This holiday season, with travel plans put on hold and cancelled family gatherings, most of us have a little extra time on our hands to read. Books have always been a comfort to me, and this year more than ever before, I’ve been grateful for stories. While beach reads will always be my favorite to pick up, holiday books are a close second. You can count on most to deliver a bit of Christmas magic, wonderful wintry descriptions, romance, and a good dose of laughter—which I know we all could . . .
10 Page-Turning Beach Reads To Add To Your Summer Reading List
I just spent the last week in my hometown in Oregon working on my next book and working my way through this summer’s most anticipated beach reads. While I still have several books to go, so far I’ve really enjoyed The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren and The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth. Both Sally Hepworth and Christina Lauren are authors I discovered more recently. As soon as I read Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren I was hooked on their romantic stories that have a more . . .
A Writing Workshop and Reading from Waiting at Hayden’s at The Soul Project
This Wednesday June 26 from 6:00-8:00pm I’ll be leading a workshop at The Soul Project in Laguna Beach about how to get started writing a novel! The event is free, open to the public, and great for readers and writers alike. Since Waiting at Hayden's is the first shopfiction novel, I'm excited to be holding the class at one of my favorite local clothing boutiques. (Address is: 1516 South Coast Highway Laguna Beach, CA 92651) In addition to explaining my writing process and answering questions . . .
A Book Club Discussion Guide For Waiting at Hayden’s
As an author one of my favorite things to do is talk to book clubs. For such a long time I was the only person who knew the characters in Waiting at Hayden's. There were so many times during the writing process where I wished I could talk to someone other than my editor about them. I was dying to discuss the journeys they were on and the choices they were making. It sort of felt like I had all these best friends, but couldn't introduce them to anyone. Now that the book is out in the world, . . .
Little Black Dresses Perfect For Spring & A Breakfast at Tiffany’s Engagement Party
Yesterday we celebrated my cousin John and his bride-to-be Mikaela with an engagement party in Newport Beach at Pelican Hill. It was a Breakfast at Tiffany's themed affair so guests were asked to wear little black dresses and Mikaela showed up looking gorgeous in a black floor length gown with a Tiffany blue ribbon belt. I always think to only wear black in the winter and come spring am much more excited for florals and colorful dresses, but was surprised by how many cute springtime LBDs I . . .
Easter Dresses & An Island Egg Hunt For Waiting at Hayden’s
Over the weekend I hid several signed copies of Waiting at Hayden’s in the free little libraries on Balboa Island. I’m always borrowing books from these little libraries to take to the beach. I love finding new reads here that I wouldn’t have picked out at the bookstore and sharing my favorites with others on the island as well. A while back I did a post about creative ways to use your books for home décor, but sharing, re-gifting, and donating books is my favorite use for them—especially . . .