Greetings from the Nichols Nest!

It’s August in South Texas—that means smothering heat and feeling the crunch when you walk on the grass. But I can hope that autumn is just around the next bend. If you don't have time to read this, please scroll to the bottom to see what we've really been up to.

Bill is doing so very well, and we continue in our gratitude for his healing. I have things to write about our journey through cancer, but the time is not right just yet.

Life is always busy at the Nichols’ Nest.  No way can I imagine what boredom is like. Writing, cooking, ministry activities, reading, corresponding with family and friends, long walks, and then keeping up with Bill … Will there ever be enough waking hours to do all I want to do?

We enjoy traveling, so after a long winter and spring of Bill’s illness and recovery, we’re beginning to get away periodically. We enjoyed a trip down to Port Aransas in July. It was good to feel the sand, and the wind, and the water. There’s something so eternal-feeling about the oceans and the seas. I could sit for hours and ponder things.

Lots of work going on around here too. I’ve been preparing for the release of FREEDOM OF THE SONG which will be out in November. The manuscript to RANSOM FOR A SONG was submitted in July and will be released in April 2020. And now I’m busy writing Christmas book for the ROCKWATER series. That book will be released November 2020, and I’m almost finished—three more chapters. I enjoy being with the quirky characters in this series, and I’m certain sadness will set in when all their stories have been told.

A writer can get very attached to characters, at least, I do. They become so real to me. Sometimes they’re so real that I find myself wanting to pray for them because I’ve put them in harm’s way, but then I remember that with a few keystrokes I can save them. Wish it worked that way in real life.

One of my favorite characters is Katherine Joy Harding, affectionately known as Kate. She is the ten-year lass who told her story in my first book THE CHRISTMAS PORTRAIT—the story of her surviving and learning to live without her mother, especially that first Christmas after Mama went to heaven. In this book, Kate introduced me to Mister Josh, the mysterious character who appeared when she most needed help. Well, Kate just kept returning, perching herself on the back of my chair where I write, whispering that she had more stories to tell. When I finally started listening to her, I realized she had quite a story to tell.

So, Kate’s story continues in THE BIRTHDAY PORTRAIT which will be released next week and is already available for order on Amazon. The story picks up with Kate approaching her eleventh birthday. With a family wedding, a family birth, and then with Easter, Kate fears no one will remember to take her birthday portrait and start her eleventh BOOK OF MY LIFE. In these pages, Kate gets a few more life’s-not-fair lessons. I’ve tried to weave the threads of family life, of community life as poverty becomes an issue, and of the deep cords of love that bind. And she continues to see the redbird and Mister Josh returns. It’s tender and sweet, will tickle your funny bone, and will make you reach for a tissue. Kate’s just that way.

Now to the fun part. When I finish a book, Bill always gifts me with one of his paintings. I read to him daily as I’m writing, and he gets mental pictures of the characters, the setting, and the story, and then he puts all that on canvas. It’s amazing how his paintings capture the essence of the story. What joy it was to put his oil painting not just in a frame this time, but on the cover of THE BIRTHDAY PORTRAIT.

But, it was our gifted daughter, Christy, a graphic artist, who took Bill’s work and created the cover. It took both of their magic to create something so beautiful. What blessings they were to join me in telling and showing Kate’s story.

As friends and readers, you get a sneak preview below before I reveal the cover and book release on social media. Maybe today, you’re walking around in the heat, or maybe you’re feeling the cool ocean breezes, or maybe you’re just enjoying being at home or work, but I do hope you get a sense of the fresh wind of God’s Spirit in your life today. He’s always there.

Joy,

Phyllis