As I’ve watched my new site come together, I’ve been in awe of the talented people who’ve been involved. Several months ago, my agent suggested that it was time to update my web presence. I agreed, so we started searching for designers who could capture my storyteller’s heart.

We found an exceptionally talented group of designers at PulsePoint, especially Kelli Standish, founder and senior designer. We spent time with Kelli on the phone, and at one point she asked me to describe my favorite room in the house (a great question!), but I said “my room” wasn’t indoors. It was my prayer garden with its terracotta tile floor and trellises of lush honeysuckle, jasmine, and morning glories, birdbaths, and a water fountain that trickles over a pool of natural rock. It’s a place of both solitude and joy; it’s a place where my heart can dance. An aha! followed, as I described it. Ideas clicked. We clicked, and soon PulsePoint was hard at work on my design.

Meanwhile, I discovered an incredibly gifted local photographer—Scott Campbell (www.scottcampbellphotography), who I soon found out, loves God’s handiwork, especially the desert, as much as I do. We agreed to do the photo shoot in my prayer garden as well as the Living Desert, a local zoo and botanical garden. My daughter Amy, a professional makeup artist, drove in from L.A. to help Mom put her best “face” forward, and my husband Tom, who’s a docent at the Living Desert, arranged for us to stay after closing. We had a ball.

So after weeks of designing and writing and doing the Snoopy dance as things came together, here we are, up and running, “live” at last. I’m excited to interact with you all on a more regular basis. My writing and editing schedule has been incredibly busy during the past few years—and I’ve missed the journaling I used to do, the posting of recipes and baby blanket patterns for Angels Undercover project…and musing about everything from how to begin writing a novel to how to deal with a cat who walks across your computer keyboard—and deletes the best paragraph you’ve ever written.

Thanks for being patient as the talented artisans from my “village” worked on this site. I treasure them, and I treasure each and every one of you, dear readers—those who have recently discovered my books and those who have followed my writings for years. Come back often to see what my village and I are up to!