My last blog post was just before my 50th birthday…which was in 2021… Well, in case you read it, and you’re wondering if I slayed 50 and if I’m living the fan-****-ing-tastic 50s now…I’m not sure. Some days are diamonds, right? I don’t even know how to catch you up on the last 2.5 years! There’s so much going on in our family—good stuff that I will share when it’s time. A few highlights from 2023— ~We celebrated a good friend’s 50th birthday last January in Bardstown, Kentucky! ~JB and I usually go to wine country in Napa and Sonoma for our wedding anniversary. In 2023, we took some friends. We had an absolute blast, and we can’t wait to do it again! ~JB and I got to spend time with a lot of good friends at different events—work events for both of us. We are both blessed to know so many fun, caring, & giving people! ~I got on a plane and flew to Athens, Greece! While I’m not exactly afraid to fly, I also don’t love it. I wasn’t sure how I would handle an overseas flight, but I did okay. From there, JB and I explored Athens with my sister-in-law and her family. On day three in Athens, we all boarded a Princess cruise ship for a Mediterranean cruise. Fun fact? Not only had I never been overseas, I had never been on any sort of cruise! Again, wasn’t sure how I would handle it. Turns out, it was a fantastic vacation, and I would love to do it again. I loved spending time with my sister-in-law’s family. She and I were good friends before JB and I got married, but she and her family live a thousand miles away now, so we don’t get to see them often. ~JB and I traveled to Louisville, Kentucky for the Bourbon Pursuit Palooza and made some new friends! We’re looking forward to the Pursuit Palooza again this summer. We also went back to the Bourbon Festival in Bardstown with good friends! (And went to a disco costume party!) ~Our family (-my daughter’s boyfriend, who had to work) traveled to Phoenix for my father-in-law’s 80th birthday. The whole bunch of us surprised him with an Elvis & Priscilla party. Yes…that means we all dressed either as Elvis or Priscilla! ~JB and I went with good friends to see a few concerts: Rick Springfield, Shinedown, and Train! ~I had my meniscus cleaned up in April and then had a total knee replacement in October. My right knee has bothered me since I took a line drive off my kneecap when I was a junior in high school. It’s nice to finally be pain free! If you’ve been following my writing, you know I jumped headfirst into several anthologies and multi-author shared worlds during the past couple of years. I have been buried in writing projects. While it’s been fun, and I’ve made some awesome connections in the writing world as well as found new readers, and it has been a great learning/writing experience for me, I am happy to be stepping back a bit this year and concentrating on some of my own projects—not the least of which is rebranding a lot of my backlist. I hope you stick around this year—both for the good things coming in the family and for the fun, new book adventures I plan to create for you!