I know. I know. Many of you think it’s way too early to start celebrating Christmas. But I’m on a roll and wanted to let you know.

November is often known to writers as National Novel Writers Month. This will be my third year to attempt to write 50,000 words in a new book in the month of November. I succeeded the last two years. 

I’ll be working on the fourth book in the A Second Wind series, and this one will be all about Christmas! I’ve wanted to write a Christmas book for years. 

Will you support my efforts? One way you can do that is by joining my email newsletter where I’ll give updates on my progress and occasionally ask for your opinion on scenes where I need some help. You can join my newsletter by visiting my website at www.barbarahaleybooks.com or by simply sending me your email address as a private message. I promise not to ever give your email address out or inundate you with emails. Ha- I’ll be too busy writing!

Before I close, I’ll let you in on a secret. There will be a character in this book who is grieving the loss of a dear one. I’ve been there. My sweet hubby died just days after Christmas seventeen years ago, and God has healed my heart in so many ways. One of the biggest is that I once again love Christmas.

The first Christmas after Greg died, I asked the Lord, “Will I ever love Christmas again?” 

Immediately the answer came. “Barbie, stop thinking about what Christmas was, and think about what Christmas is. 

Wow! I listened. And obeyed. I intentionally stopped obsessing on what I could no longer have and started creating new memories. Reframed the season, in a way. I’m not saying I chose to forget the past or stop grieving the loss. That would not have been healthy. But I didn’t stay stuck there. And now, all these years later, I can honestly say that I am very happy with my life. In fact, it’s like God has given me two lives to love … and that’s another book for the future. 

Anyway, I want to include experiences like the one above in my book and allow God to show His love to my character in the same way. And perhaps, somewhere, a reader who is aching inside will realize how much God loves her, too. 

Because that’s why I write.

Exciting News . . . 

Back in 2004, my first book was published. The Purple Heart is a juvenile chapter book about a 12-year-old boy named Darin and his friends. I published book two in the series in 2006: Boot Camp. At the time, I wrote a third book Anchors Away, but it was never published.

Recently, I bought my rights back for those books and plan to publish the series on Amazon as paper back books and eBooks. I’ve updated them and purchased new covers. All I have left to do is get the third book ready to go.

But . . . yikes! When I opened the third book, I realized I’d written a 40,000 word whopper of a juvenile chapter book—an intriguing mystery with Darin and his friends, set on a cruise ship. No problem there except the first two books in the series are less than half that size. What’s an author to do?

Talk about writer’s block. I tried to think of how I could increase the word count of the first two books without totally rewriting them. Nothing came to mind. Finally I gave up and went to bed. Before I slept, I prayed and asked God to help me think of something.

Well, I woke up with tons of ideas! Bottom line, as I looked through the third (longer) book, I found many scenes that I could set up in the first two books. For example, in book three, Mom’s wallet is going to be stolen and her great-grandmother’s opal ring is inside the wallet. Darin and his friends set out immediately to solve the mystery.

So … in Book One, I’m going to add a scene where Darin’s mom receives the opal ring. This will set the stage for how valuable it is to her – and why she’ll be so devastated in book 3.

In Book Two, Darin wins a contest for an essay he wrote about teamwork. So … in Book One, I’ve written a scene where he finds out about the contest and actually writes the essay. 

In Book Three, Darin struggles in his relationship with God when he learns someone has cancer. How can God let bad things like that happen? This is a BIG deal in Book three. So in book one, I’ll lay the groundwork for it- Darin will just start questioning why bad things happen. Then, his search for an answer will grow deeper and more important to him in book two, so by book three- the reader will know Darin’s heart and be able to relate to his frustration and confusion.

Whoo-hoo—God did well answering that quick prayer, didn’t He?

Needless to say, I’m hard at work writing all this new material. If you know of 9-12 year-old readers who enjoy mysteries, let me know and I’ll keep you updated on the series. And be sure to join my newsletter if you haven’t already. I would LOVE to share my writing life with you and get your valuable input when I have decisions to make for my characters.

Blessings to all! Barbie

PS: When you sign up for my newsletter, you get a FREE eBook of Biz On the Go—the first in my series of three: A Second Wind. (Women’s Contemporary Fiction)