Merry Christmas Everyone! And Happy Holidays!
Thank you to everyone who has reached out and kept in touch, and of course to all of you that have ordered a gift box. I’m over the moon that they were as popular as they have been.
This message comes to you from the beaches of Baja, California. I’ve been here now since the week of Thanksgiving, and it’s been everything that I could ask for. My creative soul has been battered a bit over the last couple of years, and I really needed the time and space to relax and regroup.
The sunrises are stunning, and the colors in the sky as the day comes to a close are almost as beautiful. The days have been short here, barely ten hours long, and when it gets dark, it gets so, so dark.
When it’s not completely ridiculously cold, i.e. at least above 65 (I’m from California, not Siberia!), then I sit outside on the patio with my iPad and keyboard and scribble some notes and thoughts and such. Otherwise, I’m holed up inside the RV at the makeshift office station where I have one of my monitors set up, so it’s a fairly decent, if not scaled-down replica of my home office.
I have sent book 4, Leila’s story, out to my crit partners and beta readers and I’m hoping to get feedback soon. Once I do, I’ll add the rest of the notes I’ve been scribbling on my iPad, and tweak it before it goes out to the editors.
I have books 1-3 being torn apart and re-edited as we speak as well. And I’ve also hired a new graphic designer as my last cover artist is on a much-deserved mental health sabbatical and taking some time to care for herself and her family.
I’ve been trying to make a point of walking the dog on the beach at least once a day. Some days I never make it out there, we just do a quicky walk around the camp, and others I walk both directions of the beach to the ends two to three times a day. Rubicon has absolutely loved it. I’ve been working on remote collar training, so she’s got a collar on that I can beep to find her, and to tell her it’s time to come back home. She’s been great. The two cats we brought, Peabody and Bingly, have also spent quite a bit of time outside as well. They are also loving the freedom.
To my dearest friend A.M. Daniels and her group of fabulous authors who made the USA Today Bestsellers list with their amazing collection of Christmas stories. We are so excited for you! Grab this set while you can. It’s on sale now.
https://books2read.com/secretsantacollection
As we close out 2021, or 2020 (2.0) as I like to refer to it, we can only hope the world gets it together and 2022 is a bigger light at the end of the tunnel. I don’t know about some of you, but I really don’t think I have it in my toolbox to handle a 2020 (3.0) without completely cracking.
I hope everyone has had a wonderful and safe holiday season.