Let’s welcome Autumn together! This is my favorite season. I love the cooler temperatures morning and evening, the changing leaves, the arrival of pumpkins, Fall T-Ball, and the first aromas of wood smoke from campfires.

I love that the days are still warm enough to hold our twice monthly poetry teas outdoors, recently replete with September’s Fresh Purple Plum Turnovers, fruit dipped in chocolate, and steaming apple spice tea.

Out and About:

September began with Lovettsville, Virginia’s Second Annual Love Books Festival. It was a pleasure to meet new and longtime readers and to spend time with authors, including Historical Romance authors, Kelly Goshorn and Susan Mathis, Contemporary Romance author Toni Shiloh, 2025 ACFW Genesis Award-winning Author in the Historical Category, Hannah Benson, as well as a number of authors new to me.

I was especially pleased with the lovely event poster Stephanie Abrassart, Marketing Manager of Tyndale House Publishers designed for my recent book, This Promised Land.

Writing News:

I’ve just turned in the final round of edits for my new book, due to release September 2026. What a pleasure to work with my editors, Stephanie Broene and Sarah Rische, on a story I love so much! The manuscript is off to copyediting now, one step closer to publication. I can’t wait to share this story from my heart to yours!

More Writing News:

A new storyline is brewing. As I continue my research I’m praying for the Lord’s direction, eager to learn everything He shows me and leads me to for the writing. Please join me in this prayer.

What I’m Reading:

A Love Restored, by Kelly Goshorn

I loved the heart of this book. This is Ruth Ann’s story, a strong and caring young woman society deemed less than perfect, both for her unpopular determination to teach in a Freedman’s School and for her generous figure. It’s also the story of Benjamin, the man who loves her, but eager to rise in the eyes of society, must come to terms with the state of his own heart and what others say about the woman he loves. Told with tender vulnerability and great love, A Love Restored is a beautifully written historical romance novel women everywhere will relate to.

To Outwit Them All, by Peggy Wirgau

The most intriguing, edge-of-your-seat historical fiction I’ve read in a long while. Wirgau’s authentic for the period writing, impeccable research, and great attention to historical detail brought daily life during the Revolutionary War and the Culper Spy Ring vividly to life. Through To Outwit Them All I walked the British occupied streets of New York City through a Patriot spy’s eyes, ever aware that one wrong move could be her last. Once begun, I could not put this book down. Brilliant. I read an early copy of this book for endorsement. It will release October 14, 2025.

Recipe for Fresh Purple Plum Turnovers:

Pastry:

½ cup butter

1 cup flour

½ cup small curd cottage cheese

Filling:

2 cups chopped prune plums

¾ cup sugar

1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

½ teaspoon mace

2 Tablespoons Tapioca

Combine pastry ingredients. Chill pastry in refrigerator.

Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine ingredients for filling and let stand at least 15 minutes while rolling pastry very thin on a well-floured board (or wax paper). Keep pastry cold. Cut pastry into 4” or 5” squares. Spoon plum filling on half of each square and fold to create a triangle. Seal edges with a fork. Sprinkle with sugar.

Bake turnovers on parchment papered cookie sheets for 15-20 minutes.

Makes 8-10 turnovers, depending on how thinly you roll the dough

**The turnovers in the photo above were made with gluten-free flour, but any flour will work.

**I usually double the pastry recipe and find that the plum filling makes enough for two batches of pastry dough. These turnovers freeze well and are wonderful if heated or reheated a few seconds in the microwave.

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I hope as you welcome autumn you’ll find special moments to rejoice, to celebrate the season—things you especially love to share with others and things you especially enjoy in the pleasure of your own company. It’s a time of beauty, of bounty, and a welling of gratitude to our Lord and Creator.

Until next time, God’s rich blessings for you,

Cathy