These Trees

 I'm a different sort. I like to think about things like trees. In my life, I've had two golden trees. One stood sentinel over our backyard in Denver City, when I was a young mom, and the other held sway over the front yard in Odessa, Texas when I was a young grandmom.

These trees were not fruitless mulberry or elm trees, nor even pomegranate like the other wonderous specimen in our Odessa yard. Nope. These two were different. They were sweet gum trees. In the warm summer daylight, they stood tall and leafy, dappling our grassy yards with shade. At night, In the moonlight, their pale gray trunks glowed like stately ghosts.

But it was in the fall, when their leaves melted from emerald-green to glorious gold that I truly fell in love with my sweet gum trees. I think of them, still.

Over the years, they have become touchstones, bookends for the richest eras of my life. They drench my sepia-toned memories with warm, soothing yellow.

I feel blessed to have shared my life with these two friends, I sometimes wish I could go back to the days of those trees, relive all the things I’ve already forgotten. Maybe if I plant one, now, it will see me out. It’s something to think about, but like I said, I’m different. I like to think about things, like trees.

WISTERIA WINTER - GIVEAWAY!

 Would you like to own a signed paperback of my new novel, Wisteria Winter? Simply go to www.authorAnnSwann.com and sign up for my Reader List. That puts you in the drawing ... be sure to click the link the website sends you. That way we're certain you actually meant to sign up.

WISTERIA WINTER was released on June 9th. It's about a pair of sisters whose lives are upended by what seems to be a tragic accident. What unfolds afterward is - I'm told - page turning and nail biting. If it sounds like something you would like, then enter my contest or go on to the publisher's site at this link and order it directly www.5Princebooks.com  For the contest, I will let the computer draw the 5 winners between now and June 20th. If you live in the US, you may choose either an ebook or a paperback, but if you live outside the US, an ebook will be your prize, and as always, thanks for reading!

Advance Review Copies available - Wisteria Winter - murder in a small town

www.5Princebooks.com  

Linzy and Sasha Everly are blessed with a near-perfect small-town life. Their only worries are making good grades in high school and helping out around the family’s tiny pecan farm. Life is good. And then in the dark of an ordinary night, their parents are taken from them, and their lives are upended forever. A short time later, a previously unknown relative comes to town claiming to be their new guardian. The two sisters think things couldn’t get any worse, until they do.

Remainder's Review! Sandra's Book Club

Thank you to Sandra's Book Club for listing my books ... I'm loving this new review on the third book in my Apocalypse in Eden trilogy. Book One, Takers, is set in the small town of Eden, Texas at the start of the invasion. The motley crew travels across Texas in Book Two, Seekers, and the story ends in Remainders in another place entirely. Check it out. Especially if you like old rock n roll vibes. 🤘

Sandra's Book Club:  http://sandrasbookclub.blogspot.com/ 

Book buy links: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B8W543Z1

 

Preorder Now for New Release June 9th

WISTERIA WINTER is available for PreOrder now until the Release Date of June 9th, 2026

The story, set in contemporary Southeast Texas, near the beach, revolves around Linzy and Sasha Everly, 

sisters who are blessed with a near-perfect small-town life. The only worries they have are making good 

grades in high school and helping out around the family's small pecan farm. Life is good. Until one 

ordinary winter night when their parents are taken from them in a tragic accident. Their perfect lives are 

upended in the space of a heartbeat ... and then things get even worse. 

https://tinyurl.com/WisteriaWinter

#smalltown #suspense #drama

Looking Forward

A most amazing Christmas holiday. I hope yours was, too. We entertained family and friends with a come-and-go turkey and dressing + traditional sides dinner preceded by Tex-Mex tamales and queso on Christmas Eve, all of which generated leftovers that were enjoyed for almost two whole days afterward. (Sometimes it seems the leftovers are the best part.) But no, that's not right. The best part is celebrating the birth of Jesus while watching family and friends open the gifts I had so much fun wrapping and putting under the tree. 

I certainly hope you had a wonderful holiday season as well. Now, we can all look forward to a fine New Year ... until then, I'll be in my comfy chair with my laptop and my cat, typing away on one of two new works of semi-fiction. (You know I've always got pieces of my life embedded in my books, right?) 

So, until my at-the-publisher-already suspense novel comes out (let's call it WW for short), which will be in the not-too-distant future, I will bid you adieu (Yes, I may have watched The Sound of Music over the holdiay, "adieu" is not a word I use regularly 😊), anyway, until then, sip your coffee and gulp your books. Or vice versa. And if you still need another Christmas read, check out all my stories which are now on Kindle Unlimited for the first time. 

Happy Reading! 

AnnSwann

https://www.5princebooks.com/annswann.html

https://wordcrafts.net/ann-swann/

Website www.authorannswann.com 

https://books2read.com/u/47gQZE A Crossbow Christmas

Autumn

 Cozy fire in the fireplace, nice mug of hot cocoa,  fuzzy blanket, and a spooky story. 

Favorite Day of the Week

We celebrated a big anniversary and it made me reminisce about our lives, about how far we've come. Hubs and I grew up in different states, but in similar fashion ... we often spoke of our favorite things like ... our favorite day of the week. 

This is what writers do - we search our pasts for intersections and meaning. You do that, too? Of course, it's my belief we are all writers at heart. Writers and readers. 

In my current work in progress, I mine past relationships, as always, and try to craft them into something new and what else ... readable. Haha. I didn't say my standards were high, just readable. That's it. Now, I'm back to work on it, that WIP. Another fictionalized story full of me and other stuff so not me. Maybe you will like it ... maybe not. One thing is certain, it's not ready for prime time yet, as the old saying goes, but here's a little bit of my mind talking to itself in the meantime. 

(Comment if you want to share your thoughts. I love hearing from you.) ❤️☕️📚

What’s your favorite day of the week? 

Mine has always been Saturday.
Sleep in
no school
cereal and cold milk
TV on low - Tom & Jerry
or Wile E. Coyote and The Roadrunner - 
The Monkees!
American Bandstand at noon ❤️
Life was good.
No, it was great.

That was me
that was my living room -
do kids even watch TV anymore?
I don't think so 😢

Why does that make me sad?
Because now they doomscroll
and binge series based on violent games -

not a cartoon roadrunner or coyote but men and women

killing each other over and over again.

And that language and the sex - why? Just ... why?

The envelope is torn - not pushed - torn
wide open and shredded, the pieces burned to a crisp -

Innocence left in ashes.

I find I'm suddenly all for censorship - 

no one needs to see what I accidentally glimpse

on so many types of screens now

After all on my Saturday, after Bandstand,

my chariot awaited 

outside in the driveway

a sparkly green bike with white banana seat and 

freedom built on a fast frame of steel, slim spokes,

and rubber

I owned the neighborhood

in fact, the entire town - 

small town life was good.

No, it was great.

That was me

do kids have it that good

anymore? Is this what technology is all about?

I don't think so -

it makes me sad. 😢

All posts © Ann Swann

PS did you know the Coyote's middle name is Ethelbert?

New Release - REMAINDERS - Book 3

 REMAINDERS - RELEASE DATE - MONDAY JAN 20th

After the apocalypse, the SEEKERS dubbed themselves the REMAINDERS. They survived the beach, the tubes, and the egg room. Now, all they have left is faith, hope, love, and a flock of TAKERS. Will that be enough to start it all again?

We are the remainders,
the inheritors of the ashes,
and the builders of a new dawn.

From where Jack sat, it appeared the black sludge had cleaned up all the bodies, both Takers and humans. Except for the ones inside the Cheyenne Mountain Complex. He had no way of knowing what happened in there. The one glimpse he’d had inside the mountain had been so horrific, he hadn’t waited around to see more.

After finding his father and a few other survivors, both takers and humans, Jack dubbed the group “remainders.” They were determined to not go quietly into the night, regardless of the cost. But as time and space unraveled, and the laws of physics dissolved, the Remainders found they had very little to hold onto except their faith, hope, and each other.

Would it be enough?

Links:

Amazon https://tinyurl.com/remaindersbook3

B&N https://tinyurl.com/remaindersBarnesandNoble

www.authorAnnSwann.com

https://www.wordcrafts.net/ann-swann/ 

Book Links and Public Contact Information:

 

Amazon: http://www.tinyurl.com/bmrsong

Barnes & Noble: http://tinyurl.com/cfakkue

Smashwords: http://tinyurl.com/8besl3w

Kobo: http://tinyurl.com/hx72y82

iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/hlflu9k

Audible: http://tinyurl.com/jsgu9kh

Website: http://www.authorAnnSwann.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/annswann.books

Goodreads: http://tinyurl.com/6vuw7vl

Twitter: @ann_swann

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/annswann/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annswann.author

Also look for Ann's women's fiction and suspense at www.5Princebooks.com/annswann.html

 

 

Yeah, but I Didn't

Yeah, but I Didn't 

Benji Stevens is 14 years old when her world falls apart. Betrayed, bullied, and battered emotionally, physically, and spiritually, her life spirals out of control. She is certain there is nowhere to turn and nothing to live for. Yet in the midst of the darkness there appears an array of hope in the form of her crazy uncle, her single mom, and a host of other characters she never dreamed would be there to help. When she is forced to join the Yeah, but I Didn't therapy group, Benji is finally able to confront her inner demons and embrace her own self-worth.

Trigger warnings for sexual assault, bullying, suicide, and attempted suicide.

Warnings also to grab more tissues for happy tears and sighs of relief.

 https://www.amazon.com/Yeah-but-Didnt-Ann-Swann/dp/1948679825