Shelby, the main narrator for the Divine Vintage audiobook, traveled back to Indiana recently and we met in person! After an interview with a local reporter, we gabbed, laughed, and taped a few fun reels together. She even taught me some moves to Taylor Swift’s Ophelia…
Our audiobook is moving along, but with multiple narrators in three states, the project is more challenging than a one-voice read. I’ll keep you posted as we aim for a summer release.
Almost 30 reader friends joined me and my pal Allison Goshorn for the third Divine Vintage Story Walk in Michigan City, Indiana. Attendees say they love learning the history behind the actual locations mentioned in the book, including a Victorian mansion, a vintage shop, and The Old Lighthouse Museum. As we trekked the two-mile route, I also tied those places into Divine Vintage’s modern-day and historical timelines.
Intrigued? This QR code takes you to the script with photos through an Otocast audio tour.
We scheduled the Story Walk in conjunction with the regional World Innovation Week celebration. Events included an annual poetry contest, and I was honored to be named as Ambassador Poet for Northwest Indiana for 2026! My poem, Keeper of the Light, is about Harriet Colfax, Michigan City’s lighthouse keeper from 1864-1904. I actually placed second in the adult division this year after winning top honors in 2024. So, in addition to writing my books, I’ll be focusing on promoting poetry this year.
If you are interested in seeing the poem, I’ll post it at the end of this short newsletter. And here’s a question to ponder: Do you enjoy reading or writing poetry yourself?
Finally, congratulations to Antoinette M. on winning a signed paperback of Linda Rosen’s awesome book, Abandoning the Script. And thanks to all of you who entered. The giveaway drew a lot of interest, telling me that several of you are historical fiction fans!
And as promised, here is my poem, which includes a paragraph from a newspaper article at the time and an actual quote from Miss Harriet Colfax.
She embodied the light.
Defying expectations
from Civil War through Gilded Age.
A shining ideal among the sisterhood.
Female Keepers of the Light.
Lauded by Abe Lincoln.
Reviled by naysayers.
Her lamps never dimmed
Through fair weather or foul.
She risked frigid death
To fulfill the sacred duty.
Over a slicked boardwalk
Awash with waves,
Or climbing an ice-crusted ladder,
She bore the nightly beacon
down the pier.
Ensuring another night of safety
For ships traversing
Our great Lake Michigan.
Captains swore by
Little Miss Colfax’ Light
To keep from dashing onto the rocks.
Though some, to her dismay,
Succumbed.
A newspaper notes a tempestuous night
When “the slender stairway quaked beneath her.
The tower wavered, with the noise of wind and water
Akin to the rending of a thousand sails.
The great beacon whirled
through the livid night,
To fall, hissing,
Into the grasping lake.”
Undaunted, Harriet braved four decades,
Till her own infirmity
Bade passing the torch.
Depriving Miss Colfax of her greatest desire:
“I could not bear
To see anyone else light my lamp.
I would rather die here than live elsewhere.
They are the habit, the home, everything dear
I have known for so long.”
A century has passed and
She lies at peace,
In Greenwood,
Far from the beloved lake.
Arms-length from her
Dearest companion, Ann,
In a shared eternity.
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