Ginny L. Yttrup

October 2021

Dear Friends,

Last month I celebrated my 59th birthday, and I want to live the last year of my fifties intentionally. My amazing kids took me to brunch to celebrate, and then I spent a week-long vacation at Lake Tahoe. On the morning of my birthday, I walked the beach awed by the grandeur of creation, and I listened as I sought God's direction for this next year of my life. It is a morning I will remember for the remainder of my years.

I didn't think I could take a full week away from work. What would I do? Where would I find meaning? Purpose? But then…I remembered. Stillness. Quiet. Beauty. Relationships. Intimacy with my Creator. Oh, there is nothing more satisfying.

When was the last time you got away? The last time you basked in the beauty of creation? Even if it’s just a day trip, or an afternoon spent at a local lake or river, nature speaks and soothes and settles.

I'm back at my desk now, refreshed and hard at work on the next book in The Mendocino Village Series. I'll share a release date and cover reveal with you soon.

I'd love to know what resets your soul. Drop me a note and let me know.

 Ginny 

I love, love, love books: fiction books, nonfiction books, memoirs, poetry, journals, sketchbooks. I don't think you'll find a book that doesn't appeal to me in some way or another.

What about you?

I not only love books, I love the feel of a space designed for books and their readers. One of my lifelong dreams is to own a little bookshop, a book nook all my own, where I'd stock the shelves with my favorite titles and create cozy corners where customers could sit and read.

A scaling rock fireplace centers the space and the scent of a wood-burning fire, and the rich aroma of coffee from an espresso bar co-mingle. I'd make a flavor-of-the-day fudge to serve alongside an assortment of warm drinks.

It would be a little shop where readers become friends and authors come not just to write but also to find encouragement. I envision wide plank pine floors stained a warm, nutty color, eventually marked by the footsteps of readers, and pocked by the heels of little girls twirling or little boys marching while Mama loses herself in a novel for a few minutes.

Words for Life. That would be the name of the shop, of course, because words so often offer life, and love, and joy, and hope.

I'm a dreamer, can you tell?

What about you?

Dreams do come true, sometimes, especially when we take that first little step toward our vision.

So, there isn't a stone fireplace yet, nor have the pine floors been installed, but I am slowly stocking the virtual shelves. Shelves I've filled with books I've read and loved, books on my wish list, general market books as well as Christian. I hope you'll enjoy lingering for a few minutes as you peruse the titles. A portion of every purchase helps keep independent bookstores in play, making my heart very happy.

Welcome to the… 

Maybe someday, there will be coffee and fudge and a room in the back where writers curl up in overstuffed leather chairs, their fingers dancing on the keyboards of their laptops. Or maybe you can snuggle in right now next to a glowing fire, your favorite book on your lap, a warm drink next to you, and a homemade piece of fudge on a napkin until my brick-and-mortar dreams come true.

Until then, enjoy shopping.

I highly recommend…

From Instagram…