the golden glow of summer & celebrating a new book

If summer were a tomato, it would be golden red on the vine; sweet and full and warm with sunlight. I've already noticed a few rust colored leaves in the driveway, and detected that hint of coolness on the gauzy breeze. Soon I will see dabs of auburn and ochre along the rows of our neighbor farmer's field; pumpkins and winter squash. But now is the moment just before it, where the wave is in full crest and there is nothing left to do but to enjoy each flavor note, the undertones of the season; the droplets of freshwater on my lips as I plunge into the lake, the musky perfume of the crackling fire sending confetti sparks up into the fragrant pines, the rebirth of the forest after the rain and the cleansing scent it brings, like sacred sage to the sky. It's all golden and salmon pink and splashes of indigo, the expanse of sky, runny brushstrokes staining the horizon and giving way to dusks that shimmer with stars.

Summer is here in its fullness, and I'm about to let go of a new book like a balloon string. There is giddiness, there is relief, there is satisfaction in that - hope as well. It feels right that I should have something to give at a time when nature is giving so much, goldening to a harvest around me. My new book is the last in a long series, a series that has carried me through so many joys and challenges and springs and winters within myself, it's dizzying to look back upon. There is such vulnerability to writing, the likes of which I have not known before. Your writing is lines on the wall, marking your growth, lines you can look back to and observe how far you have come. We are not 'better' now, as much as we are changed by what seemed the lesser things - and that's why it can never be called inferior, just as your stature at age six couldn't be labeled such a thing either; without that moment of growth, you wouldn't be here. Nothing would have happened. And so each thing, each work, each piece is what stiches us together - to look at one book only is to miss the larger body of work from which we are forged. 

All of this has been a chaos in my mind lately, as I prepare this book: where it came from and where, perhaps, it will go. Years ago I was that starry-eyed writer, who gazed out from the brink of publishing with hopes that the whole world would read my story and love it. I would like to hug her, that writer. And I needed her. But here, now... I stand on a similar peak, seasoned in some ways, I suppose; dusty with the work of words, gritty from the digging it took to discover my voice, and I find that my heart's desire is simple and unglamorous: that my words might be a seed of hope, planted in just one person's heart. The mere thought is enough for ecstasy. It is like the glory of the gardener: to be seated beneath a tree, watching her flowers open. That is all and that is enough.

And so... the book is available for pre-order. If you would like to read this story, you can pre-order it, if you feel drawn to do that. You can read the first book if you'd like - if you haven't read the others yet. The second book is my personal favorite. And then there's a free prequel. This season is a good season to read these books if you haven't yet. The Blood Race is very much a summer book in my opinion, and Worlds Beneath is a autumn/winter book - not so much because of the seasons unfolding in the books, but the subject matter. The soul seasons. But perhaps they will feel different to you. This last book, Sparrow Rising is also a winter book. Winter/spring, I would say. And if you're like me and you love a good audiobook, I think you'll really enjoy the audiobooks Podium has crafted for each book in this series. You can find all of those available on Amazon. 

Anyway, I'll list each of my books below in case you would like to read them. I appreciate you. I am grateful to you, for being here, for reading, for communicating compassionately with me through YouTube, my other pages, here, emails, my beloved patrons, all of you, all of you, all of you. I wouldn't be able to do any of this without you, in the most literal sense. I hold you in the loving intention of my heart. I send you light, peace, wholeness, deep gratitude, love. I recognize within you a light, and I honor it. 

Anomaly - the free prequel
The Blood Race
Worlds Beneath
Resurgence
Searching for Sparrow
Sparrow Rising

How is your summer going, friend? What joys and insights has this season given you? What are you learning lately, as you walk your path? I wish you deep joy in your unfolding journey. 

Kate