Well, 2019 was quite a year.
In January, I published Flights of Dragons, a sequel to Notice, a novel-length collection of stories set in the Notice Universe. Think dragons. Varian and Josh. In December, I published Owl, a YA novel about an owl shifter trapped in his owl form. Two vastly different publishing experiences. In between them, Winter went out of print, not even having made it for a full year. I have decided to let that one rest for a while before I decide what to do with it. There has been plenty said elsewhere about the state of the niche publishing world I’m part of. Despite everything, I love both my new books and I’m very proud of them.
Moving on, my next plan is to self-publish The Glass Man and Other Stories, which will be another volume of previously published stories. These are science fiction in nature, and will include “The Glass Man,” “Ice,” and “Webs.” All I have left to do is get the cover organized and start the dreaded formatting process.
In terms of new writing, I have several books in various stages of completion: Wings Over Water, which is in the Notice Series, Cricket, which is in the Another Healing series, and Windkind, which is brand new. I’m finding, as I get older, that it takes more time to write a book, and I’ve learned that I need to give projects time to rest and then come back to them, sometimes again and again, to allow them to find the depth they need. So please bear with me, and I promise these will all find their way to publication eventually.
At the moment, I’m immersed writing the first book in a new series I’m calling Space and the King, which is based on an idea I’ve had going on in my head for a long, long time. Rock star from Earth meets the king of a moon under siege from a malevolent space ship who takes prisoners to use as power sources. This is part of the universe I created in “The Glass Man” and “Webs,” which is partly why I want to bring those stories back into print. See, I do have a master plan going on. Sort of.
In my real life, things have been rough. Cancer has been striking people around me like lightning in the past couple months, and I’ve had a health scare myself, though everything turned out to be fine. I’m in a place right now where I pick what I’m going to worry about next, and keep cycling around. I am so, so grateful I have my writing to dive into for solace. And my kayak waiting patiently for spring. And my crazy young dog is finally beginning to show signs of pretending to be trained, at least. And the fact that my husband and I bought a Jeep yesterday. And there may be an RV in our future. Oh, and we’re taking our whole family on a Caribbean Cruise in February. And, as always, I live surrounded by nature and very special people.
So I wish everyone a wonderful and meaningful 2020, and thank you all so much for reading my books and just being there.