Author: Kim Janine Ligon

For the last thirty days we have been in full on celebration mode with multiple festive gatherings to celebrate our 50^th wedding anniversary. For several months leading up to the event I got to flex my previously untested party planner muscles. I had a lot of fun doing it. More than I expected. I’m a little at sea now that everything is done. (Can you hear my sweet husband in the background saying time to work on my buildings on the railroad while you can still see and have a relatively steady hand? He may be right.)

It has been a joyous time filled with family, friends, lots of laughter, boatloads of hugs, and reconnecting with friends we haven’t seen in decades. In the middle of it all was my family reunion which meant we got to celebrate with extended family too. My ninety-year-old uncle who was my first babysitter said he never expected to be at my fiftieth wedding anniversary celebration. He gifted me with a small ceramic pitcher and basin that he had been given by his aunt and uncle (my great aunt and uncle) on the occasion of his own 50^th. My great aunt and uncle had been given it on their 50^th. So now I have a small family heirloom to enjoy until the next 50^th anniversary in the family.

We enjoyed dining and dancing and toasting. Six of my nine siblings helped us celebrate. We got to meet my husband’s college roommate’s wife and one of his daughters. My baby brother brought my best friend from college along to the party when he came from Oklahoma with his sons. We had former neighbors and friends from lots of places we have lived travel to be with us and share in our celebrations. I was overwhelmed by the love and joy that washed over us. It was wonderful to see all the smiles and feel the hugs.

This past Saturday the month of celebration concluded with the book signing for my fifth book. That seems almost as hard to believe as being married for fifty years. We have been truly blessed.

Sometimes it seems it isn’t right to celebrate when there is so much evil plaguing people around me. But I think we have to celebrate hard and frequently to show evil it doesn’t rule. Our celebrations are wrapped in thankfulness that love and joy and hope still thrive in this world and are there to buoy us up when life is hard and unrelenting. There will be illness and injury and death. But His Love will win out in the end. And that is why I celebrate unceasingly all that is good. Party on!   

March is National Reading Month. After dancing around between different months it was moved to March to honor Dr. Suess, Theodor Geisel, whose birthday was this month. It seems appropriate that the author who introduced reading to many of us should be remembered this way.

Every month is reading month for me. Since I had my first book published, I have been introduced to many new authors with The Wild Rose Press who write in genres I had not previously read. I have had new worlds to explore in time travel, horror, and paranormal romances. The bookclub I joined at its inception several years ago has also introduced me to authors I would not normally gravitate to. I will confess, I haven’t thoroughly enjoyed all of them, but I have found some that I was delightfully surprised to be disappointed when their stories ended.

The last three weeks I’ve been immersed in Michelangelo’s life as recorded by Irving Stone in The Agony and The Ecstasy. The historian in me loves all the background information about the politics of Italy, the influences of the Catholic Church and the Popes who commissioned Michelangelo’s works. Stone is so descriptive you will be breathing in the marble dust right along with the sculptor. It is a long read (over 800 pages) but it is worth every page.

The other change to my reading habit is e-books on my tablet. A lot of authors share electronic copies of their books when you sign up to be an early reader/reviewer. It took a while for me to get the setting right so the glare didn’t bother me. I only read them in the morning. At night, I dive into the physical book on my nightstand before I turn out the light. While the e-books have allowed me to read a number of books at a much lower cost than a paperback or hardback book, they will never replace the feel of a physical volume in heart. And, as an author, they can’t measure up to the sense of accomplishment I feel when I see my books displayed at the local Barnes and Noble. 

I read differently now. I’ve always liked well-developed characters and looked for an intriguing plot, but now I notice the book’s editing. Typos call out to me and I’m more aware of punctuation. Having been through the editing process for five different books with two talented editors, I have a new appreciation for the person or persons behind the author. A great editor helps the author polish their prose until it shines. They know what components are and are not essential to the story. They catch timeline glitches you missed. Most importantly, they know how to communicate with the author so they can see beyond their pride of creation to make changes when they are needed. And the best editors understand communication is a two-way street. Sometimes they are the listener. I have been blessed with talented, caring editors and senior editors who have improved my stories before they get to you.

I hope this month you will make certain you have a book waiting to be read beside your favorite chair or on your nightstand. If electronic is your thing, may your e-reader be loaded with marvelous tales. I wish you time to sit down and relax, the luxury to escape to somewhere new, and the excitement of meeting new book friends. If any of your reading selections happen to be one of mine—even better (Can you see me smiling?) Enjoy!   

It is hard to believe but today is the 7^th anniversary of this blog beginning. I started it to have a social media presence for my author journey that I began in earnest after retiring from a forty-one year career in healthcare information technology.

We’ve shared a lot over the past seven years. You’ve encouraged me on my author journey more than you know. I could not have persevered without knowing you were there supporting me and cheering me on. Words are inadequate to thank you for the love you have showered on me during this trek. Thank you for reading my stories, for reviewing them, for sharing them, and for asking for more.

We’ve celebrated victories large and small through this blog from new books contracts and important anniversaries to the appreciating the beauty of the first daffodils poking their heads up in the spring.

We’ve shared tears and prayers over loved ones lost too soon, precious memories of times and people past, and shared the pain of the COVID pandemic and its aftermath.

I appreciate you humoring me and reading my observations on life. I especially enjoy reconnecting with old friends and far-flung family when you post a comment on my post or send me an e-mail after reading one. It’s been fun to make new friends in the readers who sign up for my blog. After starting out with about a dozen regular readers, Spinning Romance now has over two hundred people who receive my posts via e-mail and a trio who get it by snail mail. I am delighted by the number of fellow Wild Rose Press authors who read my posts and make comments.

In December 2024, I signed my fifth contract with The Wild Rose Press. My next cozy mystery with clean romance set in the small town of Lansdale, Wisconsin will be published in later this summer. Soon I’ll send you the date to go over to the Purple Cow drive-in for a creamy vanilla milkshake with your favorite book buddies.

I am so thankful for all of you and for the good Lord who puts the stories on my heart that I hope you’ll enjoy. I am truly blessed. It’s been a blast! I’ll see you at Whistler’s! Enjoy!      

May you see the wonder of Christmas through the eyes of a child. May the love of Christmas wrap your heart in peace and bring you joy. Wishing you and yours the many blessings of Christmas and a healthy, happy 2025. Enjoy! Kim

I’m very excited. My foray into a completely new genre comes out Monday Dec 2nd. I hope you’ll enjoy my Victorian Christmas romance.

The new book is available at your favorite e-tail location and for those of you in the Tuscaloosa, Alabama area I am having a book signing at the Midtown Barnes and Noble SATURDAY DECEMBER 14th from Noon to 4 PM. Hope you’ll stop buy to pick up an autographed copy and a hug from the author.

Universal Buy Link: https://mybook.to/MatchmakingMistletoe

At this time of year I am especially thankful for all the people who made this fourth book possible beginning with my sweet husband and my extraordinary editor. And I could not continue to find the right words to put on the page without some Divine inspiration guiding my fingers. I am thankful for all of the readers who follow me and ask for my next book. Your encouragement and support are a blessing to me. Wishing you and yours all the wonder and happiness of the season. Enjoy!

Once the all important first thread is securely anchored, the spider leaps to another nearby location forming the second side of its web. The author adds some secondary characters who travel intersecting paths to the main plot thread. The author must be careful. Strong characters may try to divert the main idea to be more about them masking the original story behind their overwhelming personalities.

The spider rests admiring its work. Suddenly the wind blows a stray leaf into the web destroying one side of it. Back to weaving for the arachnid. The author proudly gives the book to an early reader only to hear there are gaps in the timeline that must be corrected. The main character cannot be the criminal. They don’t even meet the victim until two chapters later.

The spider diligently rebuilds a complete circular web, then waits to be fed. And it waits. And waits. The author fixes the plot points, rereads it for the ninth time—this time out loud—trying to sand off all the rough edges and make the manuscript shine. Then she sends it to the editor. She picks up another work in progress to fiddle with until she hears about this one. And she waits. And waits.

The spider is rewarded when an insect becomes stuck in the sticky web. It rushes over to further encase it in more threads to savor later. The author gets the email. The one with a contract attached. She cries. It isn’t the first wonderful attachment she’s gotten. It doesn’t matter. Every single one is something special. She cries happy tears and prints out the contract to savor (and sign) sooner than later. 

The spider doesn’t have enough food to last the winter dormancy. It hopefully watches for more insects to come visiting. The author anxiously watches for the final galleys. It comes after rounds of tweaking and wordsmithing. Oh, the things the author learns in this complex process: tenses and persons; showing not telling; and punctuation rules you didn’t learn in school. After the final galleys are declared to be perfect, another wonderful email touting the worldwide release date for the new book baby. More happy tears as the author marks her calendar.

The spider’s web is filled with little packets of future feasts and more prey is captured every day. It is content. The author hopes the cover of the book and the all important blurb pull the discriminating reader closer and closer until they click the BUY NOW icon on the screen. They do! They even buy another of the author’s books listed on the same page. There is much rejoicing! The author smiles with tears in her eyes.

The spider is sated and the author is blessed. Thank you for all the smiles and tears you have given this author!

God, The world needs you now more than ever. Please be with the victims of Helene’s fury. Comfort those who have lost loved ones and give them peace in their mourning. Give those who survived the wind and water to be faced with overwhelming damage the strength and resilience to tackle the job of restoring their lives to some level of normalcy.

To the people who put their children to bed at night under skies lit up by missiles flying overhead give them the courage necessary to face another day and the passion to persevere until there can be peace.

Please, Lord, restore this nation to follow you in prayerful righteousness. I know we have shamefully and foolishly squandered what we have been given. Please grant us another chance and the conviction to follow the narrow path that leads to the truth and restores our country’s hope.

Lord, there are many sick of body, heart, and mind. Please ease their pain. Please bless new marriages and take special loving care of the new souls who enter this often dangerous and frightening world.

Thank you. AMEN!