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Mid Winter

1/26/2015

Forsaken has been turned into my editor, a week early, yeah! It can be really hard to get some distance from a novel you've just written, but I edited until I started moving in circles. About mid to late February I should start the big edits on Forsaken. Desert Rising has gone to production and I am awaiting copyedits and a cover.

Meanwhile, short stories about Sulis and her experiences with Sand Sifters in her desert home have been running through my mind. Many of you know that the novel was originally called The Sand Sifters, and changed to Desert Rising. But I've been thinking about the sand sifters, the desperate gold seekers who explore parts of the desert for gold and gems, relying on luck to find them water before they die. And I still feel like that is Sulis's personality - and therefore she needs to have an encounter with them.
My creativity suffers in the winter because of seasonal affective disorder - but I was digging my house out of yet another snowstorm this morning and I started wondering about the summer between Desert Rising and Forsaken. Perhaps it's time to fill in the gap somewhat.
Meanwhile - what my life looks like right now. Very different than the vista Sulis is viewing when we meet her again in the short story!

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Goddess of the Lap

1/18/2015

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Ember wants everyone to know that even though she she is the most important character in book 2, she is still the same irascible, provoking goddess...er...cat she has always been. She won't believe me when I tell her she is just a minor character, she is not a goddess and if she doesn't get down from the counter right now I'm going to spray her with the water bottle.

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Birds

1/13/2015

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One of the reasons I love living in the woods, is the wonderful variety of birds I can see from my back windows. Some of my favorites are the woodpeckers of all shapes and sizes that come to feed off the suet we've put on our new deck, as well as the bigger Pileated Woodpeckers who feed on the old dead ash trees behind in the woods. One visited near the deck today, and though I didn't get a picture of him - I have a picture from last year when three visited us during a light snow in January. I managed to get two in the same frame.

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Goodbye, 2014

1/1/2015

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I can’t remember a year that flew by so quickly as 2014. And I can’t remember a year that has brought such joy. One email made my year grand. So much can change with just one phone call or just one email. Too often in my past decade, that one phone call has meant someone beloved leaving us, either too soon or after a long life.

But this time it meant a dream, long worked for, coming true. My fantasy novel accepted by a major publisher. A three-book contract. A summer of frantic but blissful writing on the sequel. Fall spent working with an awesome editor to revise (and rename) Sand Sifters into Desert Rising. The work I’ve always wanted to do. And yes, even the hardest edits have been a wonderful challenge. I was afraid that writing to contract would lessen my love of putting down the words – but it doesn’t, it gives writing new meaning, it gives me an audience and a purpose.

Other wonderful things – my Mom is healthy again, adjusting to her new life after surgery with vigor. For the first time in four years, none of our beloved pets passed on and all are healthy. A lovely family vacation. The Studio started out performing wonderfully in winter and though things have certainly gone downhill from there, it gave us a cushion to absorb the difficult times after.

2015 will certain bring its challenges and glories. April 21st I will become a published author. The winter will see edits to the second novel as I wrap my creativity around the third, finishing novel of the series. And a second novel scheduled to be out in July. I’ll have to deal with sales that may not be what I want, learning to self-promote, creating a Teflon exterior for negative reviews.

But nothing can take away that moment, May 5th when I opened an email titled “The Sand Sifters.” That incredulous hope, the happiness it gave not just to me, but to my husband, my parents, my editor friend who helped make it happen. Ahhhh…2014 you were glorious. May 2015 have moments that shine just as brightly. And may I have the awareness to savor them, to stay in the moment and soak it all in.

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Author

I am a writer, with a three book contract with HarperCollins Voyager Impulse for my Desert Rising Fantasy novel series. I also teach yoga and give yoga workshops and sing kirtan with my husband, Brian.

Links

Links to other great writers.
Bishop O'Connell - Harper Voyager Impulse Colleague

A.F.E. Smith - Harper Voyager Impulse Colleague

Andy Livingstone - Harper Voyager Impulse Colleague

Katherine Harbour - Harper Voyager Impulse Colleague

Nancy K Wallace - Harper Voyager Impulse Colleague

Lexie Dunne - Harper Voyager Impulse Colleague

Ingrid Seymour - Harper Voyager Impulse Colleague

Mid Winter

Goddess of the Lap

Birds

Goodbye, 2014

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