Hi there. Me again. I know, I know, I fell off again RIGHT as I talked a big game about coming back to writing and publishing. I was chugging along and doing great at Camp NaNoWriMo in April.

And then, my beloved 11 year old cat, Maggie’s kidney illness progressed to the point of affecting her quality of life. We had to say goodbye to her in the middle of April.

Maybe it’s pitiful, but I couldn’t continue the rewrite. I couldn’t focus. I even went through one of the longest, driest reading slumps I’ve been in since before the pandemic.

But I kept my appointments with my editor and my proofreader. Once all corrections were applied, my excitement for the book returned, as did my reading voracity and my focus on various other crafts I enjoy.

Editing and proofreading went very well. I don’t know if I’m just getting better at taking criticism or if my writing is truly improving, but I was pleased. I found my favorite formatting walkthrough video on YouTube and really, THAT was just like riding a bike. I’ve struggled a bit with remembering all the little pieces of self-publishing, but luckily I saved most links and how-tos.

And here we are. As you can see above, this book is called Fire & Rain and is the second installment in my Sweetshade series. I still plan for there to be more in this series, but I am pivoting to writing something a little different in November…more on that later.

Here’s the blurb for Fire & Rain:

Sonny Lakes has found a home with Abe Ellis in Sweetshade, a small town as calm and inviting as the name suggests. But even places like that can hide sinister secrets and dangerous threats.

After facing down Sonny’s stalker and coming to terms with their need to work on better communication, they seem to have settled into the domestic bliss they’ve both been craving. But just as Sonny is about to return to the medical field and pursue his dreams, he gets enmeshed in an all-too-familiar nightmare, upending any sense of stability he had.

Their hard-won peace robbed from them, Abe fights to keep Sonny on the path toward the career he’s always wanted. Abe is willing to do whatever it takes, but his increasingly risky deceit not only threatens their relationship, but his own life yet again.

Can Sonny and Abe find their way through the fire once more and learn to dance in the rain?

Warning: school shooting, gun violence, PTSD

Sound interesting? Maybe you don’t remember much from Blind Faith. It has been over three years. That’s okay though, because in honor of publishing the second installment, Blind Faith is now only $.99 (and remains in Kindle Unlimited, as always). If you do remember Sonny and Abe fondly, you can preorder Fire & Rain here.