The "In Between"

I just finished watching a video of a haunted house in England that gives the phrase "in between" a whole different meaning! The people have lived in their house for three years and have documented poltergeist activity. Whether or not you believe them is another matter. I was reading the comments and as with most things, there are opinions all over the board. I think the one that resonated with me is "how come they're not surprised when these things happen suddenly?" I will say the video is well done, real or not.

But that's not the kind of in between I'm living right now. I have just received edits back from my editor on Hillendale 5, which I hope includes her opinion on the title. Enchanted Memories is a front-runner, but I'm vacillating with Hypnotic Charm. Tune in next week to find out which one wins (feel free to weigh in in the comments), and by then pre-orders should be available to those of you who want to keep up with what's going on in Hillendale.

Generally, in the "in between," I start the next book. This time, I've been taking a break. Learning new things. Have I mentioned my podcast? The second episode is up! And since I'm talking about the podcast, keep an eye out for my interview with author Maggie Toussaint coming July 14.

After I finished my first book (Holy cow! That was 20 years ago!) I read articles on how people celebrate the "birth" of a book, what to do in the "in between," and some of the ideas were loads of fun. To this day, one of the suggestions that stuck with me was about someone who browsed the classified ads and found something they wanted to buy. When they went to pick it up, they sat and talked with the seller for hours! That conversation spurred them on to write the next book. The article likened finishing a book to childbirth, where the author needs time to recover from the process. I totally get that. The process is exhausting, and also miraculous. I grew that?

My "in between" is just about over and it will be time to commit to a new story, but for now, I'm excited to polish Hillendale 5 and prepare it for distribution. I hope you'll love it, too!