When I first set out to write a book, I had no idea what was in store.
It was a labor of love to write "Blood Moon: Book 1 of the Crescent Crown Saga." I also knew it was a long road ahead, because I have a LOT planned for this flagship urban fantasy/paranormal romance series. I wanted to start off my writing career with an epic that could be revisited by new and old readers alike. I hope that I'm succeeding in that dream.
In some ways, writing Blood Moon was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. Writing a book is like climbing a mountain. So having written one book, writing the second is theoretically easier, right? But just because you climbed one mountain, does not make the second mountain easier. It's still f-ing hard. And the universe had challenges in the works which would stall my progress on the sequel...
The pandemic hardly stopped me from publishing Blood Moon, but it did prevent me from marketing in-person. So it has been a slower than expected launch. However, we have much to celebrate! Daniel proposed to me in December, and we set our wedding day for late October 2021.
Then in February, my fiancé's sister unexpectedly passed away, leaving behind her teenage son. He chose to live with us, so we are now the young guardians of our nephew! Honestly, we made the best of a tragic situation -- giving our nephew the best leg up in life that we can as he goes into his senior year of high school. He's a good kid: very smart, charismatic, and wants to forge his own path. He has a bright future ahead of him!
Amidst that chaos, I was fired from my job. And though that may temporarily set us back financially, ultimately I am using it as a catalyst to make the change I want to in my life while also using the excess time to manage our nephew's affairs. I believe that we will be better off financially than ever before because of that callous decision.
Regardless of the tragedy and chaos my family has faced in 2020 and 2021, I believe now more than ever I have the opportunity to make a difference. Though writing Hunter Moon has been delayed by several months, I'm optimistic about still hitting the October 31st, 2021 deadline, at least for the e-book (but with any hope the print editions as well). This will be thanks to the tireless efforts of my beta readers. (I thank them all in advance!) I wish I could say the same for Wolf Moon at this point, as I had hoped to rapid release it several months after Hunter Moon. We shall see what is possible in the coming months as I search for a new job, plan a wedding, and prepare to run for local office with a campaign launch.
In any case, I will not STOP writing. I have stories to tell and am so ecstatic that readers from all over the world are able to experience those stories! Thank you for reading my books and supporting me!
I promise Hunter Moon is even better than Blood Moon, and Wolf Moon I anticipate will be even better still. I'm excited to see how you enjoy the characters' growth in addition to my writing prowess. I'm simply in love with the Crescent Crown Saga world, and I hope you fall in love with it, too! :)