Newsletter 5/15/26

 

Since my last newsletter a month ago, Kit Kat’s eye got a little better, and then a little worse; I had to have AB euthanized due to Cushing’s-related heart failure; more than one family member has been into and then out of the hospital; and all that stress caused a nasty flare-up for me a couple weeks ago. At this point, I’m John Belushi at the end of Blues Brothers with all the bad news and excuses: “Locusts!”

As a result, book progress has been slow across the board - but it has been progress.

I’m having to do some retooling on what I have so far with Field of Fire, the seventh and final Drake Chronicles installment, so I don’t have updates on that front. Likewise, The Winter Palace is moving along literally a paragraph at a time. Again: moving, but sluggishly.

My major focus at the moment is on Substack updates, both my standalone romantic suspense Don’t Let Go, and the post-Dartmoor novel Inherent Violence.

Chapter By Chapter

My initial plan - and we all know how those go - was to keep multiple chapters ahead and schedule drops so that I didn’t ever run out of content to post. Obviously, that didn’t pan out as hoped. I’m still ahead on Don’t Let Go - with Chapter 13 dropping this week, I’m a little over halfway through the chunk of novel I wrote last year. I’m posting Inherent Violence as I write it, however.

I like posting chapter by chapter because it helps me stay motivated. Smaller, daily goals and posting as a sense of “getting something done” help me stay energized to power through a whole novel. Obviously, the serial release format isn’t ideal for anyone who wants to binge an entire book; it’s not a seamless experience if you need to go back and check details on earlier chapters when it’s been a while between updates. I get that.

But it gives me a chance to keep y’all entertained week to week, so there aren’t long content droughts between books. It also offers a chance to see the rough draft process. I do a cursory proofread before I post each chapter, but the book in chapter form is fairly raw. If I were to ever publish these stories as books, there would be some editorial changes: likely added spicey scenes, streamlining of others, and maybe even some rewrites.

That’s a big “if,” though. I want to do right by my Substack subscribers, so these stories might need to stay forever on the ‘Stack.

Hopefully, your spring is rocking along more smoothly than mine has. Thanks for being here!

Newsletter 2/1/26

 

**This is a mirrored post from my Substack, where you can read it, and all chapters of the Alex Bonfils-centric Dartmoor tie-in novel, Inherent Violence. 

February greetings from a snowy corner of Georgia. It’s been bitter, windy, ice-breaking weather here, but thankfully we avoided the snow and freezing rain that’s struck Tennessee two weeks in a row. I’ll take all the small favors I can get. Now that the Christmas season is well behind us, I’m ready to trade the midwinter blues for green grass, happy horses, and evenings that melt long and slow into night. Daylight savings can’t come fast enough.

As for today, there are a few news items of note:

• I broke ground on the seventh and final Drake Chronicles book this morning, as of yet untitled. Book six, Avarice of the Empire, released at the end of December and offered some wild twists, including a surprise ending that leads directly into the action of the big finale. I’m determined that book seven will be the last book, even if it winds up being a chunky installment. Before anyone asks, I have no idea when it might release. Sorry! There’s lots to juggle at the moment.

• Last week I started a new post series all about writing. Writing 101 focuses on the importance of reading for writers, and Writing 102, the next installment, will discuss journaling and practice writing. This is a deep dive look at craft, from concept to completion, and as of now, I’m planning to update it on a monthly basis, depending on the rest of my writing workload.

• The Alex-centered Dartmoor novel Inherent Violence is rolling along here on Substack. We’re up to Chapter Twenty-One as of last night, and in Chapter Twenty-Two, Miranda gets to meet the old ladies. For anyone asking if I’ll eventually turn this book into a Kindle/paperback release, the answer is that I haven’t decided. Low Lord Have Mercy sales lead me to believe that it wouldn’t sell very well, and in this format, I get to offer it as an exclusive to Substack supporters. So, we’ll see, but I’m not sure.

I have a bit of personal news as well. If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen my stories a week or so ago when I talked about my health issues. I don’t want to say too much yet, but suffice to say that I felt terrible for most of 2025, especially in the back half of the year. At the beginning of January, I started seeing a new doctor, one who’s actually taking my pain and other symptoms seriously; she’s being proactive, and that’s been a tremendous relief. I had an ultrasound last Tuesday to check on one thing…and the radiologist wound up finding something unexpected. My doctor ordered an MRI, and I have that this coming Tuesday evening. We’ve been moving forward with the hypothesis that I have endometriosis, or ovarian cysts, or both, and now there’s another complication that needs examining. I’m nervous. Hopefully the MRI can shed light on everything that’s going on, and we can move forward with a clear surgical plan.

All that’s to say that I’m not sure what my schedule for the next few weeks or months is going to look like. I’m going to write as much as I can, with the idea that I’ll have scheduled posts set to drop in the early stages of any surgery recovery period. If I’m laid up for a while, I won’t be much use at the barn (ugh!) but should still be able to write. I’ll keep y’all posted!

Stay warm, everyone :)

Updates 11/24

 

Firstly, Happy Birthday to Miss Sonata, who is officially a yearling this month! She's almost as tall as Kit Kat and Bambi already, so she's gonna be a big gal when she comes into her own. Also the sweetest and most cooperative. Thanks for being the best baby.

On to the book stuff.

If you follow me on Instagram, then you'll know that the whole family's been recovering from Covid. Everyone's feeling better, but not well, ya know? That crap lingers. Which means my last two chapters of Inherent Violence have been much shorter and less informative than originally planned. I was grateful to post something, but not pleased with the length. 

This week, I'm returning to the Wednesday/Friday posting model, and both chapters will be properly long and involved. This story is going to move quickly - in the sense that I know straight where to head with it - if I can continue to feel better and better each day. I'd also like to continue with my Dartmoor origins posts over on Substack.

Speaking of: You can get all caught up with paid and free posts on Substack HERE. The next chapter of Inherent Violence drops this Wednesday for paid subscribers. 

Read-alongs pick back up this week as well, starting today with the next chapter of Fearless. Get all caught up HERE.

I'm still scrambling to get Avarice of the Empire out before the end of the year, so keep your fingers and toes crossed that I manage to accomplish that.

Sorry, everyone, for being slow. Thanks so much for sticking around! 

Sunday Funday Updates 8/24

 

August Sunset

How is it the last week of August?? I will say, though, that it's been the loveliest August in recent memory. This month is usually plagued by super high temperatures and a total lack of rain; brown, crunchy grass, irritable horses, irritable people. But this year, it's been largely overcast, not so hot, and we've had consistent rainfall. The grass is lush, the sunsets blazing, and it's overall been a manageable tail end of summer. 

I finally updated my decrepit and obsolete phone, so I've been much more active on Instagram (I went a whole week unable to post photos). There's lots going on, so I wanted to make sure I updated on the blog and Facebook as well for anyone who doesn't have Insta. 

New Read-Along Alert: Yesterday I started a White Wolf read-along. You can find the first post here. Like with Fearless, I'm going to read one chapter a week, and post on Saturdays. It'll be my first time doing a true deep dive on the book, and I'm excited to share my POV, and all the real-life history connections. 

All the books in the Sons of Rome series are just 99c apiece, so I'd love if you'd grab a copy and join us for the discussion. 😀

Why Authors Ask For Reviews: This week, I blogged about the reasons authors ask for reviews, and the role reviews play in general. You can read that post here if you're interested. 

Chapter Twenty-Two: Tomorrow, we'll cover Chapter Twenty-Two in our Fearless read-along. You can catch up with the Chapter Twenty-One post here. 

Golden Hour Girls 

I'm working on two novels at the moment, but the home/farm front is keeping me busy these days. 

Next Tuesday, the 2nd, I'm trailering my senior girl, AB, to a veterinary clinic that can perform a tooth extraction - if she needs one. 

AB enjoying her early mornings 

She's been struggling with some mysterious health issues since April. She seemed colicky then, though improved when placed on a half-dose of Banamine (an equine NSAID used primarily for gut pain) twice a day. My vet performed an exam - the kind that involves the shoulder-length plastic glove - and thought he cleared a slight impaction. She was still eating, drinking, and pooping, but went downhill every time I tried to back her off the Banamine. At the beginning of June, she presented with thick, whitish nasal discharge. Antibiotics cleared it up...but it returned once she was done with her meds. My vet feels like it *might* be a tooth abscess, or maybe a stubborn sinus infection.

In any event, he doesn't have the tools or facility to perform an extraction, or scope her if need be, and, in his words, he "doesn't do teeth." So we're off to a clinic to hopefully get some more definitive answers and a treatment plan to get her back to her slightly-senile self. Fingers crossed for a safe trip and a positive outcome. 

Sonata learning about saddle pads

Sonata with her new sisters 

I posted about it on Insta, but not the blog or FB, but given AB's struggles...I added a new horse to the herd. In the long run, you need at least three (or two plus minis, which is what I had for a long time) so that if you pull one horse out to work with or ride, the other has company. I wasn't shopping in a serious way, but I was already dreading the idea of losing AB and then having to shop. I came across an ad for a little liver chestnut filly who sounded like a perfect fit for my girls, and for me, and she was priced in my budget, so I decided to go see her. Better to get the *right* horse, even if it's a little early, than wait and miss a good opportunity. 

Sonata's been here a month, now. She's a ten-month-old Quarter Horse/Appaloosa cross, like Bambi, though they aren't related. She has freckles on her muzzle, around her eyes, and other places, but doesn't have obvious spots like Bambi. All three of my other girls love her, and she fits right in. I'm working on desensitizing her, getting her used to all sorts of stimuli, especially having her feet picked up and handled so she'll be a good girl for my poor farrier, who gave me this very blank look when he came like "why does this chick keep buying babies?" He's too polite to say it, though 😂

Bambi wondering why the heck she needs to wear this

I'm starting my older girls with the surcingle, getting them ready for a saddle and girth. So far, Bambi's my little eager-to-please quick study who thrives on praise. Kit Kat is pretty unimpressed with the whole concept. 

Needless to say, I've been spending a lot of time at the barn. Come follow me @hppress on Instagram to see real time updates. Have a wonderful rest of your Sunday! I'm hoping to have some fun announcements soon. 

Keeping Up To Date

I'm highlighting the following comment from this week because it gives me the perfect chance to make sure everyone has access to all the best ways to stay updated with what's releasing, and when, and to answer a FAQ. 

First, let's talk advertising, so you can figure out which medium works best for you as a follower. 😊

I'm not on TikTok, because, let's face it, my books aren't suited for it. I'm not a trendy sort of gal, and video is definitely not my medium of choice. 

But I am active on social media, and use it to keep readers updated on WIPs, upcoming releases, and then debriefings and behind the scenes content once a book is out. (I blogged/Facebooked/Instagrammed about Lord Have Mercy for more than a year, so if you're not plugged in, then yes, you missed out!)

I post most frequently on Instagram. 

I hype my books there, provide links to blog posts and new releases, and also share my farm life, chiefly horses and flower growing. 

I share all my blog posts, new releases, and weekly hashtags like the Fearless read-along and Teaser Tuesday on my author Facebook page. 

You can follow me there to see my updates in your FB feed, and to join the Fearless Read-Along discussion group. 

I don't have an email newsletter because it would be redundant. You can follow the blog and receive an email each time I add a new post: the blog comes straight to you!

Go over to the righthand side of the blog's home page and scroll down until you reach the Followers section. Doing this myself reminded me that I need to do some major sidebar updates, but the followers are still there. Click the Follow button circled in red to sign up for email notifications, and then never miss a post. 

If you don't have a Google account, or don't want to follow the blog, but still want to know when a new book drops, then you can follow me on Amazon.

You'll get an email when I release a new book. The site has also gotten much more functional in recent years, and books are grouped together on series pages. 

If you're a Goodreads user, you can follow me there as well. My blog is linked to it, so you can see all my posts that way, and new releases will show up in followers' feeds.

Again, a newsletter wouldn't contain any new information already available in the blog, so I feel it's unnecessary. With regard to "newsletter swaps with other authors," I find those shady. When authors trade email lists, and send newsletters to non-followers unsolicited, that doesn't engender any goodwill with potential readers; in fact, it makes you spam. So I'm not down for that. If an author has a newsletter, it should only get sent to those who sign up for it, in my opinion. 

I've had tons of questions lately about Kindle Unlimited. I don't use it, and there's a good reason for that:

The premise of KU, for anyone who doesn't know, is that readers who sign up for it can read program-included books for free, and then the authors receive payment from Amazon based on the number of times the book is read to completion. It's an imperfect system to start. For an author, choosing to list a book for KU means you can't offer that book for sale on any other platform: no Nook, no Kobo, no iBooks, nada. That's fine if an author chooses to pull or withhold their books from those other sites.

The problem? Amazon counts books posted on pirate sites as being in violation of the KU agreement. Pirates create an epub file, illegally upload it, and the author is none the wiser. A crackdown in the last few years has seen multiple authors get deplatformed by Amazon because of this, and they've either not been able to restore their author accounts, or spent lots of time and money trying to get back on the platform. There were even instances of authors reporting "rival" authors to Amazon in a deliberate attempt to get their books booted off the site. 

It's ridiculous, and it needs to be addressed by Amazon, but suffice to say, I have zero interest in getting involved in all of that drama right now. Given the insane pricing of NYT bestselling ebooks (which are never on KU, BTW), I feel very confident in my competitive pricing. LHM is the exception, because 1) I didn't want to punish the readers who bought each installment by undercutting the price on the final, compiled product, and 2) the compiled edition is the length of four full-sized novels. The price breaks down to exactly the same, and, honestly, it's worth it. Think of it as buying a boxed set instead of a lone book.

Okay, I think that's all the bases covered for now. 

This week, Beware of Dog turned two weeks old, and I announced that the next release will be Drake Chronicles book six, Avarice of the Empire. Tomorrow we'll dive into Chapter Twenty in our Fearless Read-Along. Make sure you're following me on one of the accounts listed above to stay apprised of everything that's going on in my neck of the woods! Huge thanks to everyone who follows, likes, shares, and comments. You guys are the absolute best! 

ICYMI 3/16

 

I feel like I ought to start making Sundays official catch-up, in-case-you-missed-it days. Today, I'm feeling incredibly thankful to have made it through last night's violent storm outbreak with no damage to people, animals, or property. We got lucky. 

Here's what's happening in my personal authorsphere:

1) I have a giveaway going on my Facebook page; I'm giving out five copies of the newly released hardback edition of Fearless. You can check this post for entry details. 

2) If you'd like to BUY a hardback copy of Fearless, you can find it here. 

3) If you own/work for an independent bookstore and would like to STOCK signed copies of Fearless (or any of my books), please email me at authorlaurengilley@gmail.com and I'll be happy to order, sign them, and send them your way!

4) I'm conducting a one-chapter-a-week read-along for Fearless. Each Monday, I do a write-up here on the blog, in which I reflect back on the writing process, and my artistic intentions with the book, and then readers can ask questions or discuss the chapter directly in the Read-Along Group on Facebook. 

5) I've got multiple projects going, which means I don't make massive progress on a lone project, but will end up with at least three books ready to go back-to-back. One of my projects is a standalone romantic suspense/police procedural that I'm waffling on. I have more than 60k words of it written, so it seems like a shame to abandon it, but I don't really know if it's something anyone would want to read. I might wind up sharing a few chapters here on the blog to get a feel for interest. Aside from it, I'm also working on The Winter Palace, a Sons of Rome betweener novella, Beware of Dog, Lean Dogs Legacy Book Six, and Avarice of the Empire, The Drake Chronicles Book Six. Which book are you most looking forward to? 

6) If you have a chance, and feel like doing so, Lord Have Mercy could use some reviews, either on Amazon or Goodreads. It would help boost the book's visibility. 

Tomorrow, we start the book club discussion for Chapter Six of Fearless, so be sure to join me here, on FB, or Instagram for that! 

What's Next?

 

Since it's not the end of the year, I'm hoping to add to this 2024 stack by at least one more title. But as of now, the book release count is up to five:

College Town

A Cure for Recovery

Lord Have Mercy Part Three: Rising Sun

Lord Have Mercy Part Four: Big Son

Lord Have Mercy: The Complete Novel

Does the final version of LHM count as a release? Since it's only a compilation of previous releases? I'm gonna count it. It broke my brain, so I'm including it. 

All of these releases are available for Kindle, paperback, Nook, and Kobo, and all of them could use some review love! 💖

The typical course of events for me is: edit a project, publish a project, and already be several thousand words into the next project by the time it goes live. Usually, I'm already making daily word counts on the next book while I'm advertising the latest release. 

But that's not been the case this time. After LHM, I knew I needed a bit of a break. I thought if I took a week, that then I'd be raring to go on the next project. But instead, it's been two weeks, and I find that I'm still sluggish. Usually, when someone asks "what's next?" I have an answer ready to go. This time? I'm debating. 

Earlier in the year, I said I was going to dive into the next Drake Chronicles book after I finished LHM. Now I'm not so sure. 

I know I need a Dartmoor break - and for LHM to earn its page count in sales. I have dabbled a little with Avarice of the Empire - the next Drake book - in the past few days. I've added about a thousand words. Today, I'm actually working on the Sons of Rome novella that comes between Golden Eagle and Lionheart, The Winter Palace. Despite a persistent, full-body malaise, it's always a bit of a thrill to return to Nikita's pack. And since the novella is set in Buffalo, a modern-day concurrence of the events that will play out in the Appalachians and eventually Romania in Lionheart, it's not slowed by necessary research. Given the last SoR release was in 2019 - eek! - that may be the project I settle down and get serious with in the weeks to come.

Still, another part of me wants to write something new entirely. Either mystery/crime, or horror, or a blend of both. 

Energy levels are still low, though, so I'm taking things one day at a time. Trying to spend more time outside, walking, working KitKat, enjoying the first orange flickers of fall. The truth is, I don't know exactly what's next, but I do know that spooky season puts me in a vampiric mood...

Fulk shifted back to his human-shape first, snowflakes caught in his unraveling black braid, pale face furious. “What the hell was that? Who’s shooting?”

Anna was next, smoothing down her long coat and making a disgusted face at the mess of wounded vampires. The snow was patchwork crimson, now, and reeking of copper. “It sounded like–”

“Trina,” Sasha said, sprouting back on two legs, wiping his bloody mouth with the back of his hand. He grinned, tips of his fangs showing, cheeks pink from the cold. “I know the sound of that gun.” The sparkle in his eyes dimmed and his smile slipped when he met Nik’s gaze. “Oh.”

“Yes.” Nik bent to retrieve his knife and wiped it on his pants leg. “Very much oh.”

“Jesus,” Fulk swore. He smoothed his hair and regathered his composure. “There weren’t any others, we made sure. Go see about your insubordinate relative.” He jerked his chin toward the trees. “We’ll see about dispatching these wretches.”

Nikita sent him a raised-brow look.

Fulk chuffed and rolled his eyes. “If it would please, captain.”

Anna grinned. “I’m not gonna bend and scrape. You’re not my master.”

Nikita turned. “Sasha, with me.” If the ensuing conversation went the way he suspected it would, they’d need a moderator.

 

~*~

 

Trina hooked her great-grandmother’s rifle over her shoulder on its strap and shimmied down the tree she’d climbed. She was getting better at that – the climbing up and then climbing back down. It was becoming instinctual, finding handholds, sensing which branches would hold and which were suspect. She landed with a thump of her heavy boots in the snow, and when she looked up, Nik was cresting the hill, wind blowing his black coat dramatically back, blue eyes neon against the bleak landscape.

Here we go.

Sasha kept pace at his side, lips smeared red – she’d watched him take a bite out of the lead vampire through her scope – tucking his hair back and talking frantically to his husband in a voice too low for her to hear. Nikita ignored him, taking long strides toward her. He showed all his anger in his eyes; the rest of his face was the same eerily blank mask she thought so many poor Russians had cowered before, once upon a time.

She resettled her rifle, tugged her ski cap into place, and waited for him, feet planted, unflinching. She’d seen a lot of scary shit in her time as a cop, and in her time as a member of this improbable, immortal pack.

She wasn’t afraid of Nik.