I apologize for the long silence. Life has been interesting and not in a good way of late. Mom, who is 93 and still in pretty darned good health, has had some issues which have required more of my attention than usual. The one rule I’ve always had is that family comes first and that is especially true where she’s concerned. Because of her mobility issues and macular degeneration, I have to be with her for appointments, etc. unless I can find someone to fill in. That latter has been difficult recently because it seems everyone is facing their own challenges.
But that’s not to say I haven’t been writing. I have been. I’ve learned that I need to get up early—which is not easy as I’m not a morning person—and stay up late to get anything done. Unfortunately, that is also when I deal with housework, etc. Add in the fact my washer and dryer both decided to go out at different times in the last three months, one of our ovens is on the fritz and we have ongoing plumbing problems and I feel like I’m living in a nightmare at times. The washer and dryer have been dealt with. The oven will be next month—thank goodness we have two ovens. The plumbing is waiting on city permits and parts. So much fun—not.
I keep reminding myself things could be worse. I have friends who are facing much worse with their own lives.
And I have been writing.
Witchstorm Rising (working title) is finished and in the hands of beta readers for the second round of editing. That’s one more round than usual because I know everything that’s been going on has interfered with the writing and I want to make sure nothing slips by. I’m aiming for a release date next month and will make a formal announcement the beginning of next week.
I will also post the first snippet next Monday. (And I know the earlier promised snippets didn’t post. Let’s put it down to an overstressed brain where I thought I had everything set to post on schedule and didn’t. My apologies for that.) As for preorders of the book, I’m not going to have them open as long as I have in the past. I will open for preorders two weeks before release. Part of this is strategic. Part is because I’m considering writing a companion story to go along with the book that, if you pre-order and you send me a copy of your order, I’ll send you a link to download the freebie. But that is still in the consideration phase. More on that as we get closer to release.
What else?
Politics is driving most of us insane right now. There is a post going live later today about some of the idiocy going on right now. It will be tagged as politics so those of you who haven’t already opted out of those posts can ignore it if you want. For now, I’m going to take advantage of having a day where Mom doesn’t have any appointments and do some more final edits on Witchstorm.
Until later!
(Image created using Gemini with descriptions I will be using when I have the cover designed by someone with more talent at art than I possess.)
Looking forward to the snippets and the new book.
I like the cover generally. The vibe is good, and if Checkovs' gun is present the story will be interesting.
Useless observations about the cover: the midground man is twice as tall as he should be, the fence posts wouldn't vary in height so much unless they weren't in a line, though these may not be, the MCs hands have a thumb and 3 fingers, or 4 fingers and no thumb, her natural waist is a little too high, and for visual identification purposes, the oversize Maine Coon cat :-) should have white ear tips, longer back legs, a larger chest ruff, and maybe a small white or lighter tail tip. Thanks.
John in Indy
You are right, family comes first, and I commend you for this. I am also amazed that you can even focus enough to continue writing!!! With the various crises and trials in my life, I usually have to forego even making journal entries. Prayers for you and your Mom. God bless you