I'm sitting here in 85-degree North Carolina weather, surrounded by the lingering humidity of summer, about to announce my Christmas book. The seasonal whiplash is real, but sometimes the best surprises come with the irony of imperfect timing. There's something delightfully absurd about announcing a snow-filled romance when I'm still running my air conditioning and contemplating whether it's too early for pumpkin spice anything.
Today marks more than just the autumn equinox—it's also when I'm officially embracing a new direction here on Substack. I'm diving deeper into the intersection of faith and the writing life, exploring what it means to be multipassionate in a world that wants us to pick one thing, and sharing the behind-the-scenes reality of pursuing multiple genres because, honestly, creativity doesn't always fit in neat little boxes. These shifts aren't just editorial choices; they reflect how I actually live and create—messily, faithfully, across genres and seasons and creative whims.
And speaking of foundations, values, and the stories we tell ourselves about what matters most...
Drumroll please... 🥁
I wrote my first fiction book! Not just any book—a Christmas romance that captures everything I love about small-town community, second chances, and finding home in unexpected places. A story that asks the question: What happens when the life you thought you wanted collides with the life your heart actually needs?
Blue Stone Christmas is a cozy, clean romance about Gabrielle, a high-powered NYC marketing executive who gets assigned to assess a small North Carolina mountain town for tourism development. She's expecting a routine professional project—charming mountain scenery, quaint local businesses, the usual small-town charm that makes for good corporate presentations.
Plot twist: her contact turns out to be Jonas, the boyfriend she left behind five years ago when she chose city ambition over small-town dreams. The same Jonas who wanted to move back to his mountain hometown to serve his community, while she was climbing corporate ladders in Manhattan. The same relationship that ended because neither of them would compromise on geography or lifestyle.
Cue the awkwardness. Add a Christmas blizzard that traps them together for eight days. Sprinkle in some community magic, a missions center full of volunteers who become family, and the slow realization that maybe—just maybe—the life she rejected was exactly what her heart needed all along.
This story came from wondering: What if we measured success not by the height of our office building, but by the depth of our community connections? What if home isn't a place on the map, but the people who see us fully and love us anyway? What if the dreams we dismiss as "too small" or "not ambitious enough" are actually the ones that would make us most authentically ourselves?
I've spent years writing about authentic living, about choosing values over convenience, about the radical act of slowing down enough to notice what actually brings us joy. This book is those themes wrapped up in Christmas lights and second-chance romance, set in a fictional town called Blue Stone that feels like the kind of place where everybody knows your coffee order, shows up when you need them most, and celebrates your victories like they're their own.
It's about a woman who thought she knew what she wanted, discovering that what she needed was completely different. It's about a man who built a beautiful life wondering if love might be worth the risk of change. And it's about a community that proves sometimes the best families are the ones we choose, and the ones that choose us right back.
Blue Stone Christmas is a 40,000-word novella—perfect for curling up with hot chocolate on a cold afternoon or reading in cozy chunks throughout the busy holiday season—and launches everywhere on October 25th.
But here's the special part: I'm offering signed paperback copies for pre-order right now through my Ko-Fi shop. Because there's something magical about holding a book that was written with your community in mind, with the author's actual signature inside the cover, knowing that these words traveled from my heart to my hands to yours.
Your Options:
Pre-order signed copies: Available now on Ko-Fi - shipped directly from me with love
Launch day everywhere*: October 25th on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, through libraries, independent bookstores, wherever you love to get your books. *The ebook is exclusively on Amazon, available for free to Kindle Unlimited subscribers, but it can also be requested through your library system.
Here's what I love most about this moment: you've been part of this journey without even knowing it. Every time you've engaged with posts about finding authentic community, every conversation about choosing values over convenience, every time you've shared your own stories about the beauty of small-town connections or the challenge of figuring out where you belong—you've been cheering on the themes that became this story.
This book is for people like us. People who believe that love stories are better when they're also stories about coming home to yourself and your people. People who think Christmas magic is less about perfect circumstances and more about perfect grace. People who understand that sometimes the most radical thing you can do is choose the life that makes you happy over the life that looks impressive to others.
If this sounds like your kind of cozy Christmas read, I'd be honored to have you along for Gabrielle and Jonas's story. And if you know someone who loves clean romance with heart, Christmas books that make you believe in second chances, or stories about finding where you belong, maybe you'll think of them too. This is the kind of book that feels like a warm hug and a gentle reminder that it's never too late to choose love over fear.
I can't believe I just announced my first fiction book on the first day of fall while wearing shorts and thinking about Christmas scenes I wrote during the hottest summer on record. Writer life is wonderfully weird, and I'm so grateful you're here for all of it—the genre-hopping experiments, the faith wrestling in public, the messy reality of trying to honor multiple creative callings, and now this completely unexpected fictional adventure.
More behind-the-scenes stories coming your way as we count down to October 25th. For now, I'm going to go drink something cold while dreaming of fictional snow days and wondering if it's socially acceptable to start listening to Christmas music in September. (The answer is yes, right? Right?)
Happy fall, friends! 🍂❄️
Pre-order your signed copy
Mark your calendar: October 25th launch day everywhere
What's your favorite kind of Christmas read? I love hearing about books that make you feel cozy inside and remind you of what really matters.
Found this exciting? Here's how you can support:
🔄 Share & restack this post—help other readers discover Blue Stone Christmas!
💭 Drop a comment below and tell me what kind of Christmas books make your heart happy!
☕ Pre-order your signed copy on Ko-Fi to support this multipassionate writing adventure directly!
Sounds like the kind of book I will enjoy and my mom will *love* - looking forward to it!