GalvestonIsland – Author of Southern Women's Fiction

Dear Reader,

First, I want to say THANK YOU for being here and supporting me in my journey. I hope you have downloaded your copy of THE HOPE CHEST and are enjoying it. If you haven’t downloaded it yet, you can get your copy here. We have made it to the end of April. What a crazy time we’re in!

How are you? Are you holding it all together, or throwing your hands up in the air? I get it. I have those moments, too. It’s okay to allow yourself a bit of grace. Be sure to take time for your self-care. Remember, you are worth it. Your family is worth it. If we don’t take the time for our physical, emotional, and spiritual needs, we will be overwhelmed and not be at our best for those who need us most when they need us.

For the most part, life has been the same for me. Other than my usual seasonal allergy induced bronchitis, which thankfully, I am past, I haven’t had many other challenges during this time. I am blessed. I know others are facing many more issues during this time. I don’t get out much anyway and have been ordering my weekly groceries online for about a year. I love it! I don’t like to shop, and the time I save from not shopping, I can spend doing other things.

I’m writing each morning from 8:00 – 10:00. Then, I begin our homeschool lessons. We homeschool year-round. My grandson is having fun learning new things. I try to make our learning time fun and turn our activities into games. In the afternoons, I edit what I wrote that morning and the night before. After family time, and he goes to bed, I write some more usually until around 2:00 AM. Which brings me to the next book in The Dogwood Hometown Series, THE BRIDGE — Release Date TBD.

In THE HOPE CHEST, we met Angel, a young girl who had just lost her parents in a tragic auto accident. In THE BRIDGE, we get to know her and watch her grow into a strong young woman with dreams of the life she wants to live. We watch an adopted Mustang, her grandfather, and two orphaned boys help each other overcome their losses while creating a lifetime bond. Together, they go on many unforgettable adventures riding through the piney woods of Dogwood, fishing, and learning the value of faith and unconditional love as they grow up. Then, when the two boys fall in love with her, she learns the choices we make can bring pain to those we love. What are her dreams, and who will she choose to spend her life with?

I played Twister with the family last week. That was a hoot! I ended up with a hitch in my git-along and got to stepping sideways. I think they’re gonna try to rope me into it again this weekend. But, I have news for them. Yep, we have to mow this weekend. After that, we’ll be hot, so I think we may break out the water guns and have a shootout in the back yard. That’s the only shooting we do. We may play Tyleropoly and Life on the Farm. Tyleropoly is Monopoly, but for the City of Tyler, Texas. Life on the Farm is sort of like Monopoly, but it’s farm management. It is an excellent educational resource and fun when the cows get into the neighbor’s pasture and eat his hay because it’s not real. If I still had cows and they got into the neighbor’s field, that would be a horse of another color. I don’t even wanna think how much that would cost! I also want to play Twilight’s Scene It. I love that game.

We have fun and are grateful for every moment we get to spend with each other. My Mister is only home on the weekends. He is an over the road truck driver, trying his best to keep everyone supplied with our essentials. Please be safe if you have to go out. Find ways to enjoy your loved ones. I have a few posts on Tales From The Front Porch Swing with some tips that may help you get through these challenging times and a few funny stories.

Until next time, be blessed and know you are loved.

Shayla McAnn XOX

Hey, y’all! Welcome to my little home on the web. I thought for my first post, I’d share a little about me. Although, as I write this we are all being mindful of social distancing at home. I have several Autoimmune disorders and must practice caution during normal times. These times are far from normal.

What I’d love to be doing at the moment, is driving to Galveston Island for a week or two. I will, as soon as this Covid19 mess is sorted. For now, I have plenty to keep me busy, such as preparing some content for you to read. When I’m not working, I am reading, while listening to ambient sounds of the ocean. That is as close as I can come to the beach for now. It is more important to keep everyone safe. Below is a picture of our last trip to Galveston in 2019.

I enjoy crocheting blankets for my family and friends. The most I made in one year, was thirty-two. Yes, that is a lot of crocheting and they were all twin-size or larger blankets. I follow some patterns and also create my own one-of-a-kind patterns.

I love to cook! Yes, I am a true Southern Woman. I like homecooked meals, fried okra, fried green tomatoes, shoot! If it’s fried, I like it. I also love to cook gourmet meals. I am nearly a vegetarian-pescatarian. I do eat meat on occasion, but not often. I eat a lot of Mediterranean foods, Asian, and Tex-Mex. These are the foods I cook most often for my family. I do believe in balance, though. So, I still cook their favorite Southern foods a few times a month. I don’t believe in strictly adhering to a particular diet. Instead, we follow the “anything in moderation” rule. Below are some photos of me teaching my grandson how to roll out dumplings and a banana pudding pie from few years ago. Recipes passed down to me from my Grams, and hers before.

The men in my family can cook as well as women. Grams always wanted to be sure to teach her boys the same as her girls. Grams didn’t follow with the whole Patriarchial ideology most men of the South do with the “man’s role and women’s role” nonsense. She considered cooking basic survival. She began teaching me to cook when I was four years old on her wood-burning stove in her living room. By the time I was six, she was teaching me on an open fire outside. Then, I graduated to the kitchen. I have baked cakes outside as well as I have inside an oven. She taught the girls to chop wood, build fences, and animal husbandry. Grams expected the women she raised to be strong enough of build and character to provide for ourselves and maintain our homes. Mama and I continued that tradition. Both these ladies are gone, leaving me the Matriarch of the family.

That’s all I have for you today. I will see you next time at Tales From The Front Porch Swing. Be blessed, y’all! xox

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