As many of you may have noticed, I was completely absent throughout 2023.

It was a very interesting year where almost no writing got done, because everything else decided to happen instead…

At the beginning of the year, I finished polishing my latest novel, Where the Fog Falls. Did some light querying here and there. Applied to mentorships and writing contests. All things considered, a pretty easy-going spring.

Then, on May 1st, I transitioned to a new job that left me with almost no energy to focus on anything else. I did a few critique reads here and there. And I decided to give Aiko’s Dive one last shot. There were a few agents left on my query list, so I spent all summer sending out letters and collecting just as many rejections. Nothing new. Nothing surprising.

All that changed at the end of July.

I got a full request for Aiko’s Dive from a small indie publisher I’d submitted it to: Vulpine Press. Surprised, I sent the full request along and forgot all about it, expecting not to hear anything.

At the beginning of August, I attended a virtual writing conference, where I pitched Where the Fog Falls to a few agents. Unsuccessfully. Not surprising, so not really upsetting.

Then, on August 8th, I received another communication from Vulpine Press. They were interested in Aiko’s Dive. They wanted to publish it!

Great news! Great success! About damned time!

I was over the moon, a feeling that was immediately dashed a week later when my cat of 13 years suddenly passed.

Terrible news! Devastation! Depression!

The rest of the year became a whirlwind. My new job demanded all my energy. At the same time, I was squeezing out what little I had left working with my editor to whip Aiko’s Dive into proper shape for publishing.

In the quiet spaces during edits, I tried working on something new, but by the 20,000 word mark, I found myself disconnected from the work. Disappointed with the product. Unsure how to fix it. So, I set the project aside and gave myself some time and space to relax.

Oh…and I started a TikTok account both for a change of pace and to start building a following for when Aiko’s Dive does eventually come out!

Fast forward to now…

Aiko’s Dive is very nearly ready. We’re on the last edit. We have a cover. Typesetting is mostly done (aside from a few tweaks here and there). I’m sure I’ll have a release date soon.

As for what’s next: I’ve turned my attention back to The Ones Inside, which I’m tweaking in anticipation of sending over to my publisher. After that, I plan to shift my attention back to Where the Fog Falls. I’m happy with where the novel is, but I need to write the sequel. So…that’s next.

I can’t tell you how pleased I am to finally be working with a publisher to put my books out. Really, I’m blown away. And for a while, I think, I was completely blindsided by what I was supposed to do next. Suddenly, I went from a cadence of writing one book a year, while querying my last, to actually having an outlet for the books I’ve been writing. Believe it or not, that’s a shock. Especially when you’ve spent so much time doing things a certain way.

Hopefully, this will be the start of a whole new chapter in my writing journey. And I hope you stick around to share it with me.

More soon!