From Kathy’s Heart…
Autumn 2006

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances,
for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”   I Thessalonians 5: 18

Thanksgiving Day is almost here, and each of us has much to be grateful for. Sometimes it’s easy to lose sight of gratitude when life is difficult and there seems to be fewer joys than sorrows. Instead of feeling humbly grateful, we mere muddle through the difficulties acting grumbly hateful. I’ve found that taking time to actually make a list of my blessings is wonderful medicine for every pain, whether it’s physical, emotional, or spiritual. The blessings column is always much longer than the hassles column. Of course the blessing at the top of my list is the free gift of salvation in Christ Jesus—and the privilege of being in relationship with Him. How incredible that the Creator of the Universe wants to communicate His love in a very personal way to each and every believer. He wants to hear us express our feelings to Him and wants to be involved in every aspect of our lives. He has offered us free access to Himself through His Son’s sacrifice on the cross. Just consider what an awesome privilege that is. It’s certainly more than enough to tip the scales.

So What’s the Latest on Books?

Seaport #4, Not By Chance, is now on the shelves of your local bookstores, and I’m getting great feedback from so many of you! It was fun developing Brandon Jones in this story and bringing him with me to Phantom Hollow, the series I’m working on now.

I’ve finished the first Phantom Hollow Novel, Ever Present Danger, and it’s scheduled for release in Spring 2007. You can read a sample chapter on my website at www.kathyherman.com. I am thoroughly enjoying writing this series and can hardly wait till you have the chance to meet Ivy Griffith. I thought it was going to be difficult leaving Seaport and going to a new series. But truthfully, after bringing Brandon Jones to this series from Seaport, the transition wasn’t hard at all. And I’m really getting attached to these characters!

My husband Paul and I took a car trip to the western slope of Colorado to do a little research for the Phantom Hollow Series, and I fell in love with Colorado all over again! One of the things I enjoy most about starting a new series is visiting the area of the country where the story will be set, and then putting together a mental picture of the fictitious elements I want to create. Phantom Hollow does not exist outside the pages of my novel. But it’s as real to me as Durango, Silverton, Ouray, and Telluride. I can close my eyes and see the jagged peaks that rise high above the valley floor and surround the little town of Jacob’s Ear like a pure white fortress. I can taste every buttery bite of a homemade fruit muffin at Jewel’s Café and smell the rich, robust aroma of coffee wafting from Grinder’s Coffee House. I can hear laughter coming from a swirling mass of white as Brandon and Kelsey try in vain to make Colorado powder snow into Raleigh snowballs. I can feel the warmth radiating from the right side of my face as I sit in front of a crackling fire in the Griffiths' log house and watch a row of icicles form on the eaves outside their living room window. Phantom Hollow is as real to me now as Baxter and Seaport—and I hope you’re going to enjoy reading it as much as I’m enjoying the writing.

I’m currently working on Phantom Hollow #2, Never Look Back, which will release in October 2007. You can read a teaser about this book on my website, too, at www.kathyherman.com.

Hodgepodge Events

Multnomah Publishers was recently sold to Random House, and that has meant some big changes for me. I’ll be working with a new editor (first editor change in my career!) and will be working with an entirely different group of sales, marketing, and publicity people. Though changes tend to make me feel unsettled, I’m looking forward to meeting new people and benefiting from fresh perspectives. One thing that hasn’t changed is the commitment to make my books available to you.

Paul and I also went to the Grand Canyon on the tail end of the Colorado trip. Would you believe that this was the very first time I had ever seen it? It was fantastic! We enjoyed a couple days of sightseeing and two sunrises and sunsets, which I understand were about as good as it gets.

We spent some time with our grandkids this summer and had a chance to take each of them out on the pontoon boat. The fish always cooperated and no one went home without smiles or fish tales. We took the older ones to a wonderful place we’ve recently discovered, Cherokee Trace Safari Drive-Thru, which is only twenty miles or so from home. We literally drove through acres and acres of open range and photographed and fed exotic animals of all sorts right from our van. The kids loved it and so did “Pop and Gram.” My camera worked overtime.

I flew to Kansas City in September for my mother’s 80th Birthday Bash. It was the first time all my family has been together in a long, long time. It was a great weekend of honoring my mom and getting together with siblings and even a couple cousins I hadn’t seen in forty years! I’m so grateful that my mother is still healthy and active, and it was wonderful being there to celebrate her life.

My husband’s recent mission trip to the Amazon River Basin was a worthy distraction for me. While I stayed home and raced toward my deadline, Paul and twelve team members traveled by houseboat more than two hundred miles up the Amazon River from Manaus, Brazil. They shared the gospel one-on-one, village-by-village, and 289 people chose to receive Christ as their Lord and Savior. However, somewhere along the way, the gangplank of the houseboat fell, and Paul fell with it. He came back to Texas with a badly infected leg and a snapped quad tendon on his knee. He ended up having surgery soon after that, and we’ve been in “recuperation” mode for the past couple months. But the wonderful news is he’s healing well, and the accident did not spoil the mission. He ended up being a prayer warrior for the last half of the trip. And the jungle scenery wasn’t bad either!

Till Next Time…

From our family to yours: we pray you’ll have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving Day. “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.” Philippians 1: 3-5

In His love,

www.kathyherman.com

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