From the Front Porch: An Escape Hatch

Hey, y’all! 💕 I’m so glad you’re here.

If you’re new, welcome to my front porch. 🏡✨

I write stories that are easy to share—with grandmothers, daughters, and the women friends in between. Sweet, swoony, closed-door romances with heartfelt emotion, small-town roots, and happy endings you can count on.

Stories meant to be passed down. ☕💛

🤗 You’re in the right place.

🦉(Keep an eye out below! IYKYK!)

💛 LOVE 💌

I’m overdone with the heat.

Who ordered this?

I’m not saying it’s hot in Texas, but it does feel like a volcano has erupted and lava is running through the streets. 🔥😄

Which keeps me in my office, pretending it’s Christmas while I write a holiday book in Storybrook. 🎄📚

I’ve got a ‘fireside’ candle burning and Christmas playlist going, so I’m always a little shocked when I step outside and get hit with a blast like the furnace has a fever and a bad cough.

I kind of love going into stores right now—A/C, of course— and seeing pumpkins and pinecones.

So optimistic of them! 😂

There are Halloween T-shirts on sale, yummy-looking sweaters, and all the pumpkins you could ever want.

And I want a lot of pumpkins.

Every. Single. One. 🎃🎃🎃

But those sweaters, much as I love them?

It’s just too hot to consider.

I’m considering a bikini… which has me running back to my office.

🌱 LIFE

My life has been a bit wonky this summer with the loss of my mother and staying busy going through her house.

I realized the other day that I still had Fourth of July decorations out. 🇺🇸

But I made an executive decision.

It’s time for fall. 🍂

I’m making a declaration.

Come on, join me!

😂 LAUGHTER

My sister came over for dinner last night. I haven’t baked anything for weeks and weeks, but I decided we needed dessert.

I flipped through my recipe book and saw one of my favorites:

Pumpkin cobbler. 🎃🥧

So even though I was missing one ingredient, I decided to go for it.

Thankfully, I had canned pumpkin.

I always have canned pumpkin. 😄

Both my sister and husband looked at me like I was the scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz and had left my brain in the cornfield.

“It’s not fall,” my husband said.

“Yes, it is!”

In my brain.

In my writing world.

And on my Front Porch, it sure is. 🍂🏡

So I got out the decorations, lit a pumpkin and cloves candle, and turned my front porch into a cozy pumpkin haven. 🎃🍁

Because even though the thermometer might say one thing, we can use our imaginations to escape somewhere else.

Isn’t that what books do?

They’re like an escape hatch… or a wardrobe… or even a house spinning through a tornado… carrying us somewhere else. 📚💛 Someplace, hopefully, cooler.

So if Texas insists it’s still summer, let it.

I’m moving on to fall. 🍂😄

And honestly, it doesn’t have to be fall to make pumpkin cobbler. It is simply delicious anytime.

So tell me—how do you feel about pumpkin? 🎃

Are you a fan?

Or are you like my doodle, Stella, who refuses to eat it? 🐶😂

Leave a comment

If stores can put out candy corn as soon as the flag-waving in July is over, I figure we can start thinking about fall too.

Sweaters have gone on sale. Who wants wool and cashmere in 100-degree heat?

Starbucks will soon announce that pumpkin spice lattes are back. Yes, please!

And thankfully, the school buses are running—which means the house has gone quiet.

Maybe too quiet.

Because before the football games start, the homework assignments begin, and the race to beat your friends to the finish line of the Christmas-shopping marathon gets underway...

On your mark. Get set...

Stop.

Take a deep breath.

Slow down.

And have a seat on my Front Porch. 🍂

Sometimes we all need a little escape from the noise.

So I’ve been getting Autumn on the Front Porch ready for us—a place with stories to make you laugh and tug at your heart, something yummy in the kitchen, and plenty of books to curl up with.

And yes...

There’s pumpkin cobbler. 🥧💛

Come on over. The cider’s warm, and the porch swing is waiting. 🍂

🦉🏡🎃 Autumn on the Front Porch is officially open!

With Love, Life, and Laughter (not always in that order),

Leanna 💛

☕ From the Front Porch

If you forgot something on the school supply list and don’t have time to explore the whole Front Porch today, I understand. Some days are like that. Come visit anytime. 🏡💛

But if you simply must have that pumpkin cobbler...

I’ve got you covered. 🎃🥧😄

👉 Fresh Out of the Oven: Pumpkin Cobbler

💬 What Our Friends Are Saying...

Since I’m celebrating all things fall, I had to pull out one of my autumn favorites. 🍂📚

The Wedding Race takes place in the fall, and this reader says it best:

⭐ “Charlie and Sam were such a hoot.”

🪑 Come Sit a Spell...

Looking for something new to read?

This week’s collection has a little bit of everything—stories, history, memoirs, romance, and more. Think of it as browsing a bookshelf at a friend’s house. You never know what might catch your eye. 📚☕

💛 Books That Feel Like Old Friends

Until next time, y’all... if the weather won’t cooperate, make your own season. 🍂💛

And if you need a little help, come to my Front Porch for cooler weather, warm stories, and down-home fun. 🏡📚✨

Come on over! 🦉

I’m an Amazon Associate, and I earn from qualifying purchases. This helps support my writing and keeps the coffee cups full—thank you! ☕📚💛