Thursday, September 14, 2017

Dear Friends (A Letter to You)



Dear Friends,

I've missed you! Goodness, how the past year has flown by... (And I have precious few blog posts to show for it!) But it's been a very wonderful year. :)

I'm writing to you from Montana, where Josh (my new husband) and I have now settled. The picture I've included is of last night's sunset as seen from a bedroom window. I certainly can't complain about the view! While there aren't any crashing ocean waves nearby, I think I can come to love the rolling golden hills and the stunning mountains framing the land.

I hope to share more with you soon—perhaps some wedding photos and an update on what I plan to be working on over the coming months. 

But for now, I'd love to know how you've been! Did you go anywhere during the summer? Have any exciting life events happened while I've been away? What books did you discover this past year that are new favorites?

I hope to hear from you soon! 

Your Friend,
Amber

P.S. Do you have an Instagram account? If so, I'd love to connect with you there! You can find me @seasonshumility.

14 comments:

Rissi said...

AMBER! So glad to see you back blogging and on Twitter, and now Instagram. You've been missed - although I know it's been for a wonderful reason. :) Glad to hear life is going well (and I look forward to hearing more about your plans).

CONGRATS to you and Josh.

You landed in Montana... I knew you planned to move but couldn't remember where. Hope you've settled in well. :)

(Of course, they're been some amazing reads this summer! Lots I still haven't read though one of my favorites was Jane of Austin which Courtney and I read as a read-along. So good.)

Miranda Atchley said...

So good to see a new post from you, Amber! Such a beautiful picture of your new surroundings. It reminds me of the covers of your historical novels! :)

Summer has been pretty quiet in my neck of the woods. Been working on my new book, Of Things To come. It was a summer full of reading! The best books I read this summer were The Illusionist's Apprentice by Kristy Cambron, Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell, and Lilies in Moonlight by Allison Pittman.

Congrats on all the good changes for you in the past year! :)

Amber Holcomb said...

Rissi,

Thank you so much for the sweet welcome - and for making my dive into Instagram so much more fun with your awesome book challenge! :D

Yep, Josh and I have landed in Montana! It was uncertain for quite a while where we would end up permanently... We were living in Washington for over a month after the wedding, but then Josh got work in Montana, and the rest is history. ;) The first few days were a little crazy, but we feel settled in now, and I like our cozy little home. :)

That's super fun that you and Courtney did a read-along for Jane of Austin! It looks like a delightful read (with an AWESOME cover!), and I'm happy to hear you enjoyed it. :)

Thank you so much for visiting and commenting, friend!

~Amber

Amber Holcomb said...

Miranda,

Aww, thank you, friend! And I hadn't thought of that, but I love the connection between our view and my historical covers! :) I really do love the spot where we're living; the rolling golden hills and horses and country houses make me happy. :) But I'm a little nervous about winter, LOL. I imagine it will be a bit different from life near the coast!

That's awesome you've been working on your next book! I so admire how consistent you've been about publishing. :) Excited to hear more about your progress!

And yay for a summer of reading! Your favorites sound really good. Was Cranford a very long read? The Illusionist's Apprentice sounds /looks intriguing, for sure!

Thank you again! I'm so glad you stopped by! :)

~Amber

Hutt-Write Voice said...

Well. Amber. I've wondered what happened to you. How did I miss that you got married?? Congrats. Montana, huh? There are some Hutterites in that State, not from our conference, but Hutterites, nonetheless. Not sure which area in Montana they're in though.

Amber Holcomb said...

Linda,

Aww, thank you!! And yes, we are settled in Montana now. :) You know, I think I saw a sign advertising Hutterite produce nearby, so maybe some Hutterites do live around here? I'm not sure, either, but it's definitely a nice place to be!

Hope you're doing well too! Thank you for visiting and commenting! :)

~Amber

Miranda Atchley said...

Amber,

Cranford was a pretty quick read. I read the free Kindle edition, which is 193 pages, so it's not a terribly long book. I highly recommend it! Here's a link to the Kindle edition in case you're interested. https://www.amazon.com/Cranford-Elizabeth-Cleghorn-Gaskell-ebook/dp/B0083ZEYHO/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1502814634&sr=8-5&keywords=cranford

I can certainly understand being nervous about winter! But I bet the snow will look so pretty on the mountains. :) And thank you for your interest in my publishing! It can be stressful at times, but the Lord helps me with it and I really love being able to self-publish my novels.

Amber Holcomb said...

Miranda,

Awesome! Thanks so much for sharing the link (yay for free Kindle reads!), and for sharing your recommendation with me. :) I can be intimidated by really long books, but this sounds doable!

That's very true; I'm looking forward to the gorgeous snowscapes and being able to hopefully have a white Christmas. :) (Plus, more excuses to stay indoors and read, right??)

I totally understand how good it feels to self-publish, and I'm cheering you on as you continue your journey!

~Amber

Liv Hammonds said...

Eeep! Congratulations, girl! I'm so happy for you! I'd love to see wedding photos, and it's so lovely to see an update from you! <3

I went to my first writers' conference (Realm Makers) this summer, in Reno, Nevada. :)

How do you like Montana, thus far? Is there anything new you've been writing? Have you read any great reads, lately? :)

~Liv
livkfisher.blogspot.com

Amber Holcomb said...

Liv,

Aww, you are too kind!! :) I should be getting the official pictures from our wedding photographer sometime this week, and I hope to share some soon!

That's awesome that you went to your first writers' conference! Did you enjoy it? What was the most helpful lesson you learned there? It sounds like a really fun conference. :) I saw on your website that you hope to publish some books next year - so exciting!!

I'm enjoying Montana so far. :) This western part of the state is very pretty, and I like the size of this city. I'm looking forward to exploring more of the area over time!

I haven't really written any stories in a long time...but I finally started revisiting an unfinished project last week, and I'm hoping to complete it soon. :) I'd love to write more again.

I've read some great marriage and other non-fiction books this year, which has been neat. :) I also really enjoyed the novel Illusionary by Desiree Williams.

Thank you so much for asking about me, and for visiting!

~Amber

Chloe the MovieCritic said...

Montana is so beautiful. There are no oceans, but that gives you an excuse to plan trips!

Summer was been crazy busy, but very much fun. My job was pretty easy, but I was taking a lot of classes which was also pretty fun, but I didn't have a lot of spare time on my hands. I was able to go hiking a few times. When you live in Montana, you have to go hiking.

What about you? Congrats again to getting married!!!

MovieCritic

Amber Holcomb said...

MovieCritic,

So true! Montana truly is beautiful. I'm loving our views of mountains and hills, and we're not far from a lovely lake too. :)

I'm so glad to hear your summer was fun, despite being really busy! That's a lot of work, to have a job on top of taking a bunch of classes! But it's great that you were able to get out. :)

Josh loves to be outdoors and hike, so I'm sure he'll get me out of the house too. ;) I think we might be doing some easy hikes this weekend, making the most of the good weather before winter comes!

Thank you for your congrats and kind words! It's great to catch up with you. :) The first half of the summer was really busy with packing up and moving out of my apartment, spending time with family, wedding plans, and the wedding and honeymoon. Then the second half was all about the waiting game, wondering where we'd settle permanently. But it was really nice to have time together, and we got to tie in one of Josh's job interviews with a trip to Mount Rainier. :) Then we moved to Montana, and the rest is history (or yet-to-be-written)! ;)

~Amber

Serena Chase said...

Congratulations, Amber!!!��������

Amber Holcomb said...

Serena,

Aww, thank you so much!! :D

~Amber