January 16, 2023

I love hot weather. Summer is my very favorite season. So naturally I live in Minnesota, where we have winter for six months a year. (Some of you might think I’m exaggerating, but I’m not.) I grew up here, although I’ve lived elsewhere (Washington, Michigan, Texas, and for a few months, Nicaragua). I grew to resent the absurdly long nature of our cold, snowy winters. It was great in December! But in January, temperatures drop to ridiculously low, sub-zero temps for days upon end (although climate change has shifted that to February now, hence the longer winters) and then, the season just keeps going.

Several years ago, however, a friend of mine and I determined we’d change our attitude. THIS was where we lived and wouldn’t it be better to try to embrace it rather than fight it every step of the way. Wouldn’t we be happier?

I’m all about finding a way to make something work. What about you? I’d love to hear back from you (you can reply to this email directly). Tell me something about your state that makes you wonder why you live there and how you’ve made it work for you.

I participated in a couple of really fun book things last month! I joined (virtually) with a book club in Wisconsin. We talked about how my personal and professional experiences influenced the development of some of the characters, whether or not the Polar Cafe is a real coffee shop in Minnesota and how I honestly don’t know how I come up with character names. Haha. (It’s still true. Characters just tell me who they are. Maybe it’s magic.) 

I would absolutely LOVE to visit your book club or have you suggest my book to other book clubs who might ask you for a recommendation. You can reply to me directly or check out my book club and contact page on my website.

I also got to talk with Maggie Smith, host of the “Hear Us Roar” podcast that features debut authors of women’s fiction. It was a great conversation about focusing in on what you really want and putting yourself on the path to get it. You can listen on her website, or find it on Spotify, Apple, or Google.

Do you sometimes wish you were a kid and had sticker charts to help earn your way to a reward? ME TOO! I don’t always have a reward system going, but I enjoy a visual of my progress. Sometimes that means checklists in a spreadsheet, other times it means coloring pages or an actual sticker chart.

Enjoy and happy goal-setting!