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Just a quick update!

I'm currently back to working on Lament at Loon Landing. I'm not exactly sure what the hold-up has been, because as I'm working on it, it's pretty much like every other book in the series: cute, charming, fun. Your basic cozy mystery. I guess part of the problem is with all the delays (and all the bitching about the delays) it has turned the book into A Thing in my mind, which inevitably slows everything down even further. Coz that's how that works.

But we're closing in on finishing up. I'm not going to guestimate the actual release because the book is clearly cursed and if I dare to name the release date, doom and disaster will follow. So we'll leave it at that. It's coming. 

As soon as Lament at Loon Landing is safely launched, I'll fully dive into Corpse at Captain's Seat, which I anticipate going as quickly as Death at the Deep Dive did. I love, love, love country house murder mysteries and that's kind of what we have going on with that one: snow, secret passages, sinister strangers. The usual stuff that happens while staying with friends.

THEN I'll start work on the final Holmes & Moriarity. 

And THEN I'm taking a break from writing. Maybe for just a month. Maybe two. Maybe I'll see you when I see you. But I need a chunk of time to focus on some translation stuff, some audio projects, some other things I'm toying with, as well as long term strategizing. Basically, the business side of things. Which inevitably get shoved to the back of the line, even though it's kind of crucial to know where the ship is ultimately headed. 

In the meantime, on Monday I'm headed off on vacation with my sisters for the first time in three years. Yikes! THREE YEARS. In fact, it's been a year and a half since I went away on vacay with anyone at all. 

I. CAN'T. WAIT. 

I'll try to post photos, but I'm guessing they won't actually appear until after I return on the 7th. 

I hope you all have a wonderful week. We're supposed to have major winter storms this weekend, but they keep being pushed back a day, which hopefully doesn't mean I end up stranded in a ferry terminal for my vacation. ;-D  

ARE WE THERE YET?

 Okay! One week into the New Year and... Well, I'm having a little trouble ripping my way out of the holiday cocoon. How about you? 

Usually I start the year with a list of RESOLUTIONS aka GOALS. Some of which come to fruition. Some of which don't. My only real goal at the moment is to send as much of the left over cookies and candy and cupcakes, etc. as possible with the SO to his work.  

Which leads me to the first of my Resolutions:

1 - Get Healthy

I started last year with Covid. The first two months were just draw-a-line Lathrough 'em, and the rest of the year, well, I never really got up to speed. In fact, it was probably one of my most unhealthy years. Unhealthy eating, lack of exercise, just...blaaaaah. I didn't even resume my massage therapy, which right there indicates quite a level of apathy. Of indifference to my own well-being.

So there's a first goal. By this time next week, I should have contacted my therapist and made my first appointment of 2023.

2 - Write

Given the slow start to the year, last year was pretty productive. And, even better, I enjoyed everything I wrote. I felt more creative, more inspired than I have in a long time. So that was great, and if I was feeling better and more energetic, i.e., healthier, I could be more productive yet. 

I have a number of committed books, end-of-series books, but I also want to take a look at doing some fresh and fun standalone stuff. Like, I have an idea for a Christmas story for next year called The Lemon Drop Kid.

I do have a third resolution, but I think I'll keep that to myself for now. It's more about my feelings toward the world in general and my hesitation to rejoin that world, engage with that world. And I'm still working my way through. But part of working my way through it is attending conferences again and interacting more both online and in real life. I can't deny the last couple of years have been sort of disillusioning. But this is the world we have and really, most people haven't changed so much. The other stuff, the ugly stuff--grievance culture, misogyny, bias, paranoia--has always been there (and, frankly, probably always will be). 

Anyway, what about you? Do you have resolutions for this year? Goals? A game plan? HAVE YOU TAKEN DOWN YOUR CHRISTMAS TREE YET? 

Lemme Tell You a Liddle Story...

 

When my sisters and I were growing up, that was one of our favorite routines when we had some long, convoluted story to relate. This announcement was always accomplished by mis-propping our chin on our hand--accompanied by elbow sliding off the edge of the table...

{You know, coz we were pretending to be drunk. Which apparently was sidesplitting stuff back in the day. (What can I say? We had a goldmine of drunk Scottish and Irish relatives to pan for material.) ;-D }

Enywhoooo. I may have bitten off more than I can chew this month, but I'm going to aprise you of the current schemes simply because it's been a while since I had an update.

There's just a lot going on right now, and I'm working around it as best I can. Please notice the lack of any firm release dates.

So I'm back to work on Lament at Loon Landing (Secrets and Scrabble 6). This is the priority project. 

I'm also doing a chapter a week of Puzzle for Two on Patreon. The novel is now half-complete, so there's one for the win column.

AND because I may be writing slowly but (or maybe because) I'm going through a super-creative phase, I signed up for NaNoWriMo this year to kickstart a novella called 44.1644° North. The goal is set at 50,000 but that's way more than I'd need. This will be 35,000 words at most. Tense and tight. That's the goal.

Basically, the writing is going very well, but also it's going very slowly. 

The Movie-Town Murders is due out in audio any day now. Death at the Deep Dive is supposed to be out in December, but... We'll see. Even if it's completed in December, the backlog at ACX will be horrendous. 

Hide and Seek is now available in ebook, print and audio. It's a nice little Christmassy one.

Speaking of the holidays.

I'm not sure if I'll be doing the Advent Calendar this year or not. I'd like to, but it's is a LOT of work. And although the page views remain high, the engagement is low. So is it worth it? I don't know. 

Okay. Here's a big one.

Despite my very best efforts, I just cannot come up with an affordable print edition of Fatal Shadows: The Collector's Edition. I really did try, but the best I could manage was a paperback edition that still costs $49.99. That's... Ouch. For a lot of readers that's still prohibitive. 

(OH! It's on sale right now for $33.96 at Amazon. That's the lowest I've seen it--and Amazon seems to have set that price. I have no idea how long that might last.)

Anyway, it's not very fair to have a collector's edition that a large percentage of Adrien and Jake's most devoted fans can't even afford. So I'm going to try and do it as an ebook for the holidays. I say TRY because I'm going to have to format it, and that is a very intimidating idea. UGH. But I will try. It might have to go up without the artwork? I don't know. I'll do the best I can. We all remember what happened when I tried to format the newspaper article for Slay Ride...

How the heck can it already be November? This was such an action-packed year, and yet it passed in a blip. I mean, it was a good year. It felt like a peace and prosperity year--possibly the last we'll enjoy for some time, if the elections go the way I fear. But let that go for now. 

That's it for the updates. Still here. Still writing. Still doing the things. I hope you're doing well! 

 

  

GOOD GRIEF, GERTRUDE!

 We are now on the NINTH round of (format) edits for Fatal Shadows: The Collector's Edition.

I'm sure there are still things we've missed, but at some point you have to let go and jump, and I think we're there. Hopefully, this weekend will see the Amazon version go live. 

It's such a crazy little book! I don't mean Fatal Shadows itself, although yes, that too. But all the goofy extras. I've really enjoyed immersing myself in Adrien's world again--way more than I'd expected. But I mean, it's hard to know what YOU'LL make of it. It's definitely a Fans Only kind of thing. 

It's been an interesting month. I had food poisoning (?!!) for four days last week. It was BRUTAL. We'll leave it there because...not glamorous, that's for sure. Not that glamour is a huge part of the writing life, but it's usually not that abject and desperate, if you know what I mean.

Anyway, I couldn't help thinking that poisoning someone is a particularly terrible way to kill them. Nice people do not poison others. Regardless of the provocation.

I think we're still on track for a March release of The Movie-Town Murders. I'm a little nervous because next month also includes doing two years-worth of taxes and a week-long visit from my best pal, but the book is proceeding apace and (thank God) I'm really enjoying this revised storyline. 

You can read a snippet over on my website.

Oh! Short Stories 2 is out--has been out for over a week--and is available for sale pretty much everywhere. It sort of got lost in the shuffle. As a matter of fact, I did several box sets over the past weeks, and I think I'll run a 50% sale on them all before the end of the month, so if you've been hoping for a little bit of a deal, keep your eyes peeled. I'll announce it here too and all over social media, but it's easy to miss that kind of news in the never-ending airhorn blast of buymebuymebuyme.

What else? 

Ah. One more thing. I've reluctantly made the decision to skip GRL this year. I just feel like I've got so much catching up to do after the disaster of last year. I want this to be a really good year, a productive and creative year. And so far, despite the (almost constantly??!!) being sick, so far, so good. I'm just going to focus on, er, regrouping and regathering. So it's disappointing, but it also feels like the sensible choice given where I am right now.

How are YOU doing? How's the year treating you so far? 

 

So This is Covid

 

Well, I've got COVID. 

Which is probably inevitable with this variant if you or your SO works outside the home. 

Part of it was probably a little bit of mistiming. I caught a light cold Christmas Eve. I was recovering from that, when there was a COVID scare (well, not a "scare," given that one of his coworkers did come down with it) at the SO's work, and we decided to get boosted immediately. 

So basically I was already run down when got the booster, and I got the booster after I'd been exposed. Oops.

So I missed New Year's because, yep, COVID.

Which I kept insisting was just a bad cold--because that's what it feels like. A very bad cold. I did sort of suspect however, especially when the SO's version of the very bad cold came with fever and aching joints, and was over in three days. 

**Obviously, OBVIOUSLY, I was socially isolating through all of this. Regardless of chances I might take, I'm never going to take a chance with someone else's health or safety. Let alone the health and safety of people I love.

Up until we caught it, I assumed that these break-thru cases occurred because people were not taking the same precautions they'd originally taken. I mean, I'd stopped spraying everything that came through the door (including the dogs' paws) with disinfectant. I'd stopped wearing a mask when outdoors.  I went out to lunch. I went to Catalina for a week and did all the things. 

As we understood more about the virus, we adjusted our behaviors accordingly. But we were still super careful. 

The problem is, we can only control our own behaviors. We learned that one of the SO's unvaccinated coworkers lied--continues to lie--about being tested. Some of the customers who walk into that business don't wear masks and throw a screaming fit when they're asked to put a mask on. I'm going to assume they aren't vaccinated. The madness continues.

Anyway, my cold went on and on, people kept asking me if I was tested, and finally I thought why aren't you getting tested? So I got tested and yep. Bingo. 

If I hadn't already been getting over a cold, I'd probably have recovered a lot faster. As it was, I had a couple of miserable days and then what feels like forever of lingering ickiness. Today I feel pretty good. I still have a cough, but it's way, way better. I never had any alarming symptoms. I didn't have aching joints. I was never short of breath. I didn't lose my sense of smell or taste. 

MY GOOD TASTE REMAINS INTACT. ;-) 

Had I not been fully vaccinated, it could have been quite a different outcome. Especially since I'm prone to respiratory infections. Had we been boosted earlier, we might not have been sick at all, and that would have been the best possible outcome.

 

A Whole New World

 

Okay, probably not. 

But at least a world we're better prepared for. ;-) 

I've gotten a lot of worried emails and messages over the "cancellation" of The Movie-Town Murders on Amazon, so let me reassure you, the book is NOT cancelled. I'm working on it right now. Or at least, yes, it's cancelled on Amazon, but the book is still coming out! I'm aiming for the end of February.

So, if you preordered anywhere other than Amazon, your order is still right where you left it. (And you got it at a discounted price too, so good for you!) If you preordered through Amazon, you'll have to purchase the book when it goes live. That's all. 

What else is planned for 2022?

Well, let's talk about that.

I'm feeling creative and energetic and even optimistic again, which is promising. More than that. It's a huge, HUGE relief. When you make your living from your creative output, burnout isn't an inconvenience, it's a catastrophe. I've struggled with burnout before, but never like this, and yes, there were extenuating circumstances that would surely never repeat themselves, but still. I can't risk anything like last year ever happening again. 

So I'm going to try something new, and keep everything as loose and flexible as possible. As of right now everything looks good. I've tried to make sure there's plenty of room between projects. I'm not going to list any additional preorders, because I don't want another scheduling trainwreck like last year. But just because something isn't listed on Amazon, doesn't mean it's not going to happen. 

That said, I do plan on a much slower schedule this year. 

Which doesn't necessarily mean fewer projects. It means more time between projects. 

I do want to point out, though, that even with all the disasters and delays of last year, it was still my most productive year in the last five or so. I put out four novels! That's not bad. 

I just have to be more realistic about how much I can do in a year. I have to stop planning based on the best case scenario, and schedule for the worst case scenario. And, maybe even most importantly,  I have to stop thinking out loud when I'm dreaming of the books I want to write. 

Right now, I'm not looking beyond next summer. If I can get through the next six months and stay on schedule and still feel creative and energetic and optimistic, well, there are plenty of possibilities for the fall. But fewer promises mean fewer disappointments. For everyone.

So that's where we are! I hope you're also looking forward to 2022 and making plans that will help you turn your dreams into reality. The last twelve months were tough. Here's to turning the page.

Earworm free of charge. ;-) 

Advent Calendar Day 16

 

The 16th of December! Can you believe it? Good Lord.

I just purchased my final holiday gift, baked a batch of chocolate cupcakes, and I'm working on a couple of holiday codas. So that ought to do it for the holiday prep.

I'm feeling SO much better now. Body at Buccaneer Bay is finished and safely uploaded everywhere for its December 18th release (pssst! It's actually already live on Barnes and Noble! Pilot error. I got a little overanxious.)

That's the good news. The less good news is I have to tell you straight up, there's no way in hell I can finish The Movie-Town Murders for that Amazon January 4th release. I literally just finished Body at Buccaneer Bay. I haven't even started Movie-Town yet. It's going to take however long it takes. It's the next book up, and I am researching and roughing out the outline, so it's going to happen. But I'm afraid to make promises right now. I can't risk another burn out like the last one. NINE MONTHS. NINE MONTHS BETWEEN BOOKS. That's...not okay. That's not sustainable.  I'm sticking to my pledge to work at a sane and reasonable pace from here on out. The important thing (for me, anyway) is I'm not only writing again, I'm enjoying writing again. I'm not about to take any chances with that.

(Sorry if that's a lump of coal in the midst of the festivities.)

So today's Advent goodie is a recipe. In Body at Buccaneer Bay, Ellery's dad has a bowl of New England style chicken and dumplings at the charming Seacrest Inn, and that just looked (in my imagination) so delicious and comforting, I thought I'd hunt down a good recipe we can all try this winter.

This is Yankee magazine's version (adapted from the Farmer's Almanac)

It's dumplings, so I consider it sort of complicated (I've never successfully made dumplings, but maybe this will be the recipe for me). 

For the Soup

Ingredients:

1 whole 4- to 5-pound chicken

1 medium yellow onion, diced

5 bay leaves

5 tablespoons salted butter

1-1/2 tablespoons table salt, plus more to taste

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste

Instructions:

Put the chicken into a large soup pot. Cover with about ½ inch of water and add onion, bay leaves, butter, salt, and pepper. Cover, set over high heat, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, partially cover, and very gently simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 1 hour.

When the chicken is done, transfer it to a cutting board, leaving the broth and bay leaves in the pot. When chicken is cool enough to handle, pull the meat from the bone in small pieces and set aside (discard bones, skin, and other waste).

For the Dumplings

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon table salt

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons water

2 large eggs, beaten

Garnish: minced fresh parsley

Instructions:

Put the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl and whisk to blend. Add the oil and stir to coat the flour, then add the water and beaten eggs. Stir just enough to combine, then knead with clean hands until evenly mixed.

Turn the dough out onto a generously floured board and divide in half. Take the first portion and roll out into a thin rectangle. Slice the dough lengthwise into 1/2-inch-wide strips, then cut cross-wise into pieces 4 inches long. Repeat with remaining dough.

Bring the broth back to a boil. Drop the dumpling strips into the boiling liquid. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, until the dumplings are tender (they'll puff up a bit), about 20 minutes. Return the chicken to the pot in the last 5 minutes of cooking. Taste and add additional salt and pepper as needed. Serve hot, garnished with parsley.

YUM!

Okay, Here's What's Happening

 I mean, to the best of my knowledge, this is what is happening. 

Because, honestly, this year. 

I no longer have any kind of schedule because everything is so far out of whack. The problem with stacking so many preorders SO close together is, if one slides, it starts an avalanche, and that's kind of where we are now. 

(Which is why there is so little scheduled for next year. It's not that I don't plan to write, but I'll be mostly writing without deadlines. Because right now, at this moment in time, the very concept of DEADLINES ratchets up my anxiety and stress like nobody's business.)

Obviously--I mean, I hope it's obvious?--I'm doing my best to complete the final three projects of the year: Body at Buccaneer Bay, The Movie-Town Murders, and Hide and Seek. But I'm not going to offer release dates anymore, beyond saying, I'm going as fast as I can. Having made everyone wait, I'm trying to make sure the books are the best I can make them. I don't want to slop them out just because I'm dreading missing another deadline. I mean, if I was going to do that, I could've put these books out months ago and saved everyone a lot of exasperation.

The good news is, I just got back from two weeks of vacation, and I feel better than I have in, literally, years. Two years, to be exact. So I'm WAY calmer and a lot more optimistic. I'm even, dare I say it, productive. Or at least, I've had a very productive week. 

The bad news is, I can't magically fix the mess I'm in as far as missed deadlines and not enough time to do All The Things. I'm tackling the projects before me one at a time. I really, really do not want anything to slip into 2022. But there's a lot to do and we're entering the manic distractions of the holiday season. I'm trying to be optimistic but realistic, which is why I'm making no promises. Or at least, no promise beyond the promise to do my best.

One thing at a time. That's my mantra. 

I will say, this is a weird position to find myself in. I mean, I've missed deadlines before, I've been through burn out, I've struggled with anxiety and depression, but I've never been through anything like the past two years. And I know I'm not alone, I know my situation is not unique, I know that the angrier and more frustrated with myself I get, the deeper the hole I dig. I know these things. I accept these things. 

The only way out is one word, one sentence, one paragraph, one page at a time. So that's what I'm doing. That's where we are. 

Thank you for listening.