Dear Reader,

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Read on for a (long-ish but hopefully interesting) book update on Book 3, Fall with the Brennans!

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Book 3 has been very slow in coming. Besides the normal tasks that call for my attention, morning sickness and fatigue have been keeping me company. But I am working on editing Book 3 and I'll let you know as soon as it's done! The test readers really enjoyed Book 3, and I hope that you can enjoy it too before too long.

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Editing sounds boring, but it does give me some giggles. One test reader said that Miriam was weird, because she ticked tasks off her fingers. I guess I'm weird too, but don't tell my reader! (This same reader's summary, however, later included the statement "Miriam is too perfect." So evidently you can be perfect and weird.) But when a second test reader flagged the ticking tasks part, I decided to take it out!

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The most helpful things that test readers do is catch things that are confusing. One reader was perplexed by a phrase I had written, "our time is not God's". The way she took it is not how I meant, but I realized it was confusing. So I clarified it by changing it to "our timing is not always God’s timing".

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The cover has actually given me more problems than the editing. My AI program finally created what I thought was an acceptable picture, but then my observant sister pointed out that poor Esther had two left feet. Rather than change the storyline and make Esther have a birth defect, I just tried creating more pictures. But as it turns out, AI often creates people's limbs wrong, and I simply couldn't get any picture to come out right!

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After a failed attempt to use an actual picture I took on a different background (since the book is in the fall and I took the pictures in the late winter), I gave up for a while. Earlier this week, I tried again, and finally found a program that created just what I was looking for. Sigh of relief!

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I attached the picture below, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on it before I finalize the cover!

Besides working on Book 3, I've made some updates to the website. I'll share more about that in my next email!

Take care, and thanks for reading!