Happy March to you, month of Spring, St. Patrick’s Day, bright blue skies and very windy days!

This is Bailey, one unlikely hero in my about-to-release (April 8) book, This Promised Land. In real life, Bailey was a rescue dog my son adopted close to Christmas several years ago. Because Christmas was when he entered the family, Daniel named him Bailey—after George Bailey in “It’s a Wonderful Life”—a favorite family movie.

The picture you see above was painted by my neighbor, Artist Leslie Craine. She captured lovable Bailey perfectly! Leslie specializes in the painting of pets from photographs. If you’d like to commission a portrait of your favorite pet, you can contact Leslie here: lesliejcraine@comcast.net

Exciting Writing News:

Publishers Weekly gave this excellent review:

A retiree contends with the ghosts of her painful past in this moving tale of second chances from Gohlke (Ladies of the Lake). At 16, Ginny Pickering ran away from her family’s Christmas tree farm to marry farmhand Curtis Boyden. She’s been estranged from her family ever since. Nearly five decades later, she gets word from an attorney that she’s inherited the tree farm following her brother Harold’s death, but upon returning home she learns that his ill-advised business deals have sunk the farm so deeply into debt that few options remain but to sell. Things get more complicated when Harold’s cash-strapped son Mark and his three young children show up. Ginny convinces her grandnephews to help improve the land so she can sell it at a high price. In the process, she becomes increasingly enmeshed in the family’s struggles. She forms an especially close bond with Mark, a Vietnam veteran who suffers from PTSD like Ginny’s late WWII vet husband. Just as Ginny starts to wonder whether God is calling her to fight to save the land, a shocking discovery threatens the future of the farm and the Pickering family itself. Gohlke sensitively highlights the far-reaching effects of PTSD and family trauma, imbuing the plot with emotional resonance while leaving room for the promise of hope and renewal. Readers will find this tough to forget. (Apr.)

More Writing News:

I shared with Author Andrea Cox and her readers the inspiration behind This Promised Land in a blog entitled “A Parable for All Time.” It begins . . . “Every story begins with a seed of inspiration. The seed that inspired This Promised Land was found in . . .”

**To read of the revelation that led me to write This Promised Land go to: https://andreareneecox.com/2025/03/10/be-my-guest-cathy-gohlke/

**To Pre-Order This Promised Land go to: http://authorcathygohlke.com/books/this-promised-land-by-cathy-gohlke/#mbt-book-purchase-anchor

St. Patrick’s Day News:

This is my family’s favorite Irish Soda Bread—the only thing they really care about eating on St. Patrick’s Day!

*This recipe came inscribed in the baking dish you see in the photo. Sometimes I’ve used regular flour and sometimes gluten free flour (same amount). Either way, it comes out delicious—especially if you add a bit of Irish butter to your slice!

Family Fun:

This past weekend our family attended a wonderful performance of C. S. Lewis’s The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, performed by The Logos Theatre at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. Aslan was brought vividly to life before our eyes! Performances run through April 19, so there’s still time to see it if you can make it to the D.C. area. For details on performances, contact https://www.museumofthebible.org/events/lww

Side Note: We especially liked the balcony seats—great view of the entire stage!

What I’m Reading: