Since I last graced MilSpoFan screens…I am back in Abu Dhabi, which has been a pretty terrific place to live for the last four and a half years. This past fall I cobbled together what I like to self-indulgently refer to as “The Confusion of Languages Middle East Book Tour,” making stops at book clubs, schools, embassies, here in Abu Dhabi as well as Dubai, Oman, and Bahrain.

My Dear MilspoFANs-I think it’s safe to say that if Allison LaValley sets her mind to something, she’s going to get it done- and have some fun along the way. Flexibility, creativity, and adventure have shaped her journey as an artist and military spouse. Like all of us who live the military family life, Allison finds unexpected ways to blossom.

This month we learn all about singer-songwriter Cara McCann and her work. Her warm personality will surely thaw you out if you're experiencing the crazy cold sweeping the US this week. For Cara, music is a personal expressive outlet, as well as a passion she shares with her family. Cara, a new mom on the verge of a big move, is a burst of enthusiasm who is eager to take on a challenge- from auditioning for The Voice, or submitting her work to NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert, to singing show tunes at a Hungarian strudel bakery.

Being a military spouse and a mother certainly have their challenges but we were thrown some extra curve balls. During my last interview, my husband was serving as an Air Force squadron commander in Japan.

This month, I sit down (virtually) with watercolor painter, Nancy Murphree Davis. Nancy’s gorgeous work speaks for itself, but we are lucky enough to learn a bit more about the techniques behind her paintings. Nancy also shares how she connects with other artists and communities and finds inspiration at each new duty station.

This past year has been filled with testing of my health, figuring out a balance of work and family, working on our home and so much more. I wish I could say it's all been great. But some of the struggles have helped me grow significantly.

In this month’s MilspoFAN Artist Interview, Lisa tells us all about her work - how she became a poet, what her poetry means to her and her family, how she nurtures her creative work, and how she stays actively involved in poetry communities despite regular moves. In her poetry collection, Uniform (Aldrich Press 2016), Lisa unwraps her military spouse experience with a steadfast dedication to authenticity.

Then I was working on a show to be hung at the historic Waterworks Art Museum in Miles City, Montana. It was a wonderful experience and I thoroughly enjoyed visiting the site and getting to know such warm and inviting people. This year I am working on a show for the Courthouse Art Museum in Clarksville, Tennessee.

Artistic practice has a centering effect of artists of all disciplines and all skill levels. This month, let’s get to know ballet dancer Carrie Cassidy. Carrie shares with us how ballet has served as a balancing force throughout her life- during her time in ROTC and active duty Air Force, as a military spouse, and now as a new mother...

I am a novelist and poet living in Virginia. My first poetry book, When the Men Go Off to War, was published in 2015 by the Naval Institute Press about my experiences as a Naval Aviator's wife. Last year I did an interview for MilspoFAN about the book, and now I'd like to share that I'm working on some new projects, including a new collection of poetry and a new novel (my first, Mrs. Houdini, was published by Atria Books in 2016 and came out in paperback a few months ago).

How did Roxanne Steed go from a Medical Record Administration major in college, to a water and oil alchemist teaching workshops in Ireland and France? Roxanne Steed, oil painter, watercolorist, writer, and teacher, has some answers for military spouse artists. From making the most of heartbreaking moves, to allowing the role of painting in her life to evolve through the different seasons of her life, Roxanne reflects on her career so far as a painter.

Book tours can be absolutely amazing.

But they can also be very, very scary.

You never know who will show. If anyone will show.

Please forgive the mixed up metaphor when I tell you that reading through Carrie’s words was as refreshing, like an aloe balm to my summer-burned brain, as my dish of dippin’ dots tasted at the end of that sweltering day at the zoo. Carrie is a freelance stage director and professor of theatre, so most of her work is ephemeral- but I am adding seeing one of her productions to my bucket list, and I can’t wait to track her down. Carrie is a force of creativity, flexibility, and determination.

This month I had the opportunity to get to know Amanda Shields, Adventure and Travel photographer, and what drives Amanda’s creative work. Amanda’s stories of travel shine through both her writing and her photographs. Just take a look at her answer when I asked about her favorite places and you will get a taste for the long list of stunning experiences she has achieved.

Anna is a dancer, and she is one of those people that embodies every beautiful image that the word invokes- impassioned, twirling, loving, vivid, young of heart, wise of soul. I can’t wait to dance with her again the next time our paths intersect.

Becky Hepinstall Hilliker is an historian, Navy wife, mother of four, and author. Sisters of Shiloh, which she co-wrote with her sister Kathy, is the story of two sisters who disguise themselves as men in order to join the Confederate Army during the Civil War.