Is it just me, or is time racing by faster every month? I simply cannot believe that 2025 is here and January is gone! My head is positively spinning.

I generally keep my posts upbeat and cheerful, because who on Earth needs anything sobering to read right now? But today, I have to share some hard things with you, because it impacts my schedule. When an author moves a release date and cancels events, she owes her readers an explanation.

I know, we’ve been here before, haven’t we? The past several years have been quite challenging for our family. You may recall that I lost my mother to cancer a year ago this past October, and I know I’ve shared with y’all that she was my dad’s primary caretaker, and that he has Alzheimer’s. Today, as I’m writing this on Friday, is my mom’s birthday. She would’ve been eighty-two.

This is by no means the primary calamity in my world, but it’s also not insignificant to me that my last two books have suffered schedule changes and canceled tour dates due to our ongoing family health crises. Recently, our family has dealt with another plot twist.

The same week that Helene blew through the Carolinas, my grown son who lives with us (no, he’s not Deacon, if you’ve read The Sullivan’s Island Supper Club) had an episode we would later learn was a seizure. Because he’s the picture of health, very fit, at first none of us panicked. When he had the second seizure a week later, my granddaughter was with him and called 911. The ambulance had to park down the street and take him out via a go-cart-type vehicle because all the large trees and power lines down in our neighborhood from the storm made the streets impassable.

The scans they did at the hospital showed something in his brain the doctors at first called a spot, then a lesion, and later a tumor. My baby–his name is Brandon–had brain surgery in Charlotte in October. After a few weeks of healing and waiting for pathology results, he underwent six weeks of chemotherapy and radiation starting just before Thanksgiving and ending right after New Year’s. Brandon and I stayed with family in North Carolina during his treatment at Levine Cancer Institute / Atrium Health.

Because he’s young and otherwise healthy, he weathered the treatment as well as anyone could have, with minimal side effects, thanks be to God. We have been so blessed, and I am so grateful for this and many other blessings…that we had family we could stay with close to Brandon’s care team…the doctors, nurses, and technicians that make up his phenomenal care team at Levine are nothing short of amazing…his really solid health insurance that has made it possible for him to get the best care…the company he works for, which provides him with this excellent coverage…and the ongoing prayers of so many friends and family. We have much to be thankful for.

We’re praying hard that he’s beaten this thing down and it never rears its ugly head again. But he will have to have scans every two months for the rest of his life, we’re told. I think it’s safe to say all of our lives have been forever changed over the last several months.

Nevertheless, we’re all striving for as much normalcy as we can get every day. Brandon works every day and loves his job, though his energy is sapped from the treatments and he does take frequent naps. My granddaughters are going to school and work, Sugar continues to work and travel, and I am at my desk most days now that we’re home.

I’m so sorry to over-share and burden you with all of that, but I risk you thinking I don’t take my work seriously if I keep moving deadlines and canceling events and don’t fully explain.

So…as you might imagine, I’m behind. Trouble’s Turn to Lose (forthcoming), the next book in the Carolina Tales Series, will release June 24 , 2025 instead of April 8 as originally planned. If you have already preordered from any retailer, you should receive a notice from the retailer that the preorder has been canceled. I’m so sorry, but I have no choice here as I need more than sixty additional days, and one of the retailers will only allow a sixty-day extension.

In the midst of everything, my work is my refuge, and I am so excited about this book. Because life has repeatedly shown me that uncertainty is certain, I don’t plan to offer preorders in the future. It’s just too stressful when a release date has to move. I apologize for the inconvenience, and ask that those of you who preordered to please order the book again when it’s released.

Because of everything I’ve shared, and the unpredictable nature of my life right now, I’ve canceled all of my planned events for 2025 with the exception of a few multi-author events (festivals, conventions, et. cetera) which won’t be negatively affected should I have to cancel last minute. I know you understand that family comes first, and I just can’t run the risk of leaving an organization in the lurch with no speaker for a luncheon or what have you.

Okay…shifting back to happy things…and I have to add here that our household is committed to finding the joy in every single day.

First, I’m thrilled to share that we’re still on track for a cover reveal for Trouble’s Turn to Lose (forthcoming) very soon, so please stay tuned for that! 

While I have limited my schedule of events this year, I was able to squeeze in a few last month. The timing just worked out, between the end of Brandon’s treatment and when we next have to be in Charlotte for scans and appointments. It was wonderful to get out and see folks while I had the opportunity! In addition to a couple private events, I spent a lovely afternoon with the Surf Golf Club Book Club in North Myrtle Beach, and I was delighted to join Caroline Cleveland and Roger Jones at Mary Alice Monroe’s Wild Dunes Author Event Kickoff Party as well. 

Confession…in the wake of the chaos that has been my world over the past three years, my email inbox has gotten completely out of control. If you emailed me and didn’t receive a reply, please know this is not normally how I operate. When things are on an even keel in my world, I answer every single reader email, usually the same day it comes in. It makes my day to hear from readers!

That said, I’m ashamed to say, I recently had a little bubble on my phone to tell me I had more than 1,200 unread emails! (This might have caused a rash on my arms.) I’ve spent the last several weeks getting my situation under control, but with an inbox that contains business correspondence, marketing emails, phishing emails, newsletters from everywhere I do business, et cetera, I know I missed a few lovely notes from readers. Several of you have recently received replies that are two years or more late. Y’all, I am so, so sorry!

Because there were some good questions among the emails, I’ve started a new feature called, “Questions From The Inbox.” For queries which seem to be something other people might wonder about as well, I’m answering the questions on short videos. I’ll share them on YouTube and Facebook. I’m having fun with these! You can check out the first one here if you’d care to. 

Last, but not least, by special request–and to save one poor husband’s left arm (his wife emailed to offer it to me for this recipe)– you’ll find the Holy City Smoke cocktail now available among my recipes! This is Sugar’s spin on our favorite drink served at Hank’s and featured in Big Trouble on Sullivan’s Island. While we did get the ingredient list from an inside source, Sugar had to employ a lot of trial and error to get the proportions just right. It may not be exact, but it tastes good to us and I’m delighted to share. If you mix one up and give it a try, I do hope that you enjoy it!

Thank you so much for reading as I’ve poured my heart here. I appreciate you more than I can adequately express. And I’m looking forward to a season with less stormy weather and calmer waters, where I can regularly put out books and travel to meet readers. I have faith that I’ll get back to that place. As they say, every storm runs out of rain.

Wishing you and yours smooth sailing throughout 2025 and beyond.