sunset over dock on St. Theresa beach

Happily Accountable

These days I’m feeling happily accountable for my writing. I’m openly discussing my projects with friends and family and this post is another way of committing to the process. My youngest recently visited for a couple of months and then my sweet godgrandson came for a long weekend. Though I took some writing time, I enjoyed playing for a good bit of the summer. Now that August is drawing to a close I’m focusing on updates for Espresso in the Morning and the children’s book series I’m working on with my sister.

Dorie Graham Updates

Dorie Graham books spread with North American and international copies

Harlequin approved the reversion of rights to A Family Reunited, my remaining Superromance and five of my Blazes, The Last Virgin, Tempting Adam, The Morning After, So Many Men… and Faking It. I’m really looking forward to rereading and reworking all of these.

I’m well into the updates for the re-release of Espresso in the Morning. I ask anyone interested in reading it to please be patient, though. This story had so much more in it that was either cut or never made it onto the pages. In exploring all I wanted to do with it, I’ve decided the new Espresso will be the first book of three in The Coffee Stop series. In Americano Afternoons I’ll explore the continuing conflict Lucas has with Toby’s sister, Louisa Platt, while she grudgingly explores her own romance. By the time I write the third book, Ramsey Carter, will have his business degree and be the driving force for making The Coffee Stop a nighttime destination in Late Night Lattes, where Ramsey will get his own experience with love. I’ll want to complete all three books and release them in consecutive months, so stay tuned!

Bailey and Bud’s Magical Adventures Series

I can’t wait to have pictures to share for this project. I’ve developed a children’s picture book series I’m creating with my sister, Carol Anderson, illustrator extraordinaire. Currently I have outlined When You Meet a Fairy…, When You Meet a Dragon…, When You Meet a Wizard…, When You Meet an Elf… and When You Meet a Ghost… I have drafted the story for When You Meet a Fairy… and started the storyboard for that one. Basically, Bud, the dog of Bailey, a seven-year-old half Japanese, half Irish girl (like some sisters I know) gets into trouble with magical beings and Bailey and her friends, modeled after my grandnephew, grandniece, godgrandson and sister’s grandson, all help right the trouble. I don’t have a timeframe for releases yet, but am having so much fun with it and will keep you posted.

Passing Rain Free Book Promotion

Passing Rain a memoir front cover
Cover design by Elizabeth Graham

In my continuing effort to learn about all the promotion opportunities on Amazon and to also make this book available to anyone it might help, I’ve enrolled Passing Rain in a Kindle Free Book Promotion through Friday. Please pass this along to anyone who might be interested. Thanks!

I’m falling asleep thinking about these projects, waking up thinking about these projects, then making my way through all the other fun stuff I get to do in my day until I can sit down and get those thoughts out and recorded. If this isn’t happily accountable, I don’t know what is. Hope everyone is safe, well and enjoying life!

daffodils and hammock

Finding My Creative Self

Another spring has rolled into Georgia and I find myself happily ensconced in my cabin on our neighborhood’s little lake. With much joy, I have left the corporate world to pursue my writing full time. One of my top priorities these days is finding my creative self. How am I accomplishing this? I’m doing all the things I always longed to do, but never prioritized while holding down a full time job.

I’m reading.

After waking each morning, I have my coffee and tea – yes, I have both – and water – and I read on my Kindle on my iPad mini. I have another book I read on my phone’s Kindle for when I’m on the go and waiting somewhere. Before bed, I read a physical book. So I start and end the day reading. I sometimes even sneak in an afternoon read in the hammock!

I’m journaling.

I’m journaling daily. One day, while journaling, I got the idea for a journal I wanted to use, so I created it, learned a lot in the process, and had fun. I have been using it ever since.

It’s A Positivity Journal for Uplifting Everyday Living. The prompts make me think about my day in a way I may not have otherwise thought. It’s available on Amazon, if you’d like to give it a try.

A Positivity Journal for Uplifting Everyday Living book picture - the journal that's helping me with finding my creative self
azaleas by ship house dock, where I meditate while finding my creative self

I’m meditating and doing yoga.

I’m also sleeping without an alarm, eating a healthy diet, and most days, I either kayak, or take out the pedal boat in the afternoons.

Dorene's hands filled with pencils, pens, paint brushes and markers - the tools I use in finding my creative self
Photo by Liz Graham

I’m working on writing.

I’d like to say I’m actually writing, but at this time I’m getting my feet under me. I’m updating my website, learning everything I can about SEO, key words, Amazon Ads, blogging and so much more.

I’ve reached out to Harlequin and am waiting to hear if I’m getting the rights back to five of my Blaze books and A Family Reunited, my remaining Superromance, all of which qualify for reversion. I have already received the rights back to Espresso in the Morning. My plan is to update, add back in any appropriate deleted scenes and re-release these.

I have updated my memoir, Passing Rain, to correct Lindsey’s pronouns to they, them, theirs, as well as any other gender specific references. I’ve enrolled it in KDP Select, so it’s now free in Kindleunlimited. The ebook and paperback are also still available on Amazon, if you haven’t yet read it, or are interested in the updated version.

Finally, I have been dusting off my Earth Rising series that has been on a back burner for a very long time. I’m hoping to jump into this one over the next week or so.

And for the fun of it I’ll be sending my sister two children’s books I wrote ages ago to see if she wants to do the illustrations. I know spreading myself out over so many projects may not be the best strategy, but when I’m excited about something, I feel it’s important to pursue it. Don’t worry, my main focus will be romantic fiction.

Living this way allows me to stay healthy, happy and aligned, so that I’m able to tune into that voice inside that guides me towards inspiration. As I’m working on all of these projects, I have no doubt I am finding my creative self. I thank you all in advance for cheering me on in my pursuits.

How are you finding your creative self?

bluebells and hammock

International Non-Binary Day July 14, 2021

In my desire to learn how to better support my fabulous youngest child, Lindsey (Pronouns: They/Them/Theirs), I scoured the internet and came across articles about International Non-Binary Day, which is celebrated worldwide each year on July 14, starting in 2012. I plan to spend the day celebrating Lindsey’s unique self with them.

I also wanted to post here to raise awareness and help others better understand how to respect and honor these individuals. Here are a few things I’ve learned and am working at becoming better at:

  • Use the correct pronouns when addressing or referring to them. It seems so easy, but if you’ve been accustomed to referring to someone one way and that has changed, please make every effort to switch. If you get it wrong, apologize.
  • If you aren’t sure, ask how they’d like to be addressed. This can mean their name as well their pronouns.
  • Educate yourself. If you aren’t sure what non-binary means, check out the internet. Don’t ask them to explain it to you.
  • When you’re introducing yourself, use your name and pronouns. This will make others around you comfortable in doing the same.
  • If you don’t know how someone identifies, it is usually safe to use “They/Their.”

I wish you a safe and happy day!

Dorene (Pronouns: She/Her/Hers)

Pear tree blossoms

Embracing Change During a Pandemic

I’m grateful that during this time when many are suffering, I have so very many blessings to count. The changes COVID-19 has brought into my life have been easy for an introvert like me to embrace.

  • Staying employed – I’m able work from home and even assist our front line workers in some small way.
  • Staying connected – from social media to email groups and texts with family, all are at my fingertips.
  • Staying healthy – we have plenty of healthy food options on hand, a basement workout room, and a nice sized patio and back yard available 24-7.

Even for me, here in my protected bubble, though, the grief of the world seeps in from time to time, especially when watching the news. In all my stability, I have moments when that river inside rises and I either let it overflow, or breathe deeply to settle it.

Yesterday, I relaxed with my youngest in their room, watching “Little Women,” where Jo lay next to Beth, who struggled to make it through the night, I realized I was lying in the exact same spot I’d been 13 years ago with my Jessie during her final hours. I breathed and let go some of the tears.

Today is the 13th anniversary of Jessie’s passing. The grief can still be intense, but those tears get fewer each year. I reach out to her and my parents often and feel their support as a constant in my life.

This year I’m not seeing my middle daughter, Liz Graham, aka my Newt, for the first time on the anniversary of her sister’s passing. So today I’m missing them both, but Liz is a call, IM or text away and I’ll see her as soon as we’re able to when the world has healed enough for us to do so. I can’t wait to give her a big hug. And Rain is with me now, even as I write this, still my inside connection, helping me embrace the changes during this historical time of pandemic.

Passing Rain a memoir front cover

Passing Rain Release Day

Today is the official release day for “Passing Rain” (available in ebook and paperback) and I’ve had the great pleasure of spending it with my wonderful Liz Graham and my fabulous Lindsey Graham. My heart is full.

In addition to release day, this is the day my beautiful, complicated, and brave Jessie (aka Rain) would have celebrated her 33rd birthday.

This is for you, Jess. Love you always.

Passing Rain: a memoir - Rain silhouette

Passing Rain – Cover Reveal

I’m excited to share the result of my wonderful Elizabeth Graham’s hard work. I couldn’t be more pleased to present the cover for “Passing Rain.”

Cover for "Passing Rain a memoir"
Cover for “Passing Rain” by Elizabeth Graham

As a parent, I never thought I’d:
– Witness a hair cutting party for my oldest daughter, who wanted a wig made of her own hair for when the chemo rendered her bald
– Shop online for sperm with that same daughter, because she’d already picked names for her four children
– Plan a “Viking funeral” for my sweet Jessie, or Rain, as she was known by many of her friends

Maybe I should have included a spoiler alert, but this isn’t a story where I keep you in suspense about whether Rain won her battle or not. It’s the story of her passing, in which she did triumph, as she managed this course with grace, peace and an ample measure of bravery.

sunlight through maple tree with yellow fall leaves

Keeping Her in My Memories; Embracing Her as She is Now

I have two main dates with which I’ve learned to cope, the anniversary of my daughter’s passing and her birthday, which falls in September. She’d be turning 29 this year and that is difficult to imagine. She’s frozen in my memory at nineteen.

As I move closer to determining a release date for “Passing Rain,” I thought blogging about her coming birthday might be a good way of better preparing for it. I haven’t always handled the anniversaries, the holidays, all those special days on which I feel her physical absence in the best of ways.

So to get ready for this post I searched online to see how others deal with these occasions. The advice that resonated the most with me came from Abraham Hicks. To connect with her as she is now I have to set aside the grief and be the best me I can be.

Keeping her as she was in my memories is fine, but I’ve already embraced her as she is now. I’ve mentioned many times that I think of her as my little inside connection. She’s no longer that nineteen-year-old Earthbound child I knew. She’s operating at a higher level and if a birthday while she was here focused on celebrating her advancement into a new year, shouldn’t her birthday now be focused on celebrating where she is now, in her most advanced state?

In order for me to connect with her I can’t hold myself down with pain and grief, because that isn’t where she is. I’m not saying I won’t still feel that grief at times, but accepting her more in her current state will help me to better cope with those moments. For her birthday this year I plan to concentrate on being the best me I can be and to honor her for being the magnificent being she is.

I’ve been doing this in my daily life for some time. I’ve thought of my loved ones who have passed and imagined them as the Grand Masters they are, my inside connections to that place from where we originate. I’ve felt their love and felt the connection. I believe in those moments I’m connecting because I’m coming into alignment with the real me. I’ll be keeping her in my memories, but embracing her as she is now.

What better time to nurture that connection than on her birthday?


Read about the dream that inspired me to write Passing RainFrom the Camel’s Mouth

path through woods along river

Balance in the Long Run

I run long every Sunday. I know long is a relative term, but for me long is ten miles. I realized during my 36 Days of Awesome Running (and Writing) Streak that though I manage to spend time on my two great loves, I spend it disproportionately. While I was averaging 35 miles of running each week I was lucky to squeak out a dozen pages of writing during the same time.

Was the problem that I value my running more? No. I love writing. I’ve loved it since I wrote my first short story when I was nine. Is running easier than writing? Some days yes, some days no. They each have their challenges. Am I a more seasoned runner than writer? I started seriously pursuing writing in 1995. I’ve been running since 2006. So none of that explains the discrepancy in how I divide my time between my two passions.

Part of the issue is that I’m more of a plotter than a pantser (one who writes by the seat of her pants) and I’m writing a new series without having it all planned the way I’d like. Since it’s a series, I want to first know the big picture for the overall series, the main protagonists’s character arcs throughout the series and then the story lines and characters for the individual books. I didn’t have all of this completed before I started the challenge and so I ended up pantsing part of my way through my pages. I actually found this to be fun, but it did keep my output to 1-2 pages per day.

But why, when I began the first scribbles for this series three years ago, did I not have the plotting done and more pages written prior to the writing streak?

I think the real issue is fear. That blank screen is so much more daunting than an open trail, which beckons by comparison. So, to combat that fear I’m currently in brainstorm mode and working on getting all this plotting out of the way so my blank screen will beckon me the way that open trail does. After all, how scary can it be if I know where I’m going?

The point of this post is to commit myself to finding better balance between my two loves. I want to crank up my page output to match my running miles. It’s possible I may have to cut back my miles a little in order to do this, which I’m willing to do. My plan is to create a writing equivalent to my long Sunday run. I’ll continue to write during lunch breaks and free time, but I’ll also pick one day a week to sit my butt in my chair for an extended period (with proper stretching breaks, of course) and crank out the pages.

Now I’ve put it out there and will hold myself accountable. All I’ve got to do is plan my course for this series and that fear should dissipate. After all, I’m in this for the long run.

First on the agenda for my long writing day will be brainstorming and plotting. Face the fear to get over it. Isn’t that the way to do it?


Read about the dream that inspired me to write Passing RainFrom the Camel’s Mouth

Challenges of the Holidays

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and my house is clean, the refrigerator and pantry are stocked and our new coffee cart is setup, with our old coffee pot, as well as our new espresso machine with milk frother, along with our assortment of coffees and flavored syrups. We’re as ready as we’re going to be to host our feast tomorrow and brunch on Friday. So now I have time to reflect on the rest of my list of things for which I’m thankful.

With all that is going on in the world these days I’m very thankful to be living in a time and a place where as a woman and single parent I have the freedom to hold a job I really like while pursuing my writing on the side. I feel truly privileged. I live in a city where whatever I need or want is readily accessible.  I live in a world where technology eases my existence and opens new and exiting doors daily. I am healthy and well and clear of mind, so I can enjoy all this world of mine has to offer. For all of this I give much thanks.

I’m ready for the challenges of the holidays, the challenges of fighting traffic and crowds to complete the shopping and errands, the challenge of orchestrating the perfect feast and the challenge of missing the loved ones who can’t be here to enjoy the holidays with us. I’m also ready for some new challenges, issued in fun and accepted with a determined spirit on my part. A running buddy has challenged one of my running groups to join in Runner’s World’s 36DaysofAwesome run streak challenge.  I’ve added a twist to this challenge. In addition to running at least a mile a day between Thanksgiving and New Year’s I’ll also be writing at least a page a day.

What a wonderful way to see the old year out and the new year in. I welcome anyone to join me in either/or challenge. Who’s with me?


Read about the dream that inspired me to write Passing RainFrom the Camel’s Mouth

My Support Network

I can’t talk about the things for which I’m grateful without mentioning the rest of my family and friends. I’m not sure how many of them realize I’m an introvert at heart. I need a lot of time to myself and, with the exception of my girls, don’t reach out to them frequently. For the most part I think they understand this and I get in touch when I have the need and when I can. I’m still working on that balance of freeing time to interact more with the people who matter to me. Fortunately, in spite of this, friends and family have lifted me up in my times of need.

Though my siblings are spread across the southeast I keep them all in my thoughts and my prayers and they all have a place in my heart, all six of them. My parents and my oldest daughter, Rain, have passed over, but I’m so very grateful to still feel them around me at times. I think of them as my inside connections, still supporting me from the other side.

As far as my friends, they tend to fall under two categories (though there are exceptions): my writing friends and my running friends. Whether I need advice on where to find a copy editor for my indie book (which I recently received and, yes, Passing Rain is with that editor), or how to cope with the pain in my heel that only shows up after a run, I’ve got plenty of people to ask.

I’ve got a great support network, filled with positive people. What more could I want?

Who are the people who lift you up?


Read about the dream that inspired me to write Passing RainFrom the Camel’s Mouth