I'm beginning a new novel and am a little worried about this one. I wrote this novel while at home during the COVID lockdown. It's finished, but as with my many of my novels, my characters took it to places, I had no intentions of going. They've even changed the ending. It's different from any I've written.

It's still a romance, but doesn't have a huge back story. There is one, but it's not as prevalent as in my previous novels. This novel is about a Mother attempting to raise her children while holding down a full time job, with some normal and not so normal twists. It's also a little longer than my previous ones, by about 20,000 words.

Katherine Riley is a widow with four sons to raise by herself. Their ages range from 15 to 6 years old. Of course, being one of my novels there is at least one dog, a yellow Labrador, Daisy. I can promise an additional dog, but I'm not ready to reveal him. I had originally written in a cat, but the cat said too many dogs and wrote itself out.

George Riley, Katherine's deceased husband, died of a heart attack. He was a few years older than her but they went to same high school. Her attraction to him was that he wasn't a jock. They married as soon as she graduated from high school. He was still in college. After college he became a CEO of a large corporation. Business kept him occupied with travel and he was rarely home. Making money was the priority, not the family. Needless to say, Katherine doesn't need to worry about finances, but they do become an issue.

Katherine, now widowed for six months, moved her family from their penthouse in New York City to the small Texas town where she grew-up. Her mother is still alive and lives in that town. She is an important part of Katherine's life.

After Katherine had three children, she went back to school and received an education degree, very much against her husband's wishes. She now has her first job, a high school math teacher.

As with many of my heroines, Katherine is a quiet and soft spoken lady. She finds herself in some interesting situations and struggles coping, especially while trying to protect her children, but she finds her strength when she needs it in the least expected circumstances.

I hope you come along with me while we discover more about Katherine. I don't want to tell too much about the story because there will be no reason to read it. As usual I don't have a decent title for it. I just call it "The Football Novel", but am looking at titles that reveal something about 'life's struggles'. I know the present title has nothing to do with what I've told you so far. Already one mystery. Another mystery is who is the hero of this story?

I'll need plenty of feedback on what works and what doesn't work with this novel. Like I said at the beginning, I have concerns about it. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with it.