Yes....spring brings change and a time for renewal and I always welcome it!  The photo above shows we're on a warming trend here in Cedar Key and this is a VERY welcome change from the coldest winter we've had in the Gainesville area in the past 100 years!  Taking advantage of the change is Duncan and Foster.......soaking up those rays of sun on the hot tub.

Another change is occurring for us.  You might have noticed some changes to my right sidebar.  Chez Soleil is no longer listed, because we're going to be putting it up for sale.  We've had our vacation rental almost three years and it's been a lot of fun, renting to some wonderful people, many of whom I've remained in touch with.  But everything in life does change and it's time for this one.  When we bought the property and turned it into a vacation rental home, I did not have my book contracts with Kensington.  My son was not diagnosed with a major illness.  We bought Chez Soleil for a little side venture for me to indulge in.  I had a lot of fun decorating it, setting up the website, and then taking bookings and getting to meet all the guests and their wonderful furry family members in person when I checked them in.

But in all honesty, I no longer have the time to focus on this.  I won't list with a property management agency because I'm a stronger believer of the "meet and greet" policy.  We were very fortunate over the three years to have very responsible and great guests, causing no damage,  but I think this has a lot to do with guests meeting the owners in person.  So the time has come to move on, because my plate is literally overflowing.  We have had guests at Chez Soleil since the beginning of the year and they will be departing in the next few weeks.  I am honoring one last booking for Arts Festival weekend and the property will be listed for sale.  As I said, it was a fun ride and I'm glad I did it.  But all good things must come to an end, I've always said.

So you'll probably notice a new widget on my sidebar for Kona Joe's.  My very favorite place on the island and owned by our good friends, Edie and Joe.  I've added a link there for you to visit their website.  If you're on the island, do stop by and check it out.  And be sure to tell them that "Terri sent me."  As the widget states, you can also purchase a copy of SPINNING FORWARD at Kona Joe's, as Edie keeps a stack on hand, in case the book store is closed or Dick is in the process of reordering.

My daughter, Susan, is flying down from the Boston area tomorrow for a much-needed R&R from work and her courses at college for her RN degree.  So I'm looking forward to her visit and some down time for both of us.  We're hoping to take a day to visit Cross Creek, the home of Pulitzer Prize winning author, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings and if so, I'll share it here with you along with photos.

I have the first chapter completed on my book 3, tentatively titled KNITTING THE PAST.  I'm very pleased and I hope my readers will also enjoy it.  My characters are literally "taking over" especially Aunt Maude.......When I went to begin the chapter, she told me something about herself that I had no knowledge of until I sat down to write.  I love it when that happens!

I'm still reading up a storm and just began "Very Valentine" the first in a trilogy by Adriana Trigiani.  I haven't read her books before, but I'm really enjoying this one so far.  I'm working on a very pretty scarf, done with my favorite yarn, the Bonsi Bamboo.

So while spring brings change, I remain extra busy............and I'm lovin' every minute of it!  Any changes coming your way this spring?

See you here next time...................

Yes . . . I received very good news last evening.  A phone call informing me that SPINNING FORWARD is a finalist for the New England Reader's Choice Bean Pot Award given out by the New England Chapter of Romance Writers of America.

My novel is a finalist in the Long Contemporary category and I was told that I'd receive 1st, 2nd or 3rd prize.  The entries were read and scored by librarians, book sellers and readers and the award presentations will be at a dinner Friday night, March 26, as part of the RWA Chapter Conference at the Sheraton Tara, Framingham, Massachusetts.

I have a lot going on, but I'm going to attempt to make a quick trip up there for the dinner and award presentations.

Needless to say, I'm very excited that my novel was chosen and I wanted to share the news here with all of you.

See you here next time..................

Molly Jubitz, our wonderful librarian at the Cedar Key Library, has put together an exciting series to be given over the next three months.  "Exploring Place:  Finding Self" will feature six women authors who will speak about their writing and how it was influenced by Cedar Key.

I spoke last Thursday to a wonderful group and very much enjoyed sharing my writing experiences.

I explained how moving to Cedar Key five years ago (Yes! It was 5 years last Wed. since we relocated here) stirred my muse and helped me to create SPINNING FORWARD and my cast of characters.  Originally, I had attempted a mystery, but realized it wasn't working for me.  A cute story, with Miss Dora as my main character.  When I abandoned that project, I returned to writing what I knew best......women's fiction.....and I took Miss Dora and Saren with me into the novel that ended up becoming SPINNING FORWARD.

A huge thank you to Molly for organizing this great series at our library and another thank you to those of you that attended my speaking event.  I enjoyed meeting and chatting with all of you.

Yesterday we had another woman author speaking, Maureen Landress.  Maureen is a former Cedar Key resident and was editor of the Cedar Key News. Maureen and I first met in 2002 when my debut novel, Lost Souls of the Witches' Castle, had been released and I was at the Cedar Key book store doing a signing.  Maureen showed up to cover my signing for the newspaper and also do a review.  I lived in New Port Richey at the time, but we continued to stay in touch and got together during my visits.  When I moved to Cedar Key, it was Maureen that gave me a great orientation.......on local families, folklore, island history, touchy subjects and a multitude of other information.  Although she moved away the following year, we have still managed to stay in touch.  Maureen and her husband did attend my book launch in November, but unfortunately we found little time to actually chat, since I was trying to mingle a bit with everyone.  So it was great to see her again yesterday and be able to catch up.

Her debut novel, Sour Grapes, won First Place in Humor/Satire from the Florida Writers Association 2008 Royal Palm Literary Awards.  This was the first in her humorous Marvella Watson mystery series.  Marvella is a "woman of a certain age" who's still passionate and filled with life.  The setting is a small southern town and the characters are quirky and believable.  The book was a delightful read and now we can follow Marvella again in One Bad Apple, Maureen's second book in the series. 

There's a new man in town who's set his sights on Marvella.  His romantic attentions throw her off stride and with a killer on the loose, she doesn't need that kind of distraction.  I'm looking forward to visiting with Marvella again, so I bumped up this book to number two in my "to be read" pile.  Coming next for Maureen and Marvella........Mango Madness, due out in a few months.

Our next woman author will be speaking on March 25 and I'll be sure to share that with you here at Island Writer.

See you next time..................

As promised, I wanted to share my new titles here with you first before the news gets around.  So it's official!  Book #2 in my Cedar Key series has been named, CASTING ABOUT. I love the title, but I'm afraid I can't take credit for it.....I was at a total loss and the few I came up with weren't that great.  So credit goes to my editor for her clever idea.  I like it for a few reasons......First of all, as any of you knitters know "casting" is a term used in knitting.  I also like it because it seems to flow with SPINNING FORWARD, since both are two-word titles.  But it's also appropriate to my story.....Monica, my main character, is "casting about" for her place in life, her new marriage and her role as a step-mom.

CASTING ABOUT will be released on October 26.  However, it is now available on Amazon.com for Pre-Order.  We don't have a book cover yet, but again, I'll be sharing that first here on Island Writer also.

October 26 will be a mighty exciting day......because my novella in the Christmas anthology will also be released that day!  Ta da...............and the title that Kensington chose for that is:

Yes......HOLIDAY MAGIC and I love it!  Especially since, ironically, (having no clue what the actual title of the book would be) I titled my novella, A Magical Christmas.  And yes, you can also Pre-Order this book now at Amazon.com.   My setting for my novella is Cedar Key and my main character is Josie, a single mom raising her eleven-year old daughter, Orli, who feels perhaps the time has come to reevaluate her life.  It has to do with community, family, forgiveness and of course, Christmas!

And another piece of news to pass on here:  SPINNING FORWARD is being released in large print on March 1.  Since the rights were bought by another publisher for the large print, they have changed my cover and here it is:

I do like it.  A lot.  I especially love the little spinning wheel in the lower right corner.  But, okay, I won't lie......I think I'll always have a very special feeling toward my first cover that Kensington did.  It's hard to compete with that luscious, squishy, pink yarn.  But I have to say, I also like this cover as well. 

Okay, folks, that's it for this time.  Just wanted to give you the latest breaking news and now you can say, I heard it at Island Writer first.

See you here next time.........................

I've never liked winter.  Not ever.  You'd think growing up in New England I would have adjusted, but I never did.  I remember being a kid and wanting to go outside to play.  My poor mother would get me all bundled up in leggings, hat, scarf, mittens and boots.  I'd be out there ten minutes and want to come in again.  I've never found anything delightful about snow and ice.  So when we moved to southern Ohio when I was seven years old, I was very happy to have more temperate winters.  But I remember moving back to the Boston area in 1960.....just in time for the huge Valentine's Day Blizzard.  At fourteen, I detested winter even more.  I mean, come on, how cool was that to have to wear all that cold weather gear?

And as I got older, I hated winter even more because I found that it now affected my sinus.  So moving to Florida twenty-three years ago pretty much eliminated both my shivering and my sinus problems.  Until this winter. 

You know that surprise birthday party we were supposed to go to on Saturday?  Well, it was for our friend, Joe, owner of Kona Joe's...........and I couldn't go.  As the day wore on and the pressure in my face, eyes and neck got worse, I knew I was going nowhere and I was pretty disappointed.

But we went to Kona Joe's yesterday for lunch and and to bring Joe the gift I'd ordered for him.  I found a site on the Internet where you can personalize tee shirts and this is what I came up with to put on Joe's.

And I had this printed on the back.

Kona Joe's caters to us locals as much as the tourists, so it's the ideal place to drop by and find out what's going on here on the island.   From my first day visiting there, I knew it was my answer to "Cheers".......where everybody knows your name. 

Some of you might recall that Ray and I have unofficially adopted four cats in the neighborhood.  They're sure not used to this cold either.  So a couple months ago I put out two doggie crates, complete with pillow and blanket.  At least this keeps them warm and dry at night to sleep.  And yes, they do sleep in there......They've paired up and it's so sweet to see two of them huddled together in their crate.  And during the day, I leave my garage door open so a few of them take advantage and come inside to warm up a bit.  When we got back from downtown yesterday, we found Black & White Kitty taking a respite from the cold in the garage.

We have a new establishment (one of a few, actually) that opened downtown on Dock Street.  I briefly popped in yesterday to see it and meet the new owners, Connie and Jay.  A very friendly couple and I was totally captivated by their dog, Otis!  What a handsome lad he is!  Ray and I plan to drop by there on Friday for a drink, so I'll be sharing photos and details with you soon.

Never one to dwell on the negative.......concerning the weather, the good news is that we're going to have a slow warming trend headed our way.  According to the local forecast, we just might see 70 degrees by Sunday!  And I, for one, will certainly be welcoming that.  I almost feel guilty complaining when I see what the rest of the country has been enduring.  But hey, come on, this IS Florida after all......you know, that state where people come to try and escape the winter cold, not be subjected to it.  Have to admit though, it certainly does beat all that snow the north has recently received. 

So make sure you stay warm and I'll see you here next time................