Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, everyone!

Last year was an interesting one, to say the least, so let’s do a 2023 recap:

• I had my sweet baby girl in July. Motherhood has been such a wonderful blessing and she really is just the best! On the internet I refer to her as Little Bear, so know that’s who I’m talking about whenever I mention her

• My writing took a backseat in 2023, as pregnancy, motherhood, & getting settled into a new house became the priority. However, I am happy to have given it a greater priority in this new year.

• I took on more responsibility at our church this year, and enjoy being able to serve the people there.

• In the spirit of new things, we also had to get a new car as sadly, my wonderfully reliable Honda Pilot was side-swiped by someone.

However, with the mix of good & bad that came with 2023, the Lord really has blessed us. Our lives were able to be slow & sweet this year, as we soak in all we have been blessed with.

Writing Updates

I know the main reason people subscribe to this newsletter is to hear more about my writing, so here we go!

I am currently writing Rose’s Ruin, the prequel to Rose’s Wrath that came out in March of 2020—has it really already been that long?! The first draft is mostly complete, and then from there I will send it to some proofreaders, hire an editor, grab some Beta readers, and hopefully have this book out to you all by the end of 2024. Then, it’s on to focusing on the last book of the series.

While Rose’s Ruin will be the shortest book I’ve written, it’s definitely been a challenge to write. It’s a story framed on war, and as I’ve gotten into the nitty & gritty of what that is, the story grew dark and depressing. Now, I’ve never been one to shy away from dark or somber themes, but Rose’s Ruin definitely has offered topics I’ve never had to delve so deeply into before.

Before I end this newsletter, I want to share a quick snippet for you of what I’m writing currently. Hope you enjoy!

***

Wordlessly, he handed her the slippers, cursing her very birth as she took them. Averting his eyes, he focused on the slippers themselves. They were beautiful, really. Blood red, shimmering with gold dragon scales, and consecrated in the blood of a griffin. The perfect vessel for dark magic, he thought with a shudder.

“Ah, my beauties.” Viren’s eyes pulsed the same color as the slippers as she held them tightly in her grasp. “These will do wonderfully.” Closing her eyes, she spoke softly the language of the Ancient Ones:

I come with vengeance 

I come with blood

I am the fire in the night

I am the overwhelming flood

I will lose my heart

I will lose my soul

To bind my very self

To these slippers of red and gold

The candles in the room flickered, a slow chill creeping into Pan’s bones. There was an element to dark magic that he detested. It brought on the feeling of a thousand tiny spiders creeping up his skin, making their way into his mouth. Even now, he had to force himself not to brush at his arms.

His eyes darted towards Viren, fear settling uncomfortably in his stomach. Waves of shadows pulsed just under her skin, dancing to the haunting melody of her beating heart. As he watched, the shadows darted from her skin, clinging to the slippers that now glowed brightly.

It was done.

With just that one act, Viren had become the most powerful being in Denthlire, perhaps in all of Atulau.