I’ve always been a homebody. When I was a kid, I never spent the night anywhere because I had a terrible case of homesickness every time I tried. I was fortunate to grow up in a loving home with two wonderful parents and two (usually) wonderful siblings, and I suppose these are the reasons coming home has such appeal to me.
After the release of my first novel, A Sweethaven Summer, I boarded a plane and went back to Illinois to celebrate with my friends and family. It was there I discovered how important the rich support of a community can be. I don’t think I realized when I wrote the first book how my own special friendships played into the creation of my characters, and I certainly didn’t fully grasp the magnitude of their support until after that weekend.
We’re all searching for that place, aren’t we? That place where we can come as we are, be accepted for who we are, whether we’re celebrating, healing, recovering or regrouping.
In each of us is that need to belong, and that’s what I wanted to capture in A Sweethaven Homecoming. It’s a universal need we all have. For you, as with me, it may start with your childhood home, your hometown, the place you’ve created for your own family. But for others, it may feel far away and unreachable.
I hope that through A Sweethaven Homecoming, you’re able to uncover the reality that no matter where you live or what kind of memories you have when you think of “home,” there is a place you can go where you’re always loved and accepted just as you are.
See, there’s something else that’s universal—the love of the one who made you—and I don’t think it’s an accident that he’s created in each of us a need that only he can fill.
Every day is a journey moving us closer to him. I’d love for you to join me on my journey.
