Bobbie Isabel's Blog: A Peek into Bobbie's Mind

I started my newsletter in January of this year, and while I've only missed one month, I find it a daunting task every month. Imposter syndrome sets in and I wonder if anyone is going to read it. This month's talks about how I woke from a dream with a new book idea and the new pen name that was required in order to prepare it for publication. Again, I wonder how readers will take it. At the end of the day, I am a multi-genre author, and very much a mood writer in the same way many readers are mood readers. I know that will turn some people off, but I am hopeful it will also interest others. Here are my current WIPs:

YA Fantasy: The Maenad (Early 2024)
Picture Book: Lilli and the Nervous Narwhal (December 2023 if the illustrations are done)
Spicy Romance under Leya Layne: Carol's Christmas Awakening (late November 2023)
Thriller/Literary Fiction/Horror: Still being planned (Some time in 2024)

I have used this site for so many years as a reader that it feel weird to be here as an author and to say I have a book out with more to come, but here I am.

On April 26, 2023, I released my debut poetry collection, When Can We Be Soft?: Poems of Female Resilience, and the audiobook will release on May 26, 2023. I am so proud of this book. Writing poetry is therapeutic for me, and creating this book was cathartic. I continue to write and share poetry multiple times a week on various platforms and am considering releasing at least one poetry book annually from those pieces.

I have a picture adventure book, Lilli and the Nervous Narwhal, currently being illustrated by Beverly Watkins that is slated for release in December 2023. It tells the story of an empathetic young girl, Lilli, who travels to the arctic and makes friends with a narwhal who is anxious about his tooth thanks to her magic pajamas that make her dreams come true.

I'm also working on my debut fantasy novel in which a young maenad works through remnants of childhood trauma, family secrets, and unexpected powers to find her place in the world where she is tied to two pantheons and desired by another. There are elements of Greek mythology and dragons. I am having so much fun with this story, and I can't wait to share bits of it with you.