Wheels turning and such

Hi there!

I’d intended to be here a lot more than I have been. Sorry. I could go into it and explain why I’ve stayed away, but really, it doesn’t matter. What matters (I hope) is that here I am, having another go, and I plan to keep at it as much as possible.

I am working on Downside 6. I’ve had a LOT of other things going on–some related to other projects, some related to life in general–but I AM working on it. I plan to post an excerpt here for you in the next few weeks. I know it’s been a long time, and I am so very, very sorry. I truly am. If you knew how many nights I lay awake thinking about you all and how I’m letting you down–well. Let’s just say it’s a lot, and that those nights are part of the other big issue I’ve been dealing with, that has really been the main thing that’s kept me away, which is a fairly serious (to me, at least) case of depression that I’ve been struggling with for some time (along with the carpal tunnel).

I don’t say that for sympathy or as an excuse. It’s not. I’ve left you guys hanging for so long, and I am dreadfully and truly ashamed by it. I only say it so you know what’s happening, that I haven’t been just off playing with Bullitt The World’s Greatest Dog (although we do spend at least an hour every day walking, which helps me some) or redecorating (our renovations have stalled a bit, as we ran out of money and I no longer had the energy for it) or playing Assassin’s Creed 24/7 or any other things; I haven’t been partying it up while you all wait. I promise. It’s just been a really rough few years, guys. Really rough.

There was also some other stuff in there, as I said: a different Downside project that took up a lot of my time, but which doesn’t look as though it’s going to happen now, which made me sad. A gothic I’ve been working on for some time, which is almost done (edits are almost done, the book has been done for some time, but fixing the ending has proved much, much stickier than I’d expected). It’s about suicide and murder and family curses and Greek myths, and I am really excited about it–at least, I was until I got stuck in editing hell for over a year. Now I think it’s the most dreadful and boring book ever written, but everyone else who’s read it loved it, so we’ll see. I love gothics–always have–and I hope you guys do, too.

And I’ve been re-editing my old EC books, with plans to re-issue them myself! Which has actually been fun. It’s nice to be able to remove some of the stylistic quirks and rules imposed by the original publisher and make them feel more like ME. First up will be BLACK DRAGON, my only medieval romance and my only non-erotic romance (still explicit scenes, just not a lot of them). It was also only the second book I ever wrote, and boy does it show. I mean, I wrote it with the intention of writing an “old-school” romance like the ones I read when I was a young teen, so I intended it to be in a different voice and tone–and it is–but goodness. I’m doing the best I can to clean it up and make it flow better, and I hope I’m doing a good job, because it really is one of my favorite books I’ve ever written. For whatever reason, the story and characters have just always kind of stuck with me. Anyway.

I’m hoping to have it for sale on Amazon, B&N, etc. by the end of this month. I know! Pretty exciting–at least, I hope it’s exciting to you. I know it’s not Downside, but it’s been nice for me to take a month or so and work on something different, something already finished, something that’s just fun. And again, I promise, I swear, you will have some new Downside words SOON. I finally feel back in the saddle lately, and I’m working very hard. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get it up on Apple, but as always, you will be able to pre-order it from me or buy it directly from me, and I’ll be posting the Paypal info here soon to do that. (A note on that, though, and I’ll say it again when the time comes: PLEASE don’t forget to say what format you need!! Because in the past I’ve had people pay for stories but not mention the format, which causes a delay when I have to email you and ask–I don’t mind, I just feel bad that it’s delaying you!–and once or twice people have never replied to tell me what format at all. I just send a PDF in those cases, which I guess is fine, but I want you to have what you really want. Again, though, I’ll say all of this again when the time comes–which will hopefully be soon!) I really hope some or all of you will want a copy; it’s not my usual work, but it’s special to me, and maybe it will be to you, as well, especially now that it’s all shiny and cleaned up and edited and expanded.

I really can’t apologize enough to you guys again, or to emphasize enough how much your patience and the fact that you even still want more Downside means to me. I’ll be honest and say sometimes it makes it worse, makes me feel even worse, but overall it’s really, really lovely. I hope you’re still excited when the book is finally finished, which I hope to be able to say it is by the end of this very year. And I will be posting a little scene from it–or part of a scene–here in the next week or two that I think you guys are going to really be excited by (at least I hope). And I will be blogging again, at least once every other week–that’s my plan. I can’t promise they’ll all be long posts, but I’m not going to disappear again. I’m sorry that I have for so long.

So…that’s basically it, for now. I hope you’re all having a wonderful day, which will lead into a wonderful week…and I truly, genuinely hope you can accept my apologies, and forgive me at least a little bit. I’m trying. I’m trying really hard. You all mean the world to me, you really do.