Happy Halloween! Here’s a fun Halloween throwback photo from 2007 of me and my little kiddo, Joshua. Not so little now!
It’s been a busy few months since summertime! I spent 10 days at a lakeside writing retreat in northern New York where I finished a new middle grade manuscript and submitted it to my agent. I launched my own Etsy Shop: Go Wild Design—Nature inspired gifts and apparel, and I’ve started a real estate investing program.
I had so much fun designing and creating 150+ products for my Etsy shop based on my love for nature. I launched with about 25 of these products and am adding new items each week including stickers, mugs, t-shirts, journals and more. Are you a nature lover or know someone who is? Then be sure to favorite my shop and pass it on. 😊 Something appeals to you? Please leave a review if you purchase. Like books, reviews help my shop be found on Etsy!
My super talented friend, author, and artist Kate Brandes, also launched her own Etsy shop (KateBrandesArt) with her beautiful, atmospheric art. Check her out and favorite her shop so you get updates on new items!
I was lucky to spend so much time in the woods this beautiful autumn. I caught the magic of many sunrises before it slipped away. Silvery strings of web decorating meadows. Rich color blooming beneath my feet. Mist and melody of the woods. All before the day was drenched in sun, but I witnessed its secrets.
It was a glorious time on retreat in northern New York. Although, packing up from the lake is always sad. To say goodbye to the loons and beavers and bald eagles. The stillness and storms. Fires by the shore and shooting stars. Peace and wonder. Mist and magic.
All in all, a busy year for sure, especially with so much travel. And speaking of travel, my husband and I just had a fun week touring around the Hudson Valley of New York. We’re planning to move to the Albany region next year (where I mostly grew up).
The foliage was just AMAZING this year! From Pennsylvania to New York. I hope you’re enjoying some too wherever you are.
I did fit in some reading along the way. In recent years I fell in love with non-fiction, especially historical. I highly recommend this book I recently finished: In The Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick. This book is an intense telling of the tragedy of the whaleship Essex which inspired Moby Dick. This is no dull history tale. Philbrick colors this true story with in-depth details, atmosphere, and gut-wrenching accounts of what occurred on this whaleship taken down by a whale and what horrors its crew experienced stranded at sea for three months. This palpitating epic tale with rich language brings history alive and is a must read! (also goes good with a martini and a cat!)
It’s so peaceful living in the country and here’s a scene from a morning walk. I love hot air balloons and my husband and I took a ride in one the year we got married. I don’t think the cows are excited as me. LOL
Just a reminder, that the final and third volume of Unicorn Island: Beyond the Portal releases in hardcover April 4th, 2023. Check out my Unicorn Island books and get all the Unicorn Island updates here.
Pre-Order Volume 3 in hardcover Beyond the Portal here! Out 4/4/23
Hope you enjoyed my fall photos!
XXOO -Donna