Uh... Wow. What's Going on With this Blog?

Long freaking time no see, eh? I'm thinking of doing a little revival here because I need the habit of writing to come back and sit with me again. After 2020, things got a bit crazy for me. If you read my post from that year, you'll know a lot happened, but the blows just kept coming.

• My second-eldest son died.
• My mother died.
• My hubby changed jobs.
• I changed jobs.
• My art exploded (if there's one positive thing about grief...).
• We decided to move this year (after renovations--Lort help us all).
• I got five new pets, and I've lost four of them--the one hitting the hardest was the first one I got. She was the goodest girly and was very special to me.
• I haven't been able to write novels.

All that being said (typed?), I'm trying my darndest to come back. I have my last author conference this coming April (Authors Rock Roanoke), and after that, we move. I'm hoping to get back to some semblance of a routine once the dust settles.

Also! If any of you read Recipe for Redemption by TJ Kelly, a collab with Tia, Kelly, and myself, you'll be excited to know we've officially finished book two and are moving on to the editing stage! Yay! I think our title for book 2 is: Recipe for Redemption 2: Izzy's Story. After we get this one published, we're going on to Frankie. ;) I just have two more recipes to add to book two: Gluten-free Corn Cookies and Corn Cakes. Hey, it's set in Iowa. No shade. It will, however, have a hushpuppy recipe in it that's TO. DIE. FOR. So freaking yum.

I'm hoping to have copies at Roanoke, so if you're into RfR and would like some free recipe cards (and maybe the second book?), tickets for the event are only $5, and you can get them at the link above.

I have to say, I'm so grateful for those two ladies. We've continued our tradition of a yearly trip together after 2020, and those have given me something to look forward to while helping me hold on to the small thread of sanity I have left.

Did I say sanity? Not even sure what that means any longer, but here we are!

Moving on...

I'm still editing and formatting, and one of my clients is releasing the last in a series soon, so I'll be back with details once that happens.

Hold out hope I can keep going with the blog. If I can, it'll mean new books are coming soon. I have a number of them mostly written, so it shouldn't be long before they're done. Book three in my Guerrilla Grannies series, and book two in the Angels and Vampires series. Again, both are nearly done, but when I had things start to go south, they really took me off my path. I also have a cult book I plan to release sometime this year. It's also about two chapters from conclusion but has no definitive cover yet, BUT the handbook has a loose cover, and I'll show it below. I had a difficult time finding the motivation to finish any of these things. Seeing as I'm here now, it's a positive thing. Cross your fingers!

I have to include some of the pretty things in this post for you all to look at, so here you go!

Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Guerrilla Grannies and Upcoming Releases

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Like I said in my last post, I'll only be around the blog to discuss new and upcoming books. Well, I'm here! I have so many things in the works right now. Let's not get bogged down in leader fodder. Grab your coffee or tea, and jump right in!

My releases for the next few months are as follows:
Gray is the New Black - Guerrilla Grannies - Mission One -- December 9, 2019
'Twas the Night Before - A Magical Holiday Romance Anthology -- December 17, 2019
Vanquished - Angles and Vampires - Book One -- January 21, 2020
Pushing Up Posies - Guerrilla Grannies - Mission Two -- February 20, 2020
Breaking Bad-er - Guerrilla Grannies - Mission Three -- April 8, 2020

Here are the covers! Aren't they prettiful?

I have Diablerie, book two of the Angels and Vampires series, halfway done, and Breaking Bad-er is also halfway there. I'll be finishing the planned Guerrilla Grannies books first, and then I'll let you know when Diablerie will release.

Anyway, about Gray is the New Black and why I wrote it.

As many of you may know, I lost my mother a year ago in September. She LOVED The Golden Girls and Designing Women. I thought: Why not bring a bit of Charlie's Angles into the mix? and my Grannies series was born. I had the pleasure of reading my mom the first five chapters of Gray while she was sick in bed. She laughed so hard she lost her breath. Yeah, I've been working on that book for that long. I fell into a bit of a rut when she died, and I ended up writing Manipulation instead of finishing Gray. Every time I read that book, I'm reminded of her. It's both a good and a bad thing.

I miss her like crazy. She was the one I ran all my ideas past, and she was always the first to get a book I was working on.

That pug on the front of the book is featured heavily in the story. His name is Biscuit, and he was a real pug that belonged to a very good friend of mine. He passed not long before my mom did. To help ease the pain, I put him in a book so my friend would have a little piece of him forever.

Anyway, before I depress you some more, if you'd like to read chapter one of Gray, you may do so on my website here. If you're a subscriber to my newsletter, you'll get something really special this Friday, too.

If I don't talk to you before Thanksgiving, please have a wonderful holiday!

Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo