Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Hello and Thanks for Holding On...

Well, after being offline for most of the past four months, I have returned. I know all of you were so miserable without my witty observations on life, the universe and everything else, but rest assured I am back and ready to resume my duties as a voice. What have I been doing? Working, writing, and trying to stay dry! This has become the year of living wet in the South. It has rained more days this summer than in recorded history!

Here is a list of the highlights of my sabbatical:
1 - Finished and submitted the first of a five book series in YA. Not usually a field I write in, but my darling daughter is a teenager and I wanted something for her and her friends.
2 - Went back to work on a full time basis at our special events family business. That alone seriously curtailed my blogging, and I apologize deeply for deserting my friends and followers.
3 - Began Book Three of the Guardian Stories - working title: "The Purity of Fire"

When I look at this in print, it doesn't look like much, but trust me - it's been a three ring circus around my life. It seems the more I long for a vacation the more things come up. But in the long run I know it is a good thing. I tend to write better when I feel stressed. For example - I started "Fire" five days ago and I already have over 35K words. As my target for Book Three is 100K, I'm really moving along.

One thing I have implemented is taking at least one full weekend day and going off the grid. I don't go on Facebook, I don't Tweet, I don't even check email. Instead I spend the day interacting with the family, playing with the horses, detoxing from the week. It is amazing how much that one day relieves my stress level. As a side benefit, things with the helpful hubby are getting better since I'm not spending every free moment I have with my nose in the laptop.

Another accomplishment of this recent mental clarity is we have completed the final edits for my next release - "January Frost".


"January Frost" - Evelyn Graham-Frost had it all: a career she loved, a beautiful daughter, amazing business partners, and no personal entanglement. After running away from love at eighteen, she put that portion of her life on hold, preferring to bottle up her pain at the tragic parting from her first love, Sir David Tattinger III, Lord of Grey Cliffs. But a career ending injury has suddenly brought the past into collision with the future.

Returning to Grey Cliffs means returning to the home of her childhood, the place where her parents were tragically killed in a traffic accident. It also means coming to terms with Trey and the dark secret that drove her away. Ten years is a long time to repress emotions, and now in order for her body to heal, Evelyn needs to face what happened that night. The night Trey couldn't protect her.

In the rush to escape her past, Evelyn ran headfirst into the future. But to live in the present, she will have to return to the one place all paths seems to head - back to Grey Cliffs. But whether that includes Trey's arms is an entirely different matter!

I don't have the cover art as of yet, but I will share as soon as I get it back. Anyone out there who does book reviews who would like a review copy, please let me know so I can get the ARCs out there.

Well, that's enough for tonight. Stay tuned for my next rant - Windows 8, Office 2013 and incompatible systems and how they can slow your progress to a crawl.  Thanks for hanging in - I promise I won't flake out again!

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