This year has been rife with ups and downs. The downs concern my little momma mostly. This time last year, she took a fall, broke her arm, and had surgery. That wouldn't be too bad if she wasn't 89 years old. (She just celebrated her 90th birthday in October.) On top of that, she has dementia, so moving her back home to recover wasn't going to work. My brother, among others, tried to get me to move her to assisted living after she finished rehab. I couldn't do it. Why? That's not what you're supposed to do. You're supposed to take care of your parents. Right? I tried. I rearranged my house so she would have a bedroom downstairs. Then I rearranged my life to take care of her. Granted, we've never seen eye to eye entirely. With her being born in the 1930s, she's from a different generation, a different mindset, a different everything.
So why did I think we could live together in harmony? Good question. One my daughter asked more than once. Long story short, my mom wasn't happy. She was no longer in the home she'd lived in 65 years. She no longer had independence. She no longer wanted to do anything but watch mindless TV. Loudly. I'm used to a quiet house during the day. She was combative and hurtful. She doesn't like animals, so she fussed at Luna all the time. None of us were happy, so I made the decision to put her in assisted living. She now has her own apartment filled with as many of her personal effects from home I could fit in her room. She has her independence back. She has friends who have been through the same thing and have dementia. Their conversations are hysterical yet sad. She is thriving. Life is better, not only for her, but my household too.
I had started writing The Ripley Effect before all this happened, and I managed to get it finished while she was here, but it took forever. 9 months. I do my best to get at least 3 books out a year, if not 4, but with Ripley taking 9 months, it just wasn't going to happen. Clash of Kings got me back in the writing groove with less distractions. December is a non-writing month for the most part. Between the holiday shopping (even if it is online), birthdays, the man's work party, mom's laundry and doctor visits and every day visits just to hang out, I'll be behind schedule again but I'm hopeful I'll manage to get 3 books out next year at least.
Sultan's Pride is up next. It will be the 8th Hounds of Zeus MC book, and more than likely, the next to last one. Ace will definitely get his story, but after that, I will be focused on The Rebel Moon Shifters series since there are so many characters waiting to have their story told. I also plan on writing the follow-up to Tap Dancing with the Devil. And yes, at some point, I am going to write the last book in the Music Within series (Curtis get his HEA and the series gets closure). One day I will write another book in the Samuel Dexter Books so Dex and Orlando can ride off into the sunset too.
My 2024 schedule looks like this:
Sultan's Pride, Hounds book 8, April
Blades of Ice, Rebel Moon book 3, August
Tap Dancing with an Angel, December
Is that set in stone? Nope. Could I get these books out sooner? I sure hope so. But life happens, and I've learned to bob and weave like a professional boxer, lest I get KO'd. Please keep your fingers crossed that life is kind next year and that readers still look to those of us who use our brains and heart to write our stories instead of prompting AI to do it for us.
*All of the links above are affiliate links but they are my own affiliate links, meaning I'm selling my own stuff.
