If You Haven’t Heard…I’ve Got Something To Tell You!

I’m not exaggerating when I say that last year was a year I will never forget. From the phenomenal success of my book The Gathering Room - A Tale of Nelly Butler. To all the people and experiences I had spending a better part of the year on a book tour. To watching the book win four national book awards, including a Bronze Medal for Best Fiction in the Northeast. To traveling to England for a research trip with my son. To the completion of writing my second book. It was a whirlwind of memories that will most assuredly never fade!

But what was mixed in there, amongst all of that energy and excitement, were seeds that were laying the groundwork for 2024! Over the past several months I’ve often said, either in person or in this blog, “there’s a lot going on in the background at the moment.” and truth be told I wasn’t kidding! It was an amazing thing to watch unfold, each step happening so that the next step could fall into place. Not going to lie, I’ve seen some pretty amazing things happen in my life since I published my book. Evidence of a greater power, a higher force, a guiding hand, angels, God, the Universe, whatever words you want to use, I’ve witnessed it and have come to understand that if we open our minds and our hearts to believing, we will see incredible things happen.

What has been unfolding, and the news I’d like to share with you, is just the latest example of this in my life. It has taken nearly ten months of hard work, shuffling pieces, a few setbacks, a ton of mental and emotional strength, and a belief that I was being guided yet again to get to where I’m am at this moment. I won’t go into all the nitty gritty details. Mainly because it’s one of those “truth is stranger then fiction” kind of things and it as been the suggested that this story would make a great book! Hahahaha, so in an effort to save something for a future storyline, I’ll keep my announcement to the point.

My family has purchased the Pleasant Hill Campground here in Maine and I’m the General Manager. If you aren’t familiar with Maine let me tell you Pleasant Hill Campground is an iconic part of the area where I grew up. It is located just outside of my hometown and has been around almost as long as I have! I feel so unbelievably blessed to be sharing in the the history of this campground. The campground is centrally located for day trips to all of the best parts of Maine. Only one hour from Acadia National Park. One hour from the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument and one hour to the Moosehead Lake Region. Only four miles outside of Bangor, you can have the best of all possible worlds. A quiet and rural campground setting, day trips to scenic areas, yet still close enough to one of Maine’s largest cities where you can enjoy restaurants, waterfront concerts and Bangor’s beautiful downtown.

Now all of that sounds great on a brochure, remember I did work for the Maine Tourism Association before I wrote the book!! But what is impossible to put into a catchy marketing phrase is the feeling that exists here. The positive energy here is palatable. You can feel it the moment you walk onto the property. Every person I have met that has stayed here in the past calls this their “happy place.” They aren’t wrong! For me that feeling of peace, tranquility and just the pleasant vibe, was one of deciding factors in so much that has taken place over the past ten months. I knew I belonged here. I knew our family belonged here. And as we’ve moved through this process, every thing we have done has brought us closer as a family. This has been a remarkable experience for all of us.

Now that’s not to say it hasn’t been a lot of hard work! Pleasant Hill Campground is 50+ years old!! As naturally beautiful as it is here, there was a need for a little bit of shine and sparkle! Okay who am I kidding, it needed a lot of shine and sparkle!! Massive renovations from the obvious, like a new pool to the not so obvious, like utility infrastructure, were done. Just about every inch of this place has been polished up and brought into the 21st century. There is barely an aspect of this place that hasn’t been upgraded.

We opened for the season just this past Wednesday and the response to all of our hard work from the Seasonal Campers was overwhelming. These are the people who have been staying here all summer for many years. Their support, their positivity, their appreciation for all that we had undertaken made us all feel so lucky to be a part of this grand adventure!

So now I’m sharing all of this with you so that you will know why I have had to put my writing aside for a few months. I will be back to writing again next winter! In the meantime if you’d like to come to Maine for the summer I know a great place where you can stay! We also have the cutest little cabins to rent! Oh and I heard they sell a really great book in the camp store! Bet you could get a copy signed! ; )