Earth Day is HERE!!!!!

It is Earth Day today, and I’m taking a moment to recommit my life and art journey to doing the right things to take care of the planet. Every little bit does make a difference! This year I am donating three bags of clothes to ThredUp. What is your Earth Day thing going to be?

This year I’m also reading two books. One is on reducing toxins in the home. It is called “A Healthier Home”. The book focuses chapters on different things you do in the home. With ideas for personal care, cooking, cleaning and more…I’m bound to get some ideas from this book on products to avoid and more Earth and people friendly habits to swap in.

The second book I’m reading is “Simply Living Well”. It features ways to go low waste and helps you get closer to zero waste. There are recipes for health, hearth and home. Plus the photos in the books are just gorgeous! It’s inspirational just flipping through the books. I cannot do natural medicine very much because I am on a lot of prescriptions, but it is encouraging to think there might be a few things I might be able to try.

I hope your Earth Day is fabulous! Extra points if you do something to make it matter to you!

Why I wrote "The Portals of Locke Meade"

There’s something really grounding about making your own clothes.
Just sitting with the fabric, taking your time, figuring things out as you go. It’s not fast, and it’s definitely not perfect—but that’s kind of the point. I think that’s why I’ve always loved it. It feels like stepping outside of everything else for a while. The pace is slower. You actually pay attention. And you end up with something that means a little more because you made it yourself.

But lately, I’ve been thinking about how different that is from the world we live in now. Clothing is made so quickly, in such huge quantities, and most of us never really see how or where it happens. It just shows up… and then disappears. And I started wondering—what would it look like if people pushed back against that in a bigger way? Not just quietly choosing to sew at home, but actually resisting it.

That question stuck with me more than I expected. I kept coming back to it—what would real resistance even look like in a world like this? And at some point, it stopped being just a question and started turning into a story.

I began imagining a group of people who didn’t just step outside the system, but decided to confront it. People who saw the environmental cost of mass production and couldn’t ignore it anymore. People who were willing to take risks to protect something they believed in.

That’s where this book came from.

It’s a mix of history, science fiction, and environmental themes—but at its core, it’s really about that same feeling so many of us have in quieter ways. Wanting to slow down. Wanting to live differently. Wanting to care about how things are made and what they cost beyond just money.

If you’ve ever felt that, even a little bit, I think this story might resonate with you.

The book is available on Amazon if you’d like to explore the story. And truly, thank you for being here and sharing this space with me.

#1 Teen European History New Release!!

We did it!! If you have been following me on Facebook the last couple of weeks, I asked people to help make my book #1 in Teen Historical Fiction. It did so today!! I’m beyond thrilled! What a way to spend the Easter holiday, basking in the glow of a book well done! I’m doing my happy dance over in my corner of the world. Get your copy of “The Portals of Locke Meade” today! Thank you beyond measure for helping making this book a success!

The Reluctant Farmer by Cathryn Wellner

I want to give a shout out to my friend from Australia! She is the author of many books, the one I love the most is “The Reluctant Farmer”! Cathryn Wellner and I met some years ago, because we both love to encourage other creatives online. She is a true storyteller! If you get a chance, check out her memoir and her Small Scale Stories! I am loving her memoir, “The Reluctant Farmer” so much. You can get a copy on Amazon.

It is raining out today, and I am just settling in for a quiet night of art and reading at my desk. I hope you all are doing well, and that you are having fun, no matter what continent you live on!

Some paintings inspired by "The Portals of Locke Meade"...

Here are a few paintings I did along the way as I was writing the book. They will give you something of an idea of what the book is about. I chose to keep the book as just text, because young YA are just getting into full length chapter books. So I wanted the book text to stand on it's own.

I worked for over three years off and on writing this book! It is my finest book to date, although I’m still really partial to my art book, “The Faeries of Octo Bay”. “The Portals of Locke Meade” is a full length book of YA sci fi fiction! Be a part of the adventure today!