Looking out the Window: A Former Newspaper Woman Turned Novelist, Kathleen Bailey Inspires Us with her Heartfelt Devotional and her New Book, Hilltop Reunion, Sequel to Hilltop Christmas

 

A Warm Welcome to Kathleen Bailey

Thanks to Kathleen for sharing her writing with us.

Devotional 

“For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11

     For me, 2024 was a year of letting go. Of reading the Sunday paper on Sunday – it’s now a combined issue with Saturday. Of seeing newspapers themselves, the foundation of my career, become slimmer and less respected. Of paying cash for things, with one national chain holding us hostage until my husband produced a credit card. Of seeing CDs and DVDs replaced with streaming (and the inexplicable return of vinyl, who knew?) Of seeing favorite national retail chains go out of business, and seeing cherished local and regional attractions close. 

     Of seeing my beloved younger daughter die at 43 from cancer.

     I’ve always been a problem-solver, always been able to “fix” things for my family and myself. But these changes weren’t fixable. You can’t turn back the clock on progress. 

    And you can’t “fix” cancer.

     I had never felt so helpless. Still don’t. But 2024 into 2025 has been a lesson in turning things over to God. I can’t fix it. He can.

     It wasn’t a coincidence that my heroine in my latest book, Jillian Despres, was also a “fixer.” In spite of a horrendous childhood, Jill worked her way out. Scholarships, internships and a slew of part-time jobs were the mechanism by which she reinvented herself, into the sophisticated anchor of a Boston morning show. Jill has it all – until she doesn’t. A job loss and a relative’s hoarding disease bring her back to Hilltop, New Hampshire, the town she worked to escape. A town she wouldn’t let love her.

     Jill tries to fix things for herself and her grandfather. But she comes up against forces even stronger than her will – Grandpa Vernon’s hoarding, an old love rekindled, and the forces of darkness that followed her from Boston. Paul McKee, the man who loves her, tries to tell her about Jesus. But Jill can’t move forward with God, or with Paul, until she surrenders her will. 

     Isn’t this true of most of us? At our personal Ground Zero, it’s not the things we have to “give up” that keep us from Christ. It’s our right to have them, and to make our own decisions. And we keep hanging on to our wills, like the toddlers we are, until we come up against something that we shatter against. For me it was my daughter. For Jill it was, well, everything else. 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, you know what a challenge it is to submit our wills to you. You know we think we can do it better, whatever “it” is. And you know when we’re going to fail. Lord, please help us to let go of the things we can’t fix – which is all of them – and rest in you.

About the Hilltop Books

Hilltop Reunion is the sequel to Hilltop Christmas, published in 2023. The books take place in tiny Hilltop, New Hampshire, around a three-day Christmas festival meant to emphasize the birth of Christ. Miracles happen at “Festival” – marriages healed, estranged families reunited, faith born or strengthened. Welcome to Hilltop, the Town That Heals. 

About Hilltop Reunion

Jillian Despres never wanted to come back to Hilltop, New Hampshire, at the best of times. She’s put every mile she can between the ragged girl receiving the town’s charity and the polished Boston television anchor she’s become. But when the town authorities call her grandfather on his hoarding, Jill has no choice. She lands in Hilltop in time for the renowned Hilltop Christmas Festival, and in the arms of a man she knew was too good for her.

Police Chief Paul McKee has more reason than most to distrust Jillian, and to wish she’d stayed in Boston. But his vow to preserve and protect his community gives him no wiggle room. Whatever his personal feelings, he must champion the woman’s return to Hilltop, at least until she has her grandfather settled and his house put to rights.

When the ugly past threatens to invade this year’s festival, can Paul and Jill depend on the risen Lord to make things right?

To buy Hilltop Reunion at Elk Lake Publishing contact:  Deb@ElkLakePublishingInc.com

Buy on Amazon 

Bio:  Kathleen Bailey is a journalist and novelist with 40 years’ experience in the nonfiction, newspaper and inspirational fields. Born in 1951, she was a child in the 50s, a teen in the 60s, a young adult in the 70s and a young mom in the 80s. It’s been a turbulent, colorful time to grow up, and she’s enjoyed every minute of it and written about most of it. She publishes historical Western fiction with Pelican/White Rose Publishing and contemporary Christmas stories with Elk Lake Publishing. She’s also the co-author of four nonfiction local history books with Arcadia Publishing.