And now comes disquiet.
It’s an odd feeling putting a series to bed. The long build of excitement reaches a peak then fades leaving disquiet in its wake.
The excitement of the launch lifts you up: holding the physical copy of the final book, smelling the pages as if they were a new puppy, reading the early reviews, attending book signings, planning the big farewell party.
But after the final book’s release, disquiet sucks you under: bidding farewell to characters you know better than your family leaves you hollow, your next book’s characters are still strangers who can’t begin to fill the gap; not knowing if your readers will give a hoot about your next distant book provokes loneliness.
Thankfully, time doesn’t let you linger in either state for long. It ticks away, oblivious to the petty fears of mere writers, nudging you along on your way.
And so it goes
The $0.99 launch price for Lover Betrayed, a Gift Legacy Companion book, ends tomorrow. If you’re missing this book in the series, now’s your chance to get it for launch pricing. After tomorrow, it returns to its regular price of $5.99. You can read an excerpt here.
Every day, the disquiet lifts a bit. Yesterday, I broke 32K words in my new book. It’s about a young woman who was born with an unfortunate birthmark. The woman believes her birthmark is a disfiguring curse. She doesn’t know the real curse is that her birthmark is disappearing.
Next month
Next month, I’m excited to be participating in a new adventure with writers who may be new to you, but who are far from unknown. I’m teaming up with a dozen fabulous writers, many of them A-list best sellers, to bring you new books at terrific prices along with bonus prizes. I’ll provide details shortly.
As always, I’d love to hear your feedback. Just hit reply or contact me via the social media buttons.
Secret Sky is the book that started it all. Get your copy of Secret Sky from Kindle with one click right here. And if ebooks aren’t your preference, click on the bookstore tab for other purchase options, or just click on the covers below.
Secret Sky was formerly titled The Gift: Awakening
Hidden Enemy was formerly titled The Gift: Revelation
Burning Lies was formerly titled The Gift: Redemption
Lethal Waters was formerly titled The Gift: Penance
Lover Betrayed was formerly titled The Gift: Betrayal
First draft done! It’s celebration time. I finished writing the first draft of the next book in The Gift Legacy this week and toasted the accomplishment with a fine bottle of red. If you’re keeping track, this is the sixth book in the series and follows on from Lethal Waters (formerly Penance). The working title is Deadly Deception. What do you think?
In other words, put my pen down and step away from the computer. Not writing is an adjustment. My daily routine has a huge hole in the middle of it. Suddenly, I have time on my hands.
But before I get to all that, I’m taking a wee break. We’re off to Seattle for a few days to celebrate two family birthdays, attend my first ever football game (Seattle Sea Hawks vs Indianapolis Colts) and enjoy the company of our niece and nephew who are visiting from the Cayman Islands.
It’s been an uncommon winter here on Denman Island. The ground froze for 6+ weeks, which is an unusual state of cold we normally count in days, not weeks. (No need to roll your eyeballs—we know we’re spoiled—we barely reach the “damn it’s cold” threshold for Canadians.)
I didn’t get outside much in November. The November 15 release of Betrayal (now Lover Betrayed) kept me busy. As always happens with a new release, I was plagued with promotion should’ve/could’ve/would’ves. Not to mention the inconvenient fact that I also have a life.
That “life” took me back to Ontario to spend a rare and snowy Christmas with my family. Despite my earlier whinging, I love a white Christmas. There’s something magical about crisp, white snow at Christmastime. And it may just be my ego, but I think Ontario went out of its way to emphasize the white this year. It brings me back to my childhood. I can count on one finger how many white Christmases I’ve experienced since moving to the coast (not that finger – gheesh!). The coast has many wonderful attributes, which I tout to no end in the Gift Legacy books, but a white Christmas isn’t one of them.
I’m now back on Denman Island
It demands my attention, and I’m beyond happy to oblige. In addition to developing my next series (the Dark Dreams novels), I’m writing the next chapter in Emelynn’s story. This is what it looks like when I’m organizing my ideas. Do you have thoughts about characters or storylines you’d like to see on one of those stickies? Now is the perfect time to tell me. Leave a comment, or contact me on any of my social media sites.