Hello, all! I figured that because it had been a while since I had given an update, now was the time to do so. I can hardly believe it has already been a whole month since my book Names, Nations, and the New Testament was released! It was such a long journey, and it seems like that should have been just last week or something. Thank you so much to everyone who bought a copy! Your support means so much to me!

But even though it seems like the book release just happened, a lot of other things have happened in the past month. First, I took a bit of a break, not only in writing but in life! My family took a little vacation, the first in years, and got to visit our home state of Michigan. It was a beautiful trip, and a little part of me wants to still be back on the lakeside! Second, I got back into a couple of my hobbies, which has been a nice change of pace. Sometimes, a change of scenery is more than a location. Your hands and mind need new things to do as well from time to time. Third, we got to share with everyone that we are having a baby boy! I am pretty excited about it, and so is our whole family. I am so excited that our daughter will have a baby brother. I have four brothers, and I guess I just think it’s right for a little girl to have a brother! Your prayers for our next step into this new chapter of parenthood are much appreciated. Fourth, and finally, I’ve started to think about what I want to write next. And for the last month, that has basically meant going over all my old or unfinished projects that I had to put to the side over the last few years to see what I had and where I want to go.

So what is next? Well, after much thought, organizing, and experimenting, I am not exactly sure, but I think I know the general plan. A few people have asked what I want to write next, and I keep coming back to short stories. I used to write them in college, and I have a whole notebook (or two…or three) of ideas that I never got around to fully fleshing out. I want to get back to these. So what does that mean? Well, right now, I think that I’ll do a couple of collections over time. My stories tend to fall into a couple of different categories, so I don’t want to put them all in one place. 

However, a new idea for short stories has come to me recently, and I think that I’ll be experimenting with that for right now. I don’t want to say too much because this type of story and book are new to me. I have heard of similar types of books in different genres, and I’m looking forward to how everything plays out. I think it will end up being a fun, entertaining, and helpful book! I’ll be working with someone else on it, too, and that will be different. Once I have more of an idea of where this book is going and when it will be out, I’ll make sure you all know about it!

In the meantime, I’ll keep working on writing reviews, putting up some devos here and there, and sharing my thoughts on other interesting writing works in addition to updates on my own books. I’ll also be getting everything ready for our new little addition to our family. He should be arriving early next spring, and you’ll probably see updates about that process from time to time as well! The Lord has really blessed us. It’s an exciting time of life, and I can’t wait to see where we go next! 

Until next time, blessings to you and yours,

~Madelyn Rose Craig