Today is a very exciting day, for it marks the launch of my brand-new website. Do you like it?  🙂 If so, please leave me a note in the comments below to tell me so! I also hope you will take some time to look around and enjoy the Extras page and the other fun things here.

To get this shiny new Blog/News page underway properly, I thought I revisit a moment in time that was important on my journey as a writer.

In August 2010, I was laid off from work. During the next five months while I was searching for a new job, I also found time to do what any self-respecting writer would do: I finished my novel. And a few months later, I sold it. I can’t wait for AN HEIRESS AT HEART to hit bookstores and eReaders on October 30 so you can enjoy it.

The layoff occurred just days before I was to take a two-week trip to England in order to do research for my book. And in case you are wondering–yes! I absolutely went, despite losing my job. Most of the trip was pre-paid after all, and at any rate, I knew the time I spent in England would be invaluable to me as a historical romance writer. I was going to visit so many areas that would feature in the books I had planned to write.

Here are a few fun photos that I took while in England.

In London, where much of AN HEIRESS AT HEART takes place, here’s a shot of a townhouse in the London neighborhood of Mayfair:

And here’s a bit of the bucolic English countryside which also features in the book. I could easily envision my hero and heroine riding their horses in such a lovely landscape.

In closing, I’d like to quote a wonderful poem by Edgar A. Guest, which I have memorized because it is tacked on my refrigerator.  🙂

It Couldn’t Be Done

Somebody said that it couldn’t be done,
But, he with a chuckle replied
That “maybe it couldn’t,” but he would be one
Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

Somebody scoffed: “Oh, you’ll never do that;
At least no one has done it”;
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
And the first thing we knew he’d begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle it in with a bit of a grin,
Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
That “couldn’t be done,” and you’ll do it.

What are your goals in life? Truly, I urge you to “buckle in” and go for it. Tackle those challenges with lightheartedness and energy, and expect great things!

So tell me, what dreams are you reaching for?