One of the most memorable spring break vacations I’ve been on is when my older kids were four and five years old. We took them to North Carolina to visit my sister and her family, and joined them on a trip to Orlando. We went to Disneyworld and saw all of the sights there. We waited in lines, took the kids on rides, and ate the popular foods. It was exciting, but the park and the crowd were overwhelming.

At another time (not on spring break), my husband and I took the kids and went to Chicago. He’d always wanted to see the Sears Tower (as it was called at the time). I’m scared of heights, and being so far up with glass windows and small children gave me anxiety. There was much about the trip that I loved, but at the time I was really nervous and again overwhelmed.

I could go into detail about other trips we went on, like Niagara Falls,and Brockway Mountain and Lake of the Clouds in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where my anxiety kept me from enjoying myself.

You can see that crowds and high places make me nervous. That’s why I like quiet vacations on the water.

Living in Michigan, we are surrounded by the Great Lakes. I’ve seen most of them. My favorite is Lake Superior. Despite the water being cold, it is so pure that you can see the rocks on the bottom clearly.

We’ve stayed in motels along Lake Huron in both Mackinac City and St. Ignace. I enjoyed sitting on the beach there, especially in the mornings when it was quiet all around.

I’ve visited Lake Michigan many times and waded in the water close to shore.

One of my favorite places is surrounded by calm water, Mackinac Island in Michigan. I don’t mind the ferry ride to get there. I’ve gone on a bike ride around the island twice, taking in the beautiful shoreline.

Psalm 23 reads:

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters; He restores my soul… Psalm 23: 1-3a.

There is more to the Psalm than that, but those two sentences, He leads me beside the still waters; He restores my soul, are meaningful to me. I struggle with social anxiety. I’m nervous in groups of people, no matter how many are around. I have a hard time going to unfamiliar places. Sitting and looking out over still waters calms my soul.

I don’t want to let anxiety rule my life, however. I need to remember that even if I’m not sitting beside still waters, the Holy Spirit in me can bring me peace, even in the midst of a crowd.

This pandemic has made me even more isolated than I was before. Now a difficult winter is behind me and the weather is getting nicer, I’m tired of being at home.

I want to get out and go on adventures. I want to return to Mackinac Island this summer. I’d also like to take the train to Chicago and visit the Navy Pier. Will it give me anxiety? Most likely. Will it be worth the effort? Most definitely.

My daughter has taken the train to Chicago and Ubered around downtown for a conference. I’d like to take her with me, because she’s already been there and will know her way around. I want to trust that even in a crowded city, my soul will remain calm.

Do you have an adventure you’d like to go on this spring or summer?

THE RELUCTANT BILLIONAIRE

will be released on April 13!

I’m so thrilled to share this book with you!

Coming soon: a cover reveal and preorder link.

Today I’m featuring the new release from Anaiah Press, Anchor My Heart, by Sara Beth Williams.

About the Book:

Worship leader Matt Lawson has every blessing in life he could ever ask for—a dream job, a woman he can’t wait to spend the rest of his life with, and his God-given musical talent. In one tragic night, the future he’d so carefully planned out for himself crumbles at his feet. In the aftermath, a debilitating past affliction roars back to life and leaves him reeling in despair, unable to face the reality that he has lost everything he held dear.  

Tara Pierce has spent the last five years crushing on everyone else’s man. Now, she’s about to graduate college. It’s time to put past infatuations aside and focus on her career goals. At her sister’s urging, the two come together to brainstorm what could be just the jumpstart Tara needs in her Child Development career. When Matt’s grief causes him to isolate himself from everyone he knows, she refuses to stand idly by and do nothing. She has traversed similar terrain before. No one deserves to travel that road alone.  

Unexpected attraction flares as Tara reaches into the sea of Matt’s grief and helps ground him in reality. Warning bells clang within and Matt holds back, but their shared experiences only heighten the magnetism between them. Still, Tara senses he’s not ready to give himself away again. Risking her heart and their friendship, she is forced to put distance between them and let God step in to heal where she can’t. 

Excerpt:

Matt stepped through the door behind Tara, with three grocery bags in his hands. The intimacy of being at her place—just the two of them—caused his pulse to race. Nervous energy coursed through his veins. Come on, it’s just Tara. No big deal.

But not once in all the years he’d known her had he ventured inside her apartment. She flipped on the lights to reveal a pint-sized kitchen, and a small front room with one couch and a small flat screen TV. Two bookshelves and a standing lamp flanked the TV.

Has she always lived in such a small space?

Somehow, it suited her with its cozy, simplistic layout.

“Where would you like these?” He lifted his bags.

“In here on the table is fine.” She walked into the kitchen. He followed and set down her groceries.

Her body, in such close proximity, radiated heat as she moved eggs and milk from the bags on the table into the refrigerator.

He emptied a bag of dry goods and stepped forward. “Can I help?”

She nodded and directed him to the upper cabinets.

While she focused on the refrigerated goods, he placed the dry boxed and canned goods up high above the stove. A soft flowered scent wafted through the heated air, teasing his nostrils.

“Would you like a drink?” she offered as he placed the last of the groceries into the cupboard above the fridge.

He brushed against her arm; a rush of electricity passed between them. He stepped back with deliberate nonchalance, and waited for her to remove a pair of mugs from the cupboard.

He scratched his chin. Hmm. First, she’d invited him inside, and now she was inviting him to stay longer?

Not like he had anything else to do. Except return to an empty home and try to find ways to distract himself from his crushing grief.

About the Author:

Sara Beth Williams is a wife, mother of two daughters, and temporary caretaker of a lovable old lady pit and a spunky Pomeranian-Shih Tzu mix. She lives in Northern California. When she’s not held hostage by the keyboard, she enjoys music, teaching, reading and spending time with her family. She is all about connecting with readers! Find her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads and Bookbub.

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Where to find Sara Beth Williams

Amazon / Goodreads / Bookbub / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

 Website / MeWe

Buy Link:

I feel like I’m about to give birth. Anticipating the release of The Reluctant Billionaire has been almost as exciting as being pregnant. Not quite the same, but just like becoming a mother, this book is the culmination of time spent carrying the story idea and characters in my head.

Like any mother who is expecting a child, I debated for a long time on what to call my book.

One of the most exciting yet challenging parts about being pregnant was choosing baby names. As a young single adult anticipating I’d have children someday, I had some ideas in my head of what I wanted to name a little girl. And my husband wanted a Patrick, Jr.

When we couldn’t agree, I bought a book of baby names and started going through it. Over the course of my pregnancy, I wrote down names that I liked for boys and another list for girls. As our time got nearer, I’d ask Pat if he liked one of the names. If he said no, I crossed it off. If he said yes, I put it in a “maybe” column.

By the time we delivered our firstborn, we had a solid name decided for both a boy and a girl. After our son was born, we named him Travis. At the time, Randy Travis was a popular country singer, and I had a couple of people ask if we named our baby after him. That hadn’t even been on my radar.

For our next child, we went through the process all over again. But we didn’t agree on a girl’s name. When I went into labor with my daughter, I planned to call her Abigail. Then the doctor who delivered us was named Gail so the name didn’t feel quite right. I knew Pat really wanted to call her Holly, and most of the people we’d talked to about choices liked that name best. So we decided to call her Holly.

The third time around, we had not only Pat’s and my opinions, but our older children were seven and nine and had opinions of their own. I wanted to name a boy Tanner, but the other kids and my husband all liked the name Chad. By the time he was born, I decided I liked the name Chad better, too. So he was named Chad Tanner.

Chad was born on October 24, 2000. A couple of weeks later, the election results were so close that the ballots had to be recounted. The debris from the punches in the ballots were called chads. Dimpled chads, hanging chads, pregnant chads: they were all significant in the vote count. Chad became a popular name overnight.

With all three of my children, the names we chose seemed to fit just right. They grew into the names as their personalities evolved. Now I can’t imagine having named them anything other than Travis, Holly and Chad.

Choosing the title for The Reluctant Billionaire was both as much fun and as difficult as choosing the names for my babies. I knew I wanted Billionaire to be in the title, but there are so many books about billionaires on the market. I needed to know what it was about Liam that set him apart from the other books that I’d read. Once I figured that out, the title came easily to me.

How I named the characters is another story altogether that I’ll share next Thursday here.

Today I’m interviewing Sara Beth Williams, author of the new release, Anchor My Heart. Sara Beth, thank you for joining me today. Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I am a wife, mother of 2, dog mom of 2. I am from Sacramento, California, born and raised. I love reading, writing, Christian music, graphics creation, coaching and teaching in most any capacity. I currently work as a freelance publicist, and a Montessori teacher’s aide.

What is your book about?

Anchor My Heart tells the story of Matt Lawson and Tara Pierce. Matt has lost everything. In the wake of a life-altering tragedy, anxiety from his childhood rears its ugly head, making it difficult to cope with reality. Tara has walked this road before and refuses to let Matt walk alone. Unexpected attraction flares, but Tara senses Matt’s not ready to give himself away again. Can she risk her heart and their friendship and let God step in to heal where she can’t?

Who was your favorite character to create?

I fell in love with Matt in When Hearts Collide. I fleshed out his back story later on after finishing book one, and had to go back and add in some elements for consistency sake while I worked on book 2 and 3 simultaneously. He’s the strong, silent type, and has a soul-deep love of music. I absolutely love that about him. Music touches me deeply. Though I don’t play professionally, or even past beginner/intermediate stage, Christian music and Christian worship music is how I stay connected to God and has the power to greatly encourage me when I’m going through rough times.

What’s next for you as an author?

I am currently working on a handful of other projects. The one I am pitching to agents is about a pop star who has one summer to pull himself back together or risk ruining his lucrative career—and he’s not about to let his sister’s roommate derail his last chance.

Where to find Sara Beth Williams:

Amazon / Goodreads / Bookbub / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

Website / MeWe

Buy Link for Anchor My Heart:

https://www.amazon.com/Anchor-Heart-Sara-Beth-Williams-ebook/dp/B08X1GBKSD/