One cold winter's night in 2013, I was sewing myself a summer dress (because that is completely logical, right?), and for the first time ever, I used the couture technique of setting my zipper in by hand.

And as I sat and hand-stitched my zipper, I wondered what might inspire someone to self-teach themselves to be a top-level designer.

How long would that take? And why would they do it?

Thus, the spark of an idea for The Friday Night Date Dress was born.

I am getting so excited about my upcoming book! Last week, my editor (Lora) contacted me with a super deal to help get my book formatted for print and eBook. I would have been an idiot to turn her down. So starting this weekend, my book will be getting formatted--and I can still work on my taxes! (Not sure if I'm excited about that last part, or not.)

Here is a teaser excerpt from the first chapter to whet your appetite: