New Beginnings

If there’s one thing I love, it’s a beginning—a fresh start. Whether it’s meeting someone new or giving myself another chance to do that one thing I promised myself I would… for me it’s usually eating fewer between-meal snacks or exercising more.

January is the time when a lot of people are starting something new. It’s a new year, full of possibilities.

And I love that feeling—that crackle in the air that says anything could happen.

New beginnings aren’t just about the calendar flipping from December to January, though. They’re about mindset. They’re about permission. Permission to try again, to dream bigger, to mess up spectacularly and still keep going. I’ve learned that the hard way—and also the fun way.

This year feels especially exciting to me.

I’m a USA Today bestselling romance author, which still sounds a little surreal when I say it out loud. I’m an American living in the UK, a country I fell in love with in ways I never expected. And I’m a mom to two grown kids, which means I’m standing in that strange, beautiful in-between place where life is familiar and brand new at the same time.

There are books waiting to be written this year—stories I’m already itching to dive into. There will be releases that make my heart race and moments where I hit “publish” and immediately want to hide under a blanket. There will be characters who surprise me, plots that refuse to behave, and those magical days when the words flow like they were waiting for me all along.

There will also be trips—some planned, some spontaneous. Trains to catch, suitcases half-packed, coffee in unfamiliar places, and that delicious feeling of being somewhere new with no agenda other than to explore.

And yes, there will be mistakes. I will absolutely get things wrong. I’ll overcommit, second-guess myself, eat the snacks, skip the workout, and wonder what on earth I was thinking. But I’ll also laugh, learn, adjust, and keep moving forward.

That’s the part of new beginnings we don’t talk about enough—the freedom to be imperfect while you’re becoming something more.

A new year isn’t a promise that everything will be easy. It’s an invitation. To live fully. To create boldly. To say yes more often than no. To chase joy where you find it and make peace with the rest.

So here’s to new beginnings—in January, in July, on a random Tuesday when you decide to try again.

Here’s to the stories we haven’t written yet, the places we haven’t been, and the versions of ourselves still unfolding.

I, for one, can’t wait to see what happens next. What about you? New you or same you with some sparkle?