These are a few (50) of my favorite things....

My next novel, The Sound of Music, and chocolate cake.

Hello All,

As promised in my last newsletter, I am here with another List of 50 in celebration of my birthday in July. I’ve already done 50 Books That Made Me a Writer, and today I’m offering 50 of My Favorite Things. Yes, that is the soundtrack of The Sound of Music that you heard as you read the subject line of this email, perhaps because when I was growing up, spring was when that movie came on television and I would watch it with my mom and sometimes my brother and father, ads and all. Since starting a family of my own, I’ve watched it a handful of times in this season (no ads, thanks to streaming!), but perhaps more pertinent is that I used to sing “My Favorite Things” to my daughter every single night for, like, 6 years. And honestly, I never got tired of it.

The Sound of Music is most definitely one of my favorite things; it’s a story of romance, danger, and finding one’s voice, that contributed to my development as a writer.

Reminiscent of the opening scene of The Sound of Music. Photo by Avery Cocozziello on Unsplash

In other news, I am hard at work on Summer of Love, my next historical novel due out in July 2026. What follows is NOT official jacket copy, but let me take a stab at describing the book to you. As my beloved subscribers you are the FIRST to read this detailed description!

1967, San Francisco & Napa - Concerts, hippies, and war protests define the counter-culture revolution that gets underway during the “Summer of Love” in the Haight-Ashbury. No one is more into the messages of love and peace than Winifred (Winnie) Hartley who has just graduated from UC Berkeley determined to make it as a poet. When she reconnects with high school heartache Lincoln Salyer, it feels like her life is finally everything she wants it to be. Meanwhile, her sister Miranda throws herself into running the family business, Hartley Vineyard, determined to make California wine that rivals French.

Little do the sisters know that the choices they make and the secrets they keep will set their lives down radically different paths.

2015, California Road Trip - Dawn Hartley has a secret that she can’t share with her mother Miranda, who has long been her closest confidant. How can she possibly admit that she has a drinking problem to her famous vintner mother? Or that her life feels hopelessly stalled? When an assignment at work requires her to research the wildly popular Vineland novels, she embarks on a quest that will call into question everything she’s ever counted on, and just might set her life on the right path at last.

The two timelines will meet as Dawn gets closer and closer to answers she might not want to know. This is a novel about the secrets that sever the closest of bonds, the stories we tell to survive, and the stories we tell to transcend.

Plus, I’ve been looking into topics for the book after Summer of Love, and I’m excited to share more about that with you very soon. In the meantime, here are 50 of My Favorite Things (in totally random order, and not including people!):

—The Sound of Music

—dark chocolate digestive biscuits

—black coffee in the morning

—angel hair pasta that someone else makes

—great pizza

—a fire in my fireplace

—reading in bed, especially in the morning with coffee

—morning pages (see also my adventure with The Artist’s Way)

—coming up with THE ANSWER to a problem with a book I’m writing

—long walks

—a great audiobook on a long drive

—a great playlist on a long drive

—A Man on the Inside

—Shrinking

—Hacks

—The Gilmore Girls

—Dead Poet’s Society

—Star Wars (the originals)

—Kamala Harris

—Planned Parenthood

—teachers

—the view of San Francisco from the hills behind my Berkeley dorm

—Disneyland (may they get their DEI act together)

—my rearranged living room/office

—the colorful calendar I buy every year and hang in my bedroom

—flannel sheets in winter

—crisp cotton sheets in summer

—fresh flowers in my kitchen

—brightly colored flowers in the pots on my front stoop

—new earrings (any jewelry, really)

—the seals and sea lions in La Jolla

—indie bookstores (I’m looking at you, Wellesley Books and Warwicks!)

—sleeping in

—watching my daughter ice skate

—snuggling with my dog on the couch

—a nap

—afternoon delight

—pretty finger- and toe-nails

—a tidy kitchen

—beach towns

—soft serve ice cream

—holiday cards (receiving, not sending - sorry!)

—my canopy bed when I was 5

—my daughter’s lovie

—designer consignment finds

—redecorating

—chocolate cake, chocolate croissants, chocolate chip cookies

—fresh notebooks

—Christmas stockings

—audiobooks

With thanks,

Kerri