens rained fire and stone, mountains erupted from the sea and dry ground was birthed on the Deep, dividing the water—and the Olomi people—for the first time in their history.

In the wake of her world’s violent re-formation, Nica’s family is shattered. When the rookie Guardian leaves the safety of the Deep to find her sister, she is abducted by strange landwalkers who possess strength and technology beyond her imagination. Nica realizes that the disaster from above was by their design—a calculated plan to terraform the water planet and conquer her people. All Nica wants to do is find her sister and swim home to safety, but with the landwalkers closing in, escape may not be possible. And if Nica can’t save herself, how can she hope to save her sister—or her people?

WOW! Don’t you want to be able to read it RIGHT NOW??  

Well, you can’t. You have to wait.  Heh.

In the meantime, I’ll tease you … I mean, increase your interest by revealing the cover.

*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

Ready for the awesomeness?

*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

Hold your breath (because you aren’t a mermaid) and count to three!

*
*
*
*
*
*
ONE

*
*
*
*
*
*

TWO

*
*
*
*
*
*

THREE!!!

WATER'S BREAK comes out in January 2025.  That’s only 5 months away!  WOOT!

Follow Sophia on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SophiaLHansen.Author.InOtherWorlds 

Kirk DouPonce’s website:  https://www.dogeareddesign.com/ 

When Covid first shut everything down, we all wondered if anything good could come out of it. Turns out, something did.

As a believer in Jesus, I lean hard on Romans 8:28 which says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

What does this mean? Simply, it means God doesn’t waste anything that comes into His children’s lives. I don’t know how I would live if I didn’t believe this with everything I am.

March 17, 2020, Anna’s day program closed for what we assumed would be a couple of weeks. Seven months later, I learned I could hire SDEs (self directed employees) to work at home with her. Bonnie was already doing respite care, so we increased her hours and had her come during the day.

Then I hired Chardana to split hours with Bonnie. We worked out goals and made a schedule. November 1, 2020, Anna’s “Home Day Program” started. It’s still going on. And Anna loves it!

Anna does crafts and painting, says her letters and numbers, does puzzles, plays games, helps with baking/cooking, watches shows and movies, and goes on community outings.

But the BIG thing we discovered is that Anna doesn’t just love to paint. She’s really good! She has a sense of color and design we never knew was inside her. 

While she doesn’t hold a paintbrush or sponge herself, Chardana or Bonnie will hold it. Anna chooses colors and what brush she wants. She moves their hand into the colors she wants and moves their hand again on the canvas. Sometimes she moves side-to-side.  Sometimes up and down. Sometimes she makes dots. And sometimes she’ll push the brush down and twist their hand to make a design. We were blown away!

Now, because Anna is Anna, she won’t do a thing if I’m in the room. And she will absolutely not cooperate for anything if I’m trying to take a picture, so I have to get sneaky. But most of the time, I can’t capture her in the process. The girls sometimes get pictures, but mostly, Anna hates having her picture or video taken.

Here is her first small painting. She did this with Bonnie on Sept. 30, 2021. Daryl and I came home from dinner and Bonnie said, “You’ll never believe what Anna did.”

Isn’t it amazing??

Here are a few more:

Anna is always ready to paint!

But here’s the big thing … Chardana got her a LARGE canvas for her birthday this week (Monday, May 15th) and on Tuesday, she got things out so Anna could paint on it. I got a quick picture before they started and then went into the sunroom.

A little while later, Chardana came into the sunroom to show me what Anna did. She said, “I swear to you, I only set things out. Anna picked the brushes and the colors. She moved my hand. And she let my hand go when she was done.”

Then she showed me 

*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

Are you ready for this??

*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Seriously ready??

*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

Your mind is gonna be blown. I know mine was. In fact, I cried.

*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

Y’all realize what my girl’s favorite thing is, right?  FLOWERS!!  Anna painted a field of flowers!!  Oh, if only Bob Ross was still alive! I wish I could show it to him. We watch him every morning! (Anna did the small paintings before she started watching Bob Ross, so the artist was inside her all the time!)

What good was Covid?  Well, it was NO good …….  BUT GOD.

God used it to bring out the creativity lurking inside Anna. She couldn’t tell us. Maybe she didn’t know. But if not for Covid, we would never have created a Home Day Program. If not for Bonnie and Chardana, who love Anna and are creative women, we would never have known Anna was an artist.

God is faithtul to His Word! Never doubt it, friends.  Glory to His Name!!