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What Happened?
For those of you who've wondered when the next Kiss of the Dragon installment is coming out, when ANY book of mine might come out, or simply where the heck I've been, first let me say I'm sorry. (If you hadn't wondered, no hard feelings. Everyone's been a little preoccupied since my last blog.)
That last post was March 2019, before the global events that overtook us all. Before the rug got pulled out from under my personal and writing life. In that update, I was starting Going to the Altar 2 (a series written under my other pen name). I released that book at the end of May and spent my summer hard at work developing the premise for Heart of the Dragon, Kiss of the Dragon book 3. I wrote drafts for that book and Going to the Altar 3. But neither were working. They needed rethinking and rewrites.
Then came 2020.
I arrived at my hospital job to discover I was now a front-line worker on an active, soon-to-be overwhelmed Covid-19 unit. For two years, nobody on that unit came up for air. Days were long and bleak, and no vacation time was granted. I was exhausted and traumatized, but I didn't stop writing entirely. I spent months trying to rewrite those two books. Then I realized part of the issue with Heart of the Dragon was that it couldn't be the final installment like I'd planned. To truly wrap up the series arc, I needed a fourth book.
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commentary about having a fourth child: "Imagine you are drowning, and then someone hands you a baby." Trying to write during the pandemic was a lot like that. So, for a time, I had to hand that baby back and focus on paddling hard for shore.
I was still paddling when we lost my father-in-law, presumably to Covid. Then the hardest hit of all: my oldest son died in an unrelated and unexpected tragedy. 2022 spit me out the other end with some other souvenirs as well: severe anxiety, PTSD, and an eating disorder. I know I'm far from the only person to come through the past three years with scars, and I can only hope that those of you who are reading this post fared better.
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Current State of Life/Projects
Fast forward to now, when the tide has finally pushed me somewhat ashore. Hopefully, I can finish climbing into my little lifeboat before the next wave comes in.
Meanwhile, I've been working simultaneously on Heart of the Dragon...aaaand, drum roll please...Mate of the Dragon, Kiss of the Dragon 4. I don't have a release date yet, and more rewrites are needed. My goal is to finish both books before I make Book 3 available. And so, I beg your indulgence and patience a while longer.
I also regained contracts rights to a number of backlist titles during the pandemic. I'm dusting these off like the comforting old friends they are, and I'll be re-releasing them over the coming months. First up is Her Full Moon Cowboys, the MMF werewolf romance that became my all-time bestseller. Expect that one to return to online booksellers in early August, followed by the Lone Wolves of Shay Falls books.
And so, my dear reader friends, that is the quick(ish) update of "Whatever Happened to J. Rose?" I'm still here and still writing. And for those of us who love stories and storytelling, there are few greater victories.