welcome back

I'm trying to get on top of everything life has been throwing at me. And it's been a lot!

I’ve spent the past month navigating the healthcare system for various reasons, hence my absence from the internet. If you’ve cared for someone who had a stay in the hospital, or if you’ve experienced anything other than a routine physical recently, you’ve probably gotten a glimpse into the state of the United States’ healthcare.

But instead of boring you with all of my opinions on that subject, good and bad, I thought I would share what I’ve been escaping into recently…

Reading: As an escape during tax season, I immersed myself in the audiobook version of Sarah J Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses series. Irresistibly sexy and action packed within a thrilling fantasy world, this series was the dark escape that I needed. Reading that series made me that much more excited to edit The Redeemed, Book 8 of Maggie Sunseri’s Lost Witches of Aradia series. If you haven’t read this entire series, what are you waiting for?

Listening: I was late to the episode of Brené Brown’s Unlocking Us: Free Speech, Misinformation, and the Case for Nuance, where Brené speaks to ACLU attorney Ben Wizner. This was from February 2022 back when something went down with a popular podcaster on Spotify, and other podcasters questioned whether they should keep their content on Spotify. I was podcasting at the time and I remember wanting to at least discuss the topic with my podcast cohost because it was THAT big. Brené and Ben Wizner do a great job of breaking down the topic of free speech and misinformation as it relates to the law and people’s civil rights. And I love that they both acknowledge that none of the issues surrounding freedom of speech or censorship are black and white, but both are so important to get right. Even now, this is a good listen.

Watching: I read The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave a few years ago, and now I’m watching the limited series on Apple TV+. Definitely worth reading and watching. I also just finished the final season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. So good!

Writing: I am committed to finishing the writing of Danger is in the Shadows this summer, to be released on my late mother’s birthday, September 12, 2023. Just yesterday, I decided that I have started the fourth book in the Paynes Creek series all wrong, so I plan to rewrite the opening chapters today. You can see how it currently begins on my website, but you better hurry because I plan to take it down once I have a new beginning. If you want to know the minute Danger is in the Shadows releases, be sure to sign up for my author newsletter while you’re on my website.

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