Category: Later-in-Life Love Stories

In My Life Is Finally Here: A Story Worth the Wait

After an unexpected delay during the editing process, I’m thrilled to announce that In My Life has officially been published! While the extra time wasn’t part of the original plan, it allowed the manuscript to become the strongest version of itself, and I couldn’t be happier to finally share this story with readers.

To celebrate the release, I’m also excited to unveil the brand-new book trailer and enhanced Amazon A+ Content, giving readers an even deeper look into the heart of In My Life. The new trailer captures the emotion, nostalgia, and enduring spirit woven throughout the story, while the Amazon A+ pages offer an engaging visual introduction to the book, its themes, and the journey behind it.

A Story Rooted in Memory, Family, and Place

In My Life is a heartfelt reflection on family, resilience, love, loss, and the moments that shape who we become. Through richly drawn characters and deeply personal experiences, the novel explores the connections between generations and the landscapes that leave lasting impressions on our hearts.

One of the inspirations behind the story comes from my own memories of growing up around the Missouri River bottoms south of Bismarck, an area affectionately known by locals simply as “the desert.”

Those windswept fields, cottonwood groves, riverbanks, and quiet off-road back roads provided the backdrop for countless teen adventures and moments of reflection. As I wrote In My Life, I often found myself reminiscing about those special places and the people who made them unforgettable. While I did alter the people’s histories to protect the real-life adolescents back then, my thoughts of them still swirl in my mind from time to time, as do those of that location. That sense of place became an important thread woven throughout the novel.

Highlights Readers Can Look Forward To  Discovering:

  • A moving story of family bonds that endure through life’s greatest joys and challenges.
  • Vivid settings inspired by the landscapes of North Dakota and the Missouri River.
  • Characters whose hopes, struggles, and triumphs feel authentic and relatable.
  • Themes of faith, perseverance, healing, and the lasting power of memory.
  • A celebration of the places we come from and how they continue to shape us throughout our lives.

Thank You for Your Patience

I want to sincerely thank everyone who waited so patiently while In My Life made its way through the final stages of editing and publication. Your encouragement, messages, and enthusiasm have meant more than you know.

Now the wait is over, and I’m excited to finally place this story into your hands. I hope you’ll enjoy watching the new book trailer, exploring the enhanced Amazon A+ Content, and, most importantly, experiencing the journey of In My Life for yourself.

Thank you for being part of this incredible journey. I can’t wait to hear what you think of the story.

Editorial Backlog Released

I’m announcing a backlog of titles recently released thanks to a clear in the editorial manuscript queue. Previously, I had to obtain a co-author’s approval before making edits and sending them forward. Now, I’m moving forward temporarily without a co-author (whose medical career has progressively come front and center over the past year), so I’ve sole decision-making over what gets approved and when. As of the end of last year, there were four titles in the pipeline awaiting publication.

Since Ghosted Buried Gone and Long Since Drowned, both from the same series, were written in tandem, they’ve been released from the draft inventory together. North of Ordinary is just a bunch of magazine submissions about Midwest small towns that didn’t go anywhere, compiled into a book of short stories for the content queue. And Echoes Along the Shore is a novel written last year, close to its series predecessor, that’s been waiting in the wings.

A Catalog of Small Cruelties was a NaNoWriMo monthly writing challenge that I got the idea from a mainstream news piece on a woman who woke up from a coma thinking she had children. Everything beyond the idea was imagination-based.

Also written simultaneously were Ships That Cross in the Night and In My Life, which share a similar grounding, as both came from teenage scenarios from a mishmash of diaries and imaginary connections that developed out of an angst-ridden late eighties Bismarck, North Dakota, adolescence and were then fictionalized and separated into two different plots. One is a soulmate’s story that will be the first in the series, and the other is a standalone novel about soulmates who met in their teens and reconnected later in life.

Those are going through edits at present and will be published as soon as they’re available. Be sure to check out ShadyOakPress.com for information on past books.

All book covers were done by the Ukrainian graphic designers at GetCovers.com.