I’m a lifelong reader. And dreamer. And storyteller. As well as everything else that involves finding the richness, learning, heartache, laughter, healing, and joy in life. That’s what story did for me when I was a girl, and it still does it for me today.

The authors I admire weave in the realness of life, the quirks of character, and the tarnished quest to find hope—hope is at the root of everything, is it not?—and that’s what I aim to do every time I begin writing a new story. It’s that breeze of better days that guides me, and I weave that betterment into the chapters that fill my head, and sometimes my pages too.

I think of books as everyday vacations. A mental escape from the messiness of life and a departure to a place where dramas, conflicts, romances, and danger are resolved after a handful of chapters. If you agree that books are cheaper than airfare, join me in the pursuit of writing and creating more of these everyday vacations, and let’s compare postcards from the books that have given us the most pleasure.