And so it begins…happy holiday season!

Happy Holidays everyone! It’s that time of year again…everything seems incredibly busy with an endless to-do list to tackle before celebration events are upon us.

I myself have been extremely busy. Between recording the series for audiobook, writing book 9, and dealing with various health concerns for myself, my children, and my husband, these past few months have not been easy. (Hopefully, we will all be okay, but when your loved ones are having major health issues it is very stressful!).

That is what fantasy is for though, right? When real life is proving difficult to handle, it is very comforting to be able to dive into another world and wrap it around you like a security blanket. Of course, I don’t often have the time to concentrate on writing in between shopping trips, medical phone calls, and whatnot…but when the day ends and nothing else is expected… When we can all hide away under the covers without responsibility and lose ourselves in another world – whether you are reading it from the pages or I am closing my eyes and writing it in my head…those times are of such great comfort to me and I hope they are to you too!

As joyous as the holidays are meant to be, they can often be overwhelming and stressful too. Don’t forget to allow yourself a few moments to shirk responsibility now and then, and visit friends between the pages to forget your own problems for a while and live in another world. The vampires, humans, and werewolves of the Almost Human series are all so dear to me and I treasure being able to spend time with them when real life is overwhelming. I hope they bring a smile to your faces, and warmth to your hearts as well, to help you through real-life struggles.

I’m still only a little over halfway done writing book 9: Almost Human Nature, but only because this particular storyline is quite complicated and I’ve had a lot of logistical issues to work through to make everything fit together as it should. A lot of characters are playing important roles in this section of the story and keeping track of who should be where when, who can feel whom through venom marks, which characters are motivated to do certain things – it becomes an awful lot to keep track of, but when each little part seems to finally click into place and the story suddenly flows perfectly, it is very rewarding! So, although I may not have as much actually written as I’d like, I have been doing a lot of shifting around with the outline, planning how things will work out, and then also losing myself down rabbit holes of research to make sure certain settings can be accurately described and finding just the right places so I can picture everything clearly as it happens in my head. Once the groundwork is properly laid, hopefully, the actual writing will flow smoothly and quickly! I am still shooting for a Spring release. That being said…I’d better get back to writing!

Those of you who live in snowy places – stay warm and safe! And to all of you – no matter where you are and which holidays you celebrate, I wish all of you a joyous season and a happy new year!