Thursday, September 24, 2020

I Disappeared!

Wow, it has been far, far too long since I posted anything here. I won't lie. It wasn't intentional. I had planned on keeping everyone in the loop as to what was happening with the various projects that I've been working on, but the truth is that Covid depression swallowed me up. With kids in college and friends scattered all over the world, my anxiety got the best of me at the beginning. Then, with panic buying, lockdowns, masks, and everything else that has become our new normal, I found myself becoming more and more depressed. I discovered that I wasn't as ready for any of this emotionally as I thought. I'm someone who spends most of their time home and alone, but suddenly being told that it had to be that way felt itchy...like being trapped.

I'm still struggling with it. I think that a lot of us are. None of us are alone in any of this. The world has become a really scary place. My best friend in the whole world lives in Canada and I can't get to him. He was seriously injured a few weeks ago and it broke my heart that I couldn't go and help him. We don't know when we'll get to see each other again and that's so hard. This is the case for so many people. Families divided by borders, divided by the pandemic. My heart goes out to all of them because I truly understand how hard this is.

But, I do owe everyone an update. So, let's jump to that:

Tales From the Toy Store:

Holy crow, guys! I just realized that I never actually posted here that it was now available. Wow. That just shows how bad things have been. This book, my first solo book, is now available on Amazon! I absolutely love how it turned out. Eric did such an amazing job on the cover and all of the art inside.

Apo's Army:

This is my brand new book that I'm working on! It's all about cats. Not just any cats, though. There are stories about my cats, but also cats who live in feral colonies in Florida. One of my favorite Twitch streamers (Apoinsettia, hence the Apo in Apo's Army) goes out nearly every day and he feeds and cares for so many wonderful cats. I've taken about 15 of those babies and I'm writing stories about them. My goal for this book is to actually be able to donate a portion of the proceeds to TNR (Trap, Neuter, Release) programs. Again, the amazing Eric is joining me on this project to do the cover and interior art. We're hoping for a February release via Kickstarter with an Amazon release right after.

The Tether Saga:

Guys, I don't know what to tell you about this one. I wish I had some great news, but I just don't. I wrote the (really) rough draft of this book about 10 months ago and sent it off to Nick. I know that he read it, that he wrote a ton of notes on it, and that's all I know. The book series is back in his advertising rounds, but other than him saying he was going over the notes again, I've heard nothing. I so badly want to get back to Sarah and finish telling her story. As soon as I know anything, I promise to let all of you know.

Those are my writing projects. I'm still editing and loving it. I've gotten to work with some fantastic creators over this summer and fingers crossed that it continues to be that way! Speaking of fantastic creators and projects, I should sign off so I can get to work on Russell Nohelty's newest book. I took yesterday off for my birthday so I'm a teensy bit behind now.

Thank you all for your patience and your support! I couldn't do what I do without it. You're all amazing.

Love,