I'm Not Dead!

No, I'm not dead - perhaps only mostly dead.

It's been a rough year, starting this past winter. We live in New England. You may have seen the weather. We got nine feet of snow every single day, January through March - or maybe it only seemed that way. We did get more than 100 inches of snow January - March, however, which is bad enough. I finally stopped the snow storms personally, by invoking Murphy's Law in mid-March - I broke down and bought a snow blower, which guaranteed there would be no more major snow storms. You're welcome.

The snow, however, brought with it a phenomenon known as "ice dams," which results in snow melting off the roof backing up into the house and causing major water damage. And oh boy, did we get water damage. :-( The water damage then led to mold - lots and lots of mold. We filed an insurance claim in March, tried to start renovations in early April, got delayed by insurance dragging their feet, and ended up evacuating the house on an emergency basis due to the mold in mid-April. We've been out of our house ever since. Battles with the insurance. Battles with contractors. The house had to be GUTTED (I kid you not) and still reconstruction has not begun. We've been living in an 800 square foot apartment with two cats since May and everything we own is in a storage locker. We're starting to think we will never be able to return to our home - or see our belongings again. As I remarked to the insurance agent recently, when we moved out, there was snow on the ground and I was wearing winter clothes, which is what I took with me (the summer clothes went to storage), but now it's okay because it's time to pull the winter clothes back out again, so once more, I have the right wardrobe. Yay me?

So, really, only mostly dead - and starting to return to life. 2015 has been my least favorite year so far, but the good news is that when you are living in literally one room with just four walls and one chair and a bed, the only thing you can do is write. I've written six short stories this year and sold three of them. One, titled "The Tower" and inspired by Andras from "Thereafter (Afterlife #2)" will be appearing in a forthcoming issue of Non-Binary Review's "Alphanumeric" online feature, in conjuction with their upcoming issue themed "1001 Arabian Nights". Another story, titled "The Lady and the Unicorn" will appear in the NH Pulp Fiction "Live Free or Dragons" anthology coming out Fall 2016. And....I have finished the final draft of Whereafter (Afterlife #3). So, in short, I've been writing up a storm and soon the fruits of my labor will be available at a book retailer near you.

In preparation for the release of Whereafter (Afterlife #3), my website is getting a face lift and a clean up (already under way - how do you like my new banners on the home page? Super smexy, huh?), I'm going to be starting a formal newsletter mailing list (sign up is already available on the left hand side of my website), and there will be a cover release blog tour (sign up sheet coming soon). In addition, during September and October there will be a bunch of awesome contexts with big prizes, the ebook of Hereafter will go on sale for $0.99, and I'll be launching a new vLog series, "Afterlife Insider" with behind the scenes info related to the actual myths and legends used to build the universe of the Afterlife Series - all of which is leading up to the release of Whereafter (Afterlife #3) in early November (hopefully in conjunction with Worlf Fantasy Con). So please, sign up for my newsletter and check back frequently. Big things are happening!