Summer’s Here! 1 Month Until Release Day!

Happy June, readers, and Happy Month of the Sacred Heart ❤️! Raise your hand if school’s over for your kids. Now, raise your hand if that means things slow down. Are you laughing? Me too! Life is as crazy as ever, with church retreats, summer camp, and music workshops taking the place of school musicals, homework, and PSR. It’s a good crazy and for that, I’m thankful.

What’s in this Edition:

One Step Closer – All the Astonished Updates
Join the Launch Team – Read Astonished for free.
Recent Reads I Recommend – My favorite books from last month.
Upcoming Events – Where to find me in 2026

**One Step Closer: All the Astonished Updates**

Only 6 weeks until July 24, which is both the release day for Astonished and the day when Chapter 1 begins. All the beta reader edits have been returned, and I am now reading through my proof copy for final edits. Feedback from early readers has been, as always, incredibly helpful, and I’m grateful for both their excitement and constructive criticism.

4 Ways to Read

Ready to read? Those who order through my online store or join the launch team will receive some fun swag and an extra entry into the release day giveaway on July 24. (I’m still working on what that will be. Stay tuned!)

Recent Reads I Recommend

Need another book for your TBR? Of course you do. Here are the books I’ve recently read and loved. (Note: I receive no compensation for featuring the books below.)

As a former opera technician currently writing about an asylum, I was itching to get my hands on Sung in the Shadows by Crystal Caudill. This opera-infused novel tells of a stage manager and a former opera singer’s daughter who meet while visiting their mothers in Cincinnati’s Longview Asylum. Sparks are flying, but dangers of the past threaten to keep them apart at every turn. While the middle of the story slows more than I would have liked, this book’s action-packed ending made up for the wait. I also appreciated how the author approached mental health with sensitivity while portraying the treatments of the time period realistically. Even though this is the second book in the series, I had no problem following the story. Fair warning if you plan to read Book 1: there are spoilers.

Surprisingly, I never read The Giver by Lois Lowry when I was in elementary school. My son was reading it with his class, so I decided to read it with him, and finished it in one day. Like most dystopian novels, this one brings up scary possibilities (and sometimes unknown realities) of the world we currently live in. While The Giver had elements of fantasy, such as people no longer being able to see color, other areas like population control, hive mind, eugenics, and rewriting history made for good areas of discussion. I also recommend watching the movie after reading the book. Since the book is in first person, the movie is able to explain the external characters more in depth. There are obvious differences between the two, but overall, I thought it was a good adaptation.

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Upcoming Events

Mark your calendars! Here’s where you can find me and my books in 2026, including the opportunity to pre-order Astonished. As additional events are scheduled, I’ll add details on my website.

Elks Lodge 2587 Craft Fair – July 18, 2026 – O’Fallon, MO (with author Susan Laspe)
Encounter School of Ministry Summer Intensive – July 27-30, 2026 – St. Charles, MO (Requires registration.)
St. Joseph Catholic School Craft Fair – October 10, 2026 – Cottleville, MO (with author Susan Laspe)
Francis Howell High Band Craft Fair – December 5, 2026 – Weldon Springs, MO (with author Susan Laspe)