I’ve just been looking back through my posts and realized it ‘s been a very long time since I updated this blog. I apologize. I didn’t mean to be away so long. In fact, I started several posts over the intervening time, but couldn’t finish them. Some were controversial. Others were simply too meandering. So a quick update on what’s been going on with me:
It’s been a rough year, but not horrible. Everyone in the world has felt the effects of COVID-19, of course. Though several of my family and friends came down with it, nobody suffered any serious effects. I’m very grateful for that. But my husband and I have grown isolated during the lockdown. We’re still happily married, despite being in each other’s hair. Erich tends to lock himself in his office during work hours, so we see each other about as much as when he worked away from home. 🙂 And we’ve been gathering together with vaccinated friends and family recently.
Our eldest dog has been worrying us for a while. He suffers from hip dysplasia and goes to physical therapy for it, but the real issue is cancer. He nearly died from a ruptured spleen this summer, but fortunately was saved by the emergency vet. Now he’s undergoing chemotherapy and doing well, but we’ve been warned he has a very aggressive form of cancer, so we’re just taking it one day at a time. We’ve had him since just before we married, eleven years ago, and losing him is going to be brutal. 😦
I have been writing, though it sometimes feels like I have no energy for it—or anything, really. It turned out to be a mistake, pulling all of my novels and novellas from Dreamspinner Press. I’ve republished my bestsellers, but the remaining list was too long and I was overwhelmed (see “struggles with depression”), so I made the decision to give DSP permission to relist a few of my backlisted novels and novellas, simply so I could stop worrying about it and move forward again.
As a result of this, I’ve finally updated the sidebar links, so if you click on a cover image, it should take you to an actual published ebook, either self-published or through DSP (and one through Beaten Track Press—Borderland, co-written with F.E. Feeley, Jr.). The paperbacks aren’t all there yet. I’ve self-published Violated as an eBook, for instance, but I’ve had trouble with the paperback formatting, so it isn’t listed yet. If you see a paperback going for an outrageous price, don’t waste your money. Those are people selling used copies and trying to scam you. The legit paperbacks won’t be that pricey.
Murderous Requiem and By That Sin Fell the Angels are going to be relisted soon. Several of my horror stories, including all of the Gothika stories, are being compiled into an anthology. That should come out soon, as well.
As I mentioned, I have writing, so you’ll be seeing new stories from me in the coming months—a new addition to the Gothika series, for one—but probably not until the Fall.
I’ll keep you posted!
It’s been a scary time for me. I haven’ been able to write since my cat, Koji, passed away last Christmas. It wasn’t just losing my favorite cat, after living with (and adoring) his crankiness and hijinks for twenty years, but that was a big part of it. It was combined with the shocking revelation that Kumar, the “puppy” Erich and I rescued the same year we married and bought a house together, was now too old and arthritic to enjoy playing with the new pup (Nelson) we rescued to keep him company, while we were busy working. Kumar is now on meds that help with his arthritis, but he simply can’t play as hard as he could have just one year ago.
I finished a novel in November, and usually I take a few weeks off before I dive into my next big project. But something went haywire this year. Those few weeks turned into a few months, and now the motivation to sit down and begin writing isn’t really there.
My cat, Koji, died. This was huge. Koji was a mean-tempered old cat (about 20-years-old) who was so vicious to outsiders we literally had to sedate him when we took him to the vet. (I have a hilarious story about the mass havoc he created there once, involving slashed hands and pee splattered everywhere.) Even drugged, he growled and snarled in his crate like a demon from hell, making everyone back away in trepidation. But he loved me. I’d had him his entire life. In my arms, he was a cuddly furball, and that’s where he died, purring, when he could no longer stand up on his own power. I was devastated by his loss, just two days after Christmas.
Our dog, Kumar, is aging. He isn’t exactly at death’s door, but his muzzle has gone gray, and he is now on anti-inflammatories and painkillers for arthritis. Just a year ago, I was feeling guilty that I never exercised him enough, so we invested in a dog enclosure in the yard and got another dog to keep him company and play with him! But I was too late. He’s suddenly not in the mood to play much. The pup and he are gradually becoming play buddies, and the meds help him have more energy to wrestle, but he spent so much time snarling at the pup for trying to pounce on him when he wasn’t feeling well, the biggest side-effect of the new dog is jealousy. We spend so much time trying to convince both of them that we love them. It’s not exactly that things aren’t working out with the new dog, but it isn’t working out as I’d hoped.
And honestly, there is so much good in my life right now. I have to keep reminding myself of that.
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