Looking Ahead to 2026

Every January, I like to look ahead to the new year and post what writing activities I have to look forward to. Because I have a couple of surgeries coming up, this year they will be previewed as I look ahead too. 

January: 

*An article I wrote will appear in Home Life (a LifeWay publication.) 

* Devotion on Arise Daily

* I will have knuckle joint replacement surgery on either the 8th or the 29th. I am currently on the schedule for the 29th but my doctor is going to try to move things around so I can have it on the 8th. I won't know which date my surgery if on until I go in for my pre-op on the 5th. This will be my fourth knuckle replacement. Arthritis has hit my hands hard. 

* Other things of note in the writing world in January: SCWC Notable Book Awards finalists are announced on 1/19.

March: 

*I will have a total knee replacement on 3/6. This is my 2nd (and last) knee replacement. I had the other knee replaced in '24 and now know just how hard a recovery I am in for. 

*Also, 3/20-3/21 is the MidSouth Christian Writer's Conference in Memphis. I am on the MSCWC planning committee and serve on the faculty selection committee every year. I hate to miss this year's conference but will not be able to go because of the knee surgery. 

May: 

* The EPA convention is in Nashville this year 5/10-5/13. I 'm hoping to attend depending on how my knee surgery recovery goes. 

Summer '26: 

*A book I contributed to titled, "God's Perfect Moment" published by Guidepost will release.

*An article I wrote is contracted to be published in Bible Advocate sometime in the summer too.

Fall '26: 

Ten devotions I wrote will appear in Open Windows (Lifeway) 

Other Things:

The above are all that I know are for certain happening in the months ahead but there are many other writing related things that keep me busy. Every month I attend a meeting of the KY ACFW as well as a zoom meeting of the EPA Freelancers. At one of those ACFW meetings, I will be teaching on writer's rights but I don't know exactly which one yet. As soon as the MSCWC is over, my faculty committee will start working on the faculty for '27, every month I have a devo in Arise Daily and every week I post a devotional thought on my FB author page. In addition, I have completed a fiction manuscript that I am currently pitching to publishers and hope to be able to report a contract on it in the not-so-distant future and as soon as that book is contracted, I will need to buckle down and write its sequel which has less than 20,000 words written in it right now. And I am always writing, and submitting freelance work, Last year, for instance, at this time I only knew of one Chichen Soup book that one of my stories would appear in but by the end of '25 I had had three CS books with stories in them. The same can be said for articles in "The Lutheran Digest."

Writing related tasks keep me busy but I absolutely love doing them! Blessings to you and yours in 2026. 

Much to be Thankful For

Happy Thanksgiving! It’s the season to count our blessings and recall all we have to be thankful for. I have much for which I’m thankful—good health, a loving family, and a lot of opportunities to do what I love doing (writing). 

I just came back from an annual Nigerian missionary reunion. It fills my heart with joy and sweet memories every year. My co-writer of many of my books, Shirley Crowder, grew up on the Nigerian mission field with me.its always good to see her along with other MKs (missionary kids). Here is is selling our books at the MK marketplace, a new feature in the reunions where many of us sell things we make or in our case wrote.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!  

Welcome Fall!

Hard to believe it’s mid-September already. I just came back from a beach vacation with my family, something we do every September. I love that week. It’s still warm enough to enjoy swimming and other beach activities and since it’s in September it always extends my summer just a little longer. 

But I’m home now and have a lot of writing projects and deadlines ahead of me. Here’s the latest in my writing life:

1) I completed and turned in 7 Devos to “The Quirt Hour” (David C.Cook) that will appear in winter of ‘27.

2) A story I wrote will appear in an upcoming “Chicken Soup for the Soul” book that will release Oct 22. I’m expecting my complimentary books to arrive any time.

3) Now that I’m home I need to buckle down and start on the 15 Devos I am contracted to write for “Open Windows” (LifeWay) that will appear in fall of ‘26. I started on this today and have one of the fifteen written. These Devos have a deadline of late November. 

4) While I was on vacation, I got word that a contract is coming my way for a story that will be in an anthology being compiled and published by Guidepost. The deadline to have that story written and submitted is late Oct.

5) I have a Devo in the current issue of “The Secret Place (Judson Press) 

6) Along with all of this, I am still plugging away on trying to find a publisher for my pirate novel and working on its sequel. (The picture is of me next to a “pirate” at a store on our recent vacation.) 

Whew! I get tired just thinking if it all but I’m grateful too. I do so love writing! 

Southern Christian Writers Conference

Last weekend I had the privilege of co-teaching a workshop with lifelong friend, Shirley Crowder, at the Southern Christian Writers Conference in Birmingham, AL. The entire weekend was great! I made some new friends in the Christian writing world and renewed some old ones. The food was yummy, the fellowship was wonderful, and the weekend was fun! And the icing on the cake—on Saturday afternoon when the writing awards were announced, a devotion I had written that had been published on “Arise Daily” won first place in the devotion category. 

Release Day Again!

It’s Release Day again. This time it’s for book #2 in my personal Bookmageddon. This one is a devotional book co-written by Shirley Crowder and me. It’s Book Two in our Wonder and Worship series. This book takes the reader through the year—winter, spring, summer, and fall. Happy release day to Wonder & Worship Through the Year

Release Day!!

 “Stuck in the Middle” my debut children’s book is releasing tomorrow! Here’s the Amazon link to it: https://www.amazon.com/Stuck-Middle-Atrapada-Harriet-Michael/dp/1962862690 

Bookmageddon

 

A few years ago, a writer friend of mine had something like four books all releasing in the same year. On her social media posts she referred to it as bookmageddon which I thought was hilarious. Well, now I'm having my own (much smaller) version of bookmageddon. I have two books that are both releasing later this spring. Book #1 is my debut children's book titled, "Stuck in the Middle" which will release from Mt. Zion Ridge Press on April 15. It's a K-5 book about a middle sister named Hannah who struggles to figure out if there is anything about her that is special. Her brother is the family's only son, her older sister is the oldest girl, and her younger sister is the baby, but she is just... Hannah. One pretty amazing thing about this little book is that it will be published in both English and Spanish. 

Book #2 is the second in the "Wonder & Worship" devotional series Shirley and I started last year. It's titled "Wonder & Worship Through The Year" and will release from Entrusted Books on May 20. We're pretty excited about this new book baby of ours. You will be hearing more about each in the weeks to come. 

Welcome 2025

2025 has come in with a blast! A blast of snow, that is. Here in Louisville where I live, we just had an historic snowstorm that dropped over ten inched on the ground. I've been pretty much stuck in my house for going on five days now. I did get out yesterday to make a grocery run. This short stay at home gives me time to look ahead at what 2025 will bring to my writing world. 

January: My contributor copies of Chicken Soup's newest book, "Laughter's the Best Medicine" should arrive, though they haven't yet. I have a devotion in "The Secret Place".

February: "Laughter's the Best Medicine" releases and is available for sale in stores and on Amazon.

March: The MidSouth Christian Writers Conference will be held in Memphis March14-15. I will not only be attending, I'll be co-teaching a three-hour workshop on devotional writing on Friday afternoon the 14th. Also, my newest devotional book, a 2nd in the "Wonder & Worship" series will be releasing sometime this spring. I don't have a release date yet but think it will be sometime in March.

April: The annual EPA Evangelical Press Association conference will be held in Branson MO, I don't think I will be able to attend this year, but I sure enjoyed attending last year!

May: May has a lot of things happening, the main one being that my debut children's book will be releasing from Mt. Zion Ridge Press! I can't wait to share more with you about both of my upcoming releases! Also in May I will have a blog post in the EPA Freelancers blog and at the end of May are the Selah awards.

June: in early June the Southern Christian Writers Conference will be held. I may be participating in it this year. 

And as if that isn't enough to keep me busy, I am always writing articles and devotions that may get published at any time. I have two-three devos published on the online site, Arise Daily every month, usually have a devotion in "The Secret Place" quarterly, and am usually asked to write seven for "The Quiet Hour" once or twice a year. 

As far as books go, here are all the irons I have in the fire:

"Wonder & Worship through the Year" (devotional book I co-wrote with Shirley Crowder) releasing from "Entrusted Books" this spring. It's turned in but we haven't gotten our edits back to work on or our cover.

"Stuck in the Middle" (children's book) releasing from Mt. Zion Ridge Press in May. (Turned in, edited, illustrations turned in, just waiting for the final touches.)

"Savannah Sunrise" (historical romance that I co-wrote with my son, Trapier Michael) is finished but not contracted yet.

"Boston Dawn" (tentative title, historical romance) is a sequel to "Savannah Sunrise" so far, my son and I have only the first two chapters of it written but its plotted and pretty well researched, I am giving us til June to work on it and then will need to put it aside to start on another devo book with my friend, Shirley.

"Catch the Fire" (tentative title, a missions-based devotional I want to co-write with Shirley)

And finally, I have several more children's books written that I need to pull out and polish up, one at a time.

Did I mention that I love writing? lol! Here's to a successful 2025!