The sun will rise and set regardless.
What we choose to do with the light
while it’s here is up to us.
– Alexandra Elle
The theme of new beginnings is prominent in my upcoming women’s novel, Feathers in the Sand. Tess Gilmore and her 11-year-old daughter, Eva, are forced to make a new beginning in Seahaven, Maine. Tess’s son, Micah, is making a new beginning elsewhere. There’s a new job, new town, new friends, new community, new school, new love interest, new . . . everything!
Tess’s Aunt Kit, a lifetime native of Maine, has a personal commitment to rising early and watching the sunrise as many mornings as she can. Kit’s dedication to the sunrise began after the death of her fiancé Ollie at the tender age of 20. Ollie’s mom had a lot to do with how Kit was able to carry and move through that particularly difficult grief. Throughout the course of the novel, she and Tess (as well as Tess and Eva) find solace and wisdom in sharing the sunrise together, and in deciding what to do with the light that is given each day.
In fact, Feathers in the Sand is the first in a series of several books that will take place in Seahaven, Maine. It is the beginning of the Seahaven Sunrise series! Each novel will have the power and magic of sunrises woven into it in some way. Stay tuned to this monthly blog for publication dates and how you can read the next book ahead of time and leave a review! Release date for Feathers in the Sand is July 12, 2022.
The photo above was taken at sunrise at my favorite seaside town of Wells, Maine, where I often spend four days writing and dreaming and walking the beach. (I also love to spend time in Ogunquit, Kennebunk, and York .) I never got up early enough to watch the sunrise when I was younger, but now I’m a big fan as it seems that the older I get, the easier it is to wake up early!