2025: Rendezvous with a Writer

Posted on December 14, 2025 by peggylchambers

          

  I t’s Christmas and time to catch up with friends and family. And I’ll be catching up with Jim and Bobbi Jean Bell at Rendezvous with a Writer. I’ve known them for a while, and they’ve once again invited me to meet with them on their video podcast on LA Talk Radio. Old friends are the best.

            I released a new book this summer and they contacted me to be on the show. Somehow, because of an email snafu I think, I never got the word. I did, finally. They are such wonderful hosts and on Thursday, December 18, 2025, at 6:00, I’ll once again be honored to be with them on their show. We always have a good time.

             You can watch live on Rendezvous With A Writer Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/rendezvouswithawriter/, listen to the live audio on LA Talk Radio’s Website – Click Listen Live on Right Side, https://www.latalkradio.com/content/rendezvous-writer. And after the show has aired, you can find it at the same Facebook address (video), at the same LA Talk Radio address  (video AND audio), Audio only – Podbean – https://rendezvouswithawriter.podbean.com/ From Podbean you can choose Spotify, iHeartRadio, etc.  

We’ll discuss the latest book, writing, and what is going on in our lives. We’d love for you to call in and join us. Tell us what you’re thinking. Let’s rendezvous.

            What are you reading, writing, or creating this week?

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2025: The Beginning of the Christmas Season

Posted on December 7, 2025 by peggylchambers

It is Sunday once again and I was unprepared with a blog topic. But it is Christmas, time for family, warmth, and reflection. How has the year gone and how can we make it better?

            My family is close, and we always find a way to get together. My son is in town and daughter is not far away. We are the old folks now and maybe I’ll just make a casserole and show up where I’m invited. It is a lot less work. There won’t be sugar soaked kids running here and there, but there will be festivities and joy.

            I still send Christmas cards, and I need to get them done this week. Most of my shopping is finished (ordered) and the one Christmas party I was invited to, I was unable to attend. I will wear my Christmas T-shirt for something else.

            Decorating will be at a minimum. I still can’t bend over after surgery (next year), and I my husband has been through enough. It is hard on him too. I remember my mother not putting up a Christmas tree and I thought it was odd, but now I understand. I am lucky enough to have decorations and family even if I am not as able to participate as I used to be.

            I remember when I was young, I would spend entire weekends baking cookies and Christmas goodies to give away to co-workers and neighbors. I might not this year. Nobody needs all that sugar anyway.

            But tree or no tree, bundles of presents or just one, Christmas is for families, and I am blessed. I plan to drive around and look at Christmas lights. Enid has a downtown Christmas tree with music and a skating rink. I must check it out again. Christmas is a warm feeling wrapped in a blanket with hot chocolate, music, the love of community, family, and religion. I am lucky to experience it once again.

            What are you reading, writing, or creating this week?

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2025: Surgeries and Thanksgiving Holidays

Posted on November 30, 2025 by peggylchambers

I normally blog on Sunday morning and I hope you read them as you surf the net. Some are more interesting than others, but I try to produce topics that appeal to people. The last few weeks were written in advance and scheduled on the website. I had other pressing matters.

I had major back surgery (number four, I’m a veteran) but it was more extensive than before. After six-hour surgery, I was in the hospital for four days and then the rehab unit for nine more. Not all of that was easy. But thanks to hospital staff and family, I survived. Both groups would say it wasn’t easy for them either. I’m not the best patient. My body hates anesthesia and narcotics, and I saw and did things that weren’t really there. I think I have been forgiven, by most.

But I am home and feeling good. I have my first follow up with the surgeon next week, home health/physical therapy coming to the house, and a doting husband. I will do well. I’m too old to ever do it again.

This last week was Thanksgiving and my family, and I have more to be thankful for than in the past. My health was near the top of the list, and my grandson became engaged, so the family is growing. The holiday was eventful and meaningful. My son and daughter-in-law cooked, and we enjoyed the company. The old folks were lazy.

On December 18, 2025, I will be interviewed on LA Talk Radio’s Rendezvous with a Writer with Jim and Bobbi Jean Bell. It will be a fun event as usual. You can view that interview on the 18th and after at this link: Watch Live on Rendezvous With A Writer Facebook  – https://www.facebook.com/rendezvouswithawriter/.

The holidays are upon us, and I hope you and yours enjoy and remember the reason for the season.

What are you reading, writing, or creating this week?

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2025: Smugglers of Sandhill Island

Posted on November 23, 2025 by peggylchambers

Smugglers of Sandhill Island is the final in the Sandhill Island series. If you haven’t read them, they are available at bookstores everywhere and online. I love the characters who live on this little island on the Gulf coast, and I’ve come to feel they are my friends.

Sandhill Island is a small tourist island off the coast of Corpus Christi, and the characters are varied. They live their lives fishing, operating a business, teaching school, growing a garden, or singing in a local restaurant.

The book, Smugglers of Sandhill Island, is about the relationship between siblings; one hard working, the other not. And liked most siblings, they will fight each other tooth and nail, and they would fight to the death for each other.

Dani Brown grew up poor and hard working. Her brother, Cody, only grew up poor. Always wanting the easy way out, Cody ran drugs and lived his life on handouts. When they were young, Dani and Cody were inseparable, now Dani only sees him if he’s desperate. The drugs he samples and sells have started to rot his brain.

This time, Cody owes some big money, and the only person he knows to help him is his sister. When the cartel realizes she owns a boat that could run even more drugs for them, she is torn between saving her brother and living her life. The final Sandhill Island story pits sister against brother in a life-or-death struggle.

Dani and Cody know that water can protect you or kill you, depending upon its current attitude. But they make their living off the water and don’t plan to die in its arms.

Smugglers of Sandhill Island is the final in the series. Check out the series or check out one of the books, they are stand-alone stories that can be read separately or together. I think you will like them and leave me a review. Authors love reviews.

What are you reading, writing, or creating this week?

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2020-2025: Strawberry Sundae Delights

Posted on November 16, 2025 by peggylchambers

Strawberry Sundae Delights is a novella that was written to be included in the One Scoop or Two beach read series with The Wild Rose Press. Though short, it presents new characters and a new story set on Sandhill Island.  

Sienna is a single schoolteacher still stinging from the breakup with her fiancé. She works summers in her aunt’s ice cream shop in the tiny tourist town of Sandhill Island. She finds herself infatuated with Jake, a college student from Corpus Christi, who is working on a shrimper for the summer.

            Bob, of Big Bob’s Burgers, wants to buy the aunt’s ice cream shop and put her ice cream in his chain of burger joints.  She refuses and soon suppliers refuse to sell to her.  The shop is running out of everything, especially the strawberries for their world-famous sundaes.  The final straw breaks when the shop is vandalized. But Jake knows where he can find more strawberries.

            This novella continues the stories on Sandhill Island with a new beach read and new characters. It is a story of family, love, and loyalty that Sienna thought she’d lost. 

            The story is short, with new characters, but you will reunite with some old characters you‘ve come to love and others you might not. There is conflict and love enough to go around and I included my mother’s strawberry jam recipe just for fun. It is available in electronic versions, only, and you can find a copy here: https://books2read.com/u/m2R8L1.

            Check out Strawberry Sundae Delights and have some ice cream to go along with it.

            What are you reading, writing, or creating this week?

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2018-2025: Stones of Sandhill Island

Posted on November 9, 2025 by peggylchambers

Stones of Sandhill Island was released on September 11, 2018. It was the second in the Sandhill Island series. It is available in print, electronically, and in audio formats on Amazon or at https://books2read.com/u/bojOrp.

Victim mentality is an acquired personality trait in which a person tends to recognize themselves as a victim of the negative actions of others, and to behave as if this were the case.

Billie Stone felt she was a victim of life. A beautiful woman with the voice of an angel living on an idyllic island with the artistic mother she loved. But she felt alone after her husband and son were killed in an accident. Her music was the only thing that got her out of bed somedays – that and her aging mother. She wanted her life back.

Joe Franks felt like a victim of life when everything he’d ever worked for was taken from him and he was forced into pizza delivery to make ends meet. He never meant to hurt anyone on that dark Texas highway. Suddenly the minivan was in front of him and he couldn’t avoid it. He went to prison, lost his house, car, and job. Society was determined to keep him down.

Who was the victim and who was the victimizer?

Franks saw Billie as the lucky one. She had a job she loved, a beach house on an island to live in, and he wanted his life back. So, the man who killed her family approached her wanting her help – and when she wouldn’t give it, he tried to take it from her.

Billie Stone would get her life back if it killed her.

There’s a new jazz singer on Sandhill Island. Billie Stone, named for the late jazz great, Billie Holiday, has her own set of pipes. She grew up on Sandhill Island and has come back home to heal her psyche after a tragic accident took her family. Billie’s mother falls ill, and now, she has a new role as caregiver. Once again, her mental health takes a back seat.

Joe Franks, drunk and on the wrong side of the road late one night, crashes into the minivan that comes out of nowhere. But after a year in jail and penniless, he thinks he deserves another chance. No one will hire a jail bird, and he’s not cut out for pizza delivery.

Just when Billie seems to be on the cusp of healing – and finding a new love – Franks’ rage spirals out of control. Have Billie’s losses made her strong enough to overcome once more, or will this final disaster be her undoing?

Stones of Sandhill Island picks back up where Secrets of Sandhill Island left off. Some of the same characters make an appearance, but the main character – Sandhill Island – is once again in the forefront. The island is home to a handful of inhabitants who are wooed by her beauty and live their lives loving the calm and isolation it brings. The people are kind – except when exploited – and take care of each other and their island.

Pick up a copy of a beach read that will keep you coming back.

What are you reading, writing, or creating this week?

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2015-2025: Secrets of Sandhill Island

Posted on November 2, 2025 by peggylchambers

In 2015 I released the first Sandhill Island novel, Secrets of Sandhill Island. It was my first romance suspense novel, and I was so excited to be involved with The Wild Rose Press. They had agreed to publish my novel. It wasn’t my first publication, but it was still a new beginning for my writing.

At first it was to be set on Galveston Island, since I’d been there a few times. But it soon became obvious that that this needed to be a much smaller and intimate island full of complex characters, and the series was born. Then I realized it needed a more exciting beginning to grab the attention of the reader. Here is how it all began.

All Evan wanted was to be with Meg. He would provide for her and the child, or children as the years went by. He was still unsure why she chose him – a fisherman – over anyone else in the world, but she did. Her family didn’t like him, but they were just going to have to get used to him.

He struggled pulling the nets in alone. The pulley did most of the work, but it still would have been nice to have some help. The hair on the back of his neck stood up and he sensed the presence behind him. He turned around. The man stood almost close enough to touch. The dark ski mask pulled over his face sent a shiver up Evan’s spine. Where did he come from? But most of all, why did he hide his face out here on the open ocean? And then he saw the giant meat hook in his hand.

“Who are you and how did you get on my boat?” Evan stepped toward the intruder despite the danger. He never expected what came next.

“This is from Graham.” The man plunged the hook deep into Evan’s chest. Blood spurted every direction as Evan’s eyes bulged, and he gasped only once. The man in the ski mask quickly pushed him over the side into the dark, churning water.

*  *  *

The body thrown overboard, the man with the meat hook went below to shut off the engine, then reached in and cut the fuel line. Gasoline spewed across the floor. He ran for the exit and quickly climbed back up the steps where the life raft was ready. Just before he stepped in the raft, he threw one lone burning match into the hold. When it met the fuel, it blew and burned brightly. He knew the boat would burn and sink. Any debris would be caught up in the current and head out to sea so nothing would ever be found; just another fisherman who got caught in a storm and never came home. He hoped Graham would think it was worth a bonus that the boat wouldn’t be found either. He started the little engine and headed for home after rinsing the bloody hook in the dark briny water.

From then on, my heart lived on Sandhill Island at least part time. This year I wrote the final in the series, and I find that both satisfying and nostalgic. I long to go back, though it is time to move on. You can find it at https://books2read.com/u/3JRvxE as a paperback, electronic version, or audio book.

I hope you enjoy the Sandhill Island books as much as I enjoyed writing them. Check them out and leave me a review or respond to this blog to let me know how you feel about them.

What are you reading, writing, or creating this week?

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2025: Back on Sandhill Island

Posted on October 26, 2025 by peggylchambers

I’ve spent a lot of time on Sandhill Island developing the characters I love and some I didn’t. But they were important to the story. The small-town atmosphere has both nosey neighbors and camaraderie between people who live in the same area. And I decided it was time to move on and let them live their lives in peace.

But one last time to set the record straight, the island lives even though it has had many hardships from hurricanes to fires, to strangers up to no good, the island still endures.

Drugs and alcohol can change people—good people—who are under the influence of foreign substances and their lives and those around them are changed forever.

Dani was the older sister and always thought she was in charge. She took care of her brother, Cody, her mother, and in the end her uncle. She worked hard to keep the family together like a parent, even though she wasn’t. And her little brother was jealous. He was treated like a child, and he fell into that category. He didn’t want to work, that was for Dani, but he expected the same treatment. While his sister worked daily to scrape together a living, he sold drugs and maybe used a few for himself. Then the bad guys expected more of him and his sister whether she was involved or not.

Dani Brown grew up poor and hard working. Her brother, Cody, only grew up poor. Always wanting the easy way out, Cody ran drugs and lived his life on handouts. When they were young, Dani and Cody were inseparable, now Dani only sees him if he’s desperate. The drugs he samples and sells have started to rot his brain.

This time, Cody owes some big money, and the only person he knows to help him is his sister. When the cartel realizes she owns a boat that could run even more drugs for them, she is torn between saving her brother and living her life. The final Sandhill Island story pits sister against brother in a life-or-death struggle.

The series begins with Secrets of Sandhill Island https://books2read.com/u/3JRvxE. The next is Stones of Sandhill Island, https://books2read.com/u/bojOrp. I took a little break and wrote a novella titled Strawberry Sundae Delights, https://books2read.com/u/m2R8L1 set on the same island, Then the final Smugglers of Sandhill Island https://books2read.com/u/mdeZ85. They are all available on Amazon, B & N, and electronically through iTunes and other electronic media.

I hope you fall in love with the island the way I did and let me know what you think of the saga.

What are you reading, writing, or creating this week?

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2025: Writing a Great Story

Posted on October 19, 2025 by peggylchambers

The Enid Writers Club, and Enid Arts Council, present their annual fall writing workshop “Writing a Great Story!” on November 8, 2025, at St Matthews Episcopal Church, 518 West Randolph, Enid, OK 73703. Preregistration is required and it is only $25.

We will begin the morning with check-in at 9:00 for coffee and doughnuts and to get acquainted. Speakers and members will have their books for sale, and you can get them signed. They make great Christmas gifts.

The first speaker, Jacob Benavides, OSU Professor of English, will begin at 10:00 with In Circles: Writing From, Out, and Within Your Background.

The second speaker at 11:00 is Nick Lyon, Oklahoma English and Speech teacher, will discuss Writing Historical Fiction.

A boxed lunch from McAllester’s will begin at 12:00 with a choice of ham, turkey, or veggie sandwich, chips, and a cookie. Drinks will be provided.

After lunch (around 1:00) the speaker will be Ally Robertson, from Edmond, editor with The Wild Rose Press since they opened in 2006. She is also a writing coach, freelance editor, and author, under the name Alicia Dean, with more than thirty published titles. She will discuss Plotting – A quick list of plotting steps and how to utilize them to create a solid outline.

The final speaker of the day at 2:00 will be Jennifer Wilson, aka J. W. Rose, poet from Bartlesville, will teach Taking the Mystery Out of Writing Poetry.

It will be a great networking opportunity, cozy shopping excursion for books, lunch out, and you might learn something! I’m sure it will be fun.

You must pre-register, so we have a headcount. The entire day is only $25 including lunch and will be from 9:00 to 3:00. St. Matthews is a lovely facility and just small enough to be personable, not a huge lecture hall. Parking is in the back. There will be four speakers, with four topics, lunch, and an opportunity to get acquainted with other writers.

You can preregister here online at https://serendipitylanecreates.com/products/enid-writers-club-registration. Or you may send a $25 check made out to EWC to St. Matthews Episcopal Church, 518 W. Randolph, Enid, OK 73701. If there are questions, email Enid.wc@mail.com. With registration select your type of sandwich. Registration cut-off is November 5, 2025.

Come join us for a wonderful day!

What are you reading, writing, or creating this week?

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2025: A New Shower

Posted on October 12, 2025 by peggylchambers

My husband and I decided to take out the tub and put in a shower in the front bathroom. We looked around and got some estimates and decided what we wanted. I am to the point that the less scrubbing the better. I didn’t want grout around tile to deal with. I wanted a smooth finish. And I got it. Well, I will in a few days.

This is a wall covering that is like the man-made granite you put on a kitchen countertop. It is manufactured to your size and then put in. I had a bench built so I could sit and shave my legs. It is smooth and has no rough grout to hold and grow mold. It will have a glass door when it is finished, and I bought a shower squeegee, so I won’t have water spots on the glass.

It seems the older we get the more we need and want the simple things in life. Comfort before style and beauty. It gets harder to step into a tub, and comfort is the name of the game. I think we will have both comfort and beauty this time around.

It’s not finished yet, but the picture shows what it looks like now and the tub before. I know we’re going to enjoy it. I’ll show you pictures when the shower is finalized.

Here’s to comfort in our old age!

What are you reading, writing, or creating this week?

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