Since I last updated this blog, I have a new “real” job, and a new house in a new city/state. I also have a new plot idea. I have not, however, done any writing at all.

We moved for many reasons: Iowa was too far from family, there was nothing to do there, and my job was too stressful, too precarious, and becoming increasingly too toxic and bad for my health. I still feel exhausted and stressed a lot of the time, but it feels more natural than my previous anxiety. We moved less than two months ago, and starting over does take a toll. But the tremendous weight of a terrible work situation has been lifted, and I feel happy for the first time in years.

Now I hope that once we get used to our new routines I will be able to write again. I still have stories I want to tell: my steampunk trilogy, and perhaps its sequel(s), as well as my new idea – a YA post-apocalyptic dystopia story with a non-binary protagonist.

A year ago I wrote about putting my WIP Brick to bed. Yet there it sits, gathering dust. My queries to lit agents tapered off when I was hospitalized with the flu last spring. I haven’t even looked at the manuscript in months. So, I am giving myself a NEW (Final) deadline: I will be self-publishing Brick by the end of March 2020. It will need a final read-through/edit, formatting, a cover, and a new title. It’s a lot, but I know I can do it. Hold me to my promises, universe!