As I write this, we’re preparing to spend our last night in our West Virginia house. Funny, we’ve been in moving mindset since April but now that the last mad rush is here, it seems like to came out of nowhere.
We’ve been packing slowly for weeks, then stalled as things got crazy on the house-buying end (had to withdraw from not one but TWO contracts. Let’s hope third time’s the charm…) Now, the PODs have been delivered and we’ve been boxing up things and hauling them to the waiting containers like industrious little ants…1 The guys we hired to move furniture come in two days. A saintly couple is lending us their cabin for an entire month, to wait till settlement on the new house. The husband’s motorcycles are stored at one friend’s garage, his musical equipment tucked in at another friend’s house (must be climate controlled.) Our go-bags have expanded to cover four weeks… so much to plan for. If you haven’t moved recently, feel free to live vicariously through us.
I hope to treat the month living out of bags like a mini-vacation. We should’ve thought about traveling; that would’ve been a great use of that time. The weaving equipment can’t come with me (sob) so it’s a forced hiatus from my new passion. What I really need to do is get back to writing, as the past month has been shot to hell. I hope to have a proposal for a new book submitted to my publisher soon… and another book is going to go out on film submission shortly. Plus, I’ve had ideas for short stories that I should get to… For me, at least, it never seems like a good idea to take much of a break from writing. But the friends’ cabin is stocked with puzzles and board games, too.
Because of timing with settlement, I’ve had to drop out of Dark Ink at the Doylestown Bookshop. Sorry! If you live anywhere near, you should definitely make plans to attend. Look at all the fabulous authors who’ll be there!
What about that big news? I’m very aware of the fact that I haven’t been back to fill you all in on the really big news that’s been building s-l-o-w-l-y out here at the ranch. Some people hate vague-booking; I get it. I only mentioned it because I never dreamed we wouldn’t have I’d have things finalized by now—it’s been going on since January—but while we’re close, there’s still a little ways to go. It’s pretty mind-blowing and will be worth the wait, I promise.
Actually, there should be news about two separate mind-blowing things coming soon. Soon-ish? Kid you not.
Roughly two months from Incarnate’s publication! Please allow me to continue to pester you for pre-orders; they really are important so if you know you’re going to get the book (and let me get down on my knees and thank you for that) a pre-order would be a huge help.
Read the prologue HERE.
Book recommendations: Christopher Golden’s latest, Carry Me to My Grave, pubs tomorrow, July 21.
“Maggie Wise will take your eyes.
When Malcolm was growing up, the local kids made up that chant about his mother, claiming she was a witch. He and his siblings did their best to ignore it. Now, Maggie is dying, and those same siblings have left Malcolm and his sister-in-law Violet to hold a vigil at her bedside.
But they’re not as alone as they think they are. A dark figure waits and watches from beneath the willow tree across the street. Hundreds of miles away, an ancient evil stirs in its burrow under a farmer’s cornfield. Across the country, other buried things begin to dream in anticipation of Maggie’s demise. On her deathbed, the old woman elicits a promise from Malcolm, her youngest child―when she dies, he and Violet must return her body to her birthplace in Shediak, Maine.
From the moment she takes her last breath, before her remains are even loaded aboard the baggage car of the Imperial Limited, there are forces trying to stop Malcolm from fulfilling that promise. Violence erupts on the train, evil preys on its passengers, and once the sun goes down, those long-buried things are coming to make Maggie Wise pay for her past. God help anyone who stands in their way.”
I just finished Jordan Harper’s A Violent Masterpiece on audiobook. If you like noir, Harper never disappoints. The novel is told from three POVs as a serial killer is loose in LA. The “violent masterpiece” of the title is a reference to America itself. It’s about the excesses of the rich and famous, a bit familiar these days, but its insights into the concierge service industry are fascinating.
We’ve been packing and hauling boxes for several days straight and I haven’t ached this badly in a long time.
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