I know, I know – it’s been WAY too long. When I began this journey as a professional author, strict writing schedules and regular blog posts were going to be the norm for me. Ah, but life. Life has a way of throwing things your way that totally and completely offset every good intention you have. Despite my efforts, life did get in the way this time, which is why I haven’t been active on my blog or my social media. Here’s how it went.

The last time I posted, we were just two weeks out from the launch of Skylark: The Dragon Lady, and it was such a bittersweet time that I was soaking in as much as I could. Justin and I hosted an awesome book launch party at our home, we had a fancy dinner with close family and friends to celebrate, and I was doing great with getting books sold at book signings. I was on author-cloud nine. A week after my book launch, that all came crashing to a halt.

In early August, we went to the beach with some friends and enjoyed a nice day in the sun. Once we got back home, Justin called me from the bathroom: “does this look normal to you?”. On his neck there was a lump the size of a tennis ball, just above his collar bone. We thought maybe he’d been stung or bit at the beach and we didn’t know it, but it didn’t itch, and the way it felt was concerning. That night we went to urgent care and the doctor told us it looked like a goiter, but it didn’t make sense for him to have a goiter. The doctor advised him to go to an endocrinologist that week just to be sure.

Later that week we were sitting in the chairs at the endocrinologist’s office hearing words like “cancer”, “lymphoma”, “radiation”, “surgery”. Those are words that you NEVER want to hear associated with your significant other. Needless to say, any plans to spread the word for Skylark, and to plow ahead on its sequel, fell to the bottom of the list. 

Justin ended up having surgery to remove his thyroid, and it was a blessing that he was able to get it taken care of so quickly. The biopsy on his thyroid revealed that the nodule was “pre-malignant”, which means that had it been in his body any longer than it was, it is likely that his story may not have ended as well as it did. He recovered quickly from surgery and is now on thyroid supplements for the rest of his life, but he has adjusted so well that it’s almost as if that time in our lives was just a dream and didn’t actually happen. I praise God for the fact that Justin’s life was spared and that he is recovered with no other issues.

Once he recovered fully from his surgery, we knew it was time to do something we’d been talking about for a while. In March we put our home in coastal Virginia up for sale and moved just outside of Nashville, Tennessee at the end of April. Needless to say, the process of moving and selling a home takes time, especially when moving between states, so we had been preoccupied with the move since January. 

See how crazy life can be? One month we were not sure if Justin had cancer or not, and just a few months later he is completely healed and we are living in a different state. I’m sure now you can understand why I’ve been pretty silent.

Now that those things are out of the way, it is truly my goal to do more for my readers. Moving to Tennessee was a blank slate for me. We did not know ANYONE when we moved, and it’s been very quiet and peaceful here. It has given me a lot of time to focus on things that were often put on the back burner when still in Virginia, and my writing is one of those things. Posts from me are going to become more regular, and my writing life is thriving after our move.

I have many works in progress. One is a kids picture book, another is a Stephen King-style, slow-burn thriller, yet another that is a literary fiction/love story fusion, a memoir, some short fiction, a Christian women’s book on hospitality, the list goes on. I don’t want to be an author that fits into one box – I want every debut to be different, to reach an audience that might not have been reached by my previous works. All of those are coming down the pipeline, but the most exciting news comes next:

Skylark II is finally fully-written! It has taken me about two years to get this one done, mostly because LIFE again has gotten in my way several times, along with my own doubt and discouragement that what I was working on was not good enough. Since moving to Tennessee, I knocked out the last chapter and the epilogue, and I am very proud of how it turned out. I don’t think I will ever be able to say it’s perfect, as most authors will never agree their own works are perfect, but it is the best I think I can make it for the world to read. 

I look forward to keeping you all up to date on the progress and production of Skylark II. It’s been an emotional, bumpy road, but it’s coming, I promise.

Thank you all for being patient with me, and for your support. <3