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Let us WINTER.
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Hello, friend!
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I DO LOVE winter. So no wonder January is my favorite month, with its cozy fires and soup-is-a-full-meal attitude; with the ever-present potential/hope/pray for snow. (Like a sixth-grader, I wait with baited breath, even when I am at home in South Carolina's balmy midlands.) I love the way January insists that we slow down, that we rest, that we mark the time through reflection and planning.
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In fact, we're currently in North Carolina where our sweet mountain getaway has given me plenty of time to do all these things. This very minute I'm under a big pile of blankets (topped by my treasured Phyllis Williams quilt) with a hot cup of milky coffee and a disorderly pile of journals on the bed to my right, in which I am both reflecting and planning. Through my ANNUAL journal, I answer questions like: WHAT WORKED WELL THIS YEAR? and WHAT WILL I REMEMBER MOST? and WHAT AM I PROUD OF? (I wrote about this on The Daily Grace in 2023, if you want to learn more about the practice.) In my yearly Bullet Journal I keep track of Every. Other. Thing. in my life, and that is not an exaggeration.
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in the Polaris for a little ride around the mountain
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It will take a minute to get through the ANNUAL journal this year, as with the immense joy of a new grandbaby and a book tour and at least 50,000 moments I want to always, always remember, I'll take my time. You, my friend, are on the list as always, as the tribe of Daily Grace readers and supporters is foundational to my writing life and to my spiritual life, as well.
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So THANK YOU! Thank you for your love and your unending support of my debut author journey. And thank you, as always, for being here at The Daily Grace with me! May 2026 be our best year yet.
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SPEAKING OF: Here's some breaking news! I was just checking a link and noticed that at this moment, the hardback copy of That Which Binds Us is 25% off at Amazon, making it $23.89 rather than $31.99.! Amazon pricing changes without notice, so I thought this worth passing along.
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304 S. Elm St, Greensboro, NC
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I'll be in conversation with Stacia Pelletier, author of the wonderful historical fiction novel The Deliverance of Barker McRae. I LOVED this novel (see below). Also, Stacia is delightful. This will be FUN! If you're in the Greensboro area or if you have friends or family there, I'd love to see you/them!
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I'm delighted to be the featured author at the Winter Words gathering of the Friends of the Queens University Library. This is a ticketed event; as soon as the link is available, details will be on my website under the EVENTS tab.
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Richland Library Main, in downtown Columbia, SC
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I am jacked to be a featured author at this fantastic book festival in my hometown of Columbia! I attended as a reader last year, and I was blown away by the scope and energy of the event. Truly special! In coming weeks I'll update my website Events page with more details as they become available, including the specific date and time of my author event.
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Books Over Drinks, M. Judson Booksellers
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hosted by Clemson Women's Council, a private gathering for Clemson women alumni
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To all my Clemson gals: This is gonna be a special one! I'll be in conversation with Katherine Scott Crawford, author of the award winning historical fiction novel, The Miniaturist's Assistant and member of the Clemson class of 2000! I loved this time travel novel that takes place in Charleston, SC—how delightful is that? A ticketed event, details are to come!
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I also have a number of Book Club appearances over the next few months, and I'd love to join yours in person or via Zoom if your club is interested! Book club chats are so much fun—we can go deep into all the book things! Just email me at cathy@cathyriggauthor.com!
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The latest from BOOK TOUR
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I had a handful of appearances and I joined a handful of book clubs during November and December, and I want to highlight for you this particular event that delivered to me one of the sweetest, most surprising moments of my life! I was to sign books at the Aiken Center for the Arts during the town's charming Night of 1000 Lights holiday festival, and just as I was getting set up, I looked up to see—walking toward me with a big smile—my fourth grade teacher, Mr. Craft! From 55 years ago! I wrote more about that wonderful night on The Daily Grace.
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Mr. Bill Craft and his lovely wife, Nancee
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What a beautiful, full-circle life moment!
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It was such a happy accident when Tim and I stumbled upon this documentary series and decided to give the first episode a try. We loved every episode and were sad to finish Season Two! Promo copy reads:
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Discover the groundbreaking ideas and inspiring stories behind the world's most imaginative dwellings. In this globe-spanning docuseries, meet the visionaries who are challenging conventional concepts of "home" and rethinking how we live.
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According to the article, nonfiction and Y.A. are hurting, but genre fiction and the Good Book are booming. Plus it's so interesting to read about how book sales looked in 2025!
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The Deliverance of Barker McRae, by Stacia Pelletier
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As mentioned above, I'll be in conversation with Stacia Thursday night in Greensboro at Scuppernong Books! I CANNOT WAIT BECAUSE I AM OBSESSED WITH THIS NOVEL. The story is so compelling, the characters are beautifully drawn, and the writing? Stacia Pelletier is a master storyteller. Love, love, love!
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It's a wintry April 1833 in Watkinsville, Georgia. Fourteen-year-old Barker McRae is stuck living with her odious uncle, militia captain Wiley Wood, as she waits for her father, a Methodist circuit rider, to return. Instead, a stranger arrives. Matthew Higgenbotham, a land lottery messenger who dreams of leaving Georgia, shows up at Wiley's farm with unexpected news: Barker has won forty acres in the latest state lottery. His announcement sets in motion an act of unimaginable violence, a harrowing escape, and a cat-and-mouse chase across frontier Georgia during America's first gold rush and the illegal seizure of Cherokee lands. THE DELIVERANCE OF BARKER MCRAE weaves fiction and meticulously researched history to introduce readers to two travelers, thrown together by luck and duty, on an adventure neither of them wanted. This is a tale about trespass, frontier religion, fathers and daughters, and friendships between unlikely companions.
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Sipsworth, by Simon van Booy
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I don't even remember how I came upon this small, sweet story, but I'm so happy I did. How I love this book. In a world so in need of hope, this little gem is a light in the darkness.
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Following the loss of her husband and son, Helen Cartwright returns to the village of her childhood after living abroad for six decades. Her only wish is to die quickly and without fuss. She retreats into her home on Westminster Crescent, becoming a creature of routine and habit: “Each day was an impersonation of the one before with only a slight shuffle—as though even for death there is a queue.”
Then, one cold winter night, a chance encounter with a mouse sets Helen on a surprising journey. Over the course of two weeks in a small English town, this reclusive widow discovers an unexpected reason to live.
Sipsworth is a reminder that there is always reason for hope. No matter what we have planned for ourselves, sometimes life has plans of its own. With profound compassion, Simon Van Booy illuminates not only a deep friendship forged between two lonely creatures, but the reverberations of goodness that ripple out from that unique bond.
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The Correspondent, by Virginia Evans
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Along with every other reader who helped create a publishing phenomenon with this book, I'm throwing my love for The Correspondent into the ring. The perfect book at the perfect time. If you haven't yet read—put it on your TBR list!
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Sybil Van Antwerp has throughout her life used letters to make sense of the world and her place in it. Most mornings, around half past ten, Sybil sits down to write letters—to her brother, to her best friend, to the president of the university who will not allow her to audit a class she desperately wants to take, to Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry to tell them what she thinks of their latest books, and to one person to whom she writes often yet never sends the letter.
Sybil expects her world to go on as it always has—a mother, grandmother, wife, divorcee, distinguished lawyer, she has lived a very full life. But when letters from someone in her past force her to examine one of the most painful periods of her life, she realizes that the letter she has been writing over the years needs to be read and that she cannot move forward until she finds it in her heart to offer forgiveness.
Sybil Van Antwerp’s life of letters might be “a very small thing,” but she also might be one of the most memorable characters you will ever read. timeless power of friendship and art.
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I've made for us a WINTER playlist! This one is cozy, jazzy, croon-y. Totally my current winter vibe. Find it on Spotify here.
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recently on THE DAILY GRACE
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I've had so much fun with this year's 30 Days of Joy series on The Daily Grace blog! We made it midway when a little bout of intestinal somethingorother messed with my holiday schedule a bit, and I've been behind/doing less ever since. Let's carry on with five more posts, what do you say, then call it? In the meantime, here's a link to Day 16: Let's make Soup Beans!
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Day 16: Let's make Soup Beans!
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I grew up eating my mom's Soup Beans and and now I've made my own for lo these many years! Here's the recipe—which is more of a methodology—with the one tiny change I've incorporated, thanks to Mrs. Bibbie Fraley. :)
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Holiday joy! With my precious granddaughter, Posey!
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NOW AVAILABLE
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