WELCOME to my blog, ISLAND WRITER ~~~

A lot has changed in the eight years since I began writing here!  Ray and I relocated to Cedar Key in February of 2005 when he retired.  I started this blog to keep friends and family up to date, to share what it was like moving from a fairly large city to an island off the west coast of Florida and a town of about 900 permanent residents.  As a writer, a knitter and an avid reader, those were also topics I'd be posting about. 

Over time the topics grew to include island stuff, gardening, grandchildren, my travels to France, (especially my beloved Paris) our pets and whatever topic caught my fancy. 

Something else I posted about was my struggle and desire to get on board with a large, New York publisher for the women's fiction that I write.

Well, I can honestly say . . . Dreams really DO come true!  If one is willing to put forth the effort, have the patience and believe in yourself and your vision.

Because on February 28, 2008, I was offered a two-book contract from Kensington Publishers in New York City.  My first novel, SPINNING FORWARD, was released on October 27, 2009.

Book number two in the Cedar Key series, CASTING ABOUT, was released October 26, 2010, along with my Christmas novella, A CEDAR KEY CHRISTMAS, in the anthology, HOLIDAY MAGIC, which has debuted on both the NY Times and USA Today best seller list!   Book 3, SUNRISE ON CEDAR KEY was released October, 2011. Book 4, POSTCARDS FROM CEDAR KEY was released October 30, 2012. And......I received another two book contract for books 5 and 6 in the Cedar Key Series, which means I'm contracted with Kensington Publishing through 2014.  How could I not believe in a dream coming true?

So as you can see, there's been a lot of great changes since the birth of this blog.  And as I update this in March of 2013, unfortunately I've become so busy with my writing, book related events, travel, in addition to fun things that help me to chill out like my knitting and reading, I'm not able to post nearly as often as I'd like to or as often as I used to.  And for this, I apologize.  However, I am able to do a quick daily update on Facebook, so if you also visit there.......do send me a friend request at Terri DuLong to access my personal page.  I give tidbits about the progress of the current book I'm working on, family stuff, knitting stuff, travel, etc.  Hope to see you over there!

So to those of you that have been with me from the beginning and those of you that are new to Island Writer . . . I hope you'll enjoy your visit here!  Look around, check out my photos, but most of all . . . get to know me and Cedar Key, our wonderful little fishing village.

I've also developed another website, Cedar Key Series, and the link is on my sidebar here.  I have a mailing list, blog, and photos.  This site was created for YOU, my loyal readers and fans!  A place where you'll learn more about my books, the characters and the setting for those stories.

Don't forget to leave me a comment and let me know you dropped by...........I love hearing from friends and readers!

                                    ~~~~~~~  TERRI ~~~~~~~