Updates & Such

 Is #FlowerFriday a thing? Can I make it one if it isn't? These are from last night's garden sniff-and-wander through the garden with the dog. He does the sniffing, I should clarify. I do the picture snapping while he strains at the end of his leash. It works. Sorta. 

The two weeks since I blogged last have been crazy. We lost my grandfather and my great-aunt within days of one another last week, and things have been a little understandably topsy turvy. We held a visitation for my grandfather Wednesday night, and will have an internment ceremony next month (backlog at the military cemetery). Next week is visitation and funeral services for my aunt. 

In the midst of all this, the weather's been dangerously hot. We've had severe thunderstorms two nights in a row - Wednesday night, rain and standing water on the road forced me to pull over on the way home from the visitation and sit in a church parking lot until the rain eased up. It's been horses out early and in by two. Lots of Miracle Gro in the garden. And, somehow, quite a lot of writing. 

Sometimes, writing feels like the drudgery of a day job - which it is - but in times of stress, I fall back on it the way I always did pre-publication, when it was a wonderful escape from real life stress. 

Hence, updates:

I'm nearly finished with book four in the Drake Chronicles, Demon of the Dead. I'm writing the final climax, now, and then it will be on to edits. Expect an announcement soon. This book has a slightly different feel than the others, mostly because it's so heavily entrenched in the magic of this series. We travel to the Fault Lands with Nali and his Dead Guard, where we learn a whole lot more about the history of the North, its feud with Seles, and what threats lie ahead for our heroes. It's an integral part of the ongoing story, and while it does have some fun moments with Erik and Oliver, Tessa, Leif, Ragnar, and Amelia in the South, Nali's story dominates most of the page time, and will lead right into the next installment. 

I've also started work on the next Dartmoor offering. This one will actually be a Lean Dogs Legacy installment, a smaller, more intimate story starring Melissa Dixon and Pongo, who we met in New York during The Wild Charge. A step back from the big, multi-book action of the last few books, it will be more of a thriller/mystery. I'm going for a Law & Order meets Silence of the Lambs vibe. It'll be my next main project once I finish with DOTD.

So that's what's coming up next. Feeling grateful for family. Hoping for a break in the heat. And hoping to have lots more words to offer soon. 

Have a lovely weekend, everyone. 💓