It’s Been a Long Break.

Hello My Fellow Humans!

It’s been a good long while. So, let’s catch up. In the last year and a half, I bought a house, my dad passed away, I went through a nasty bout of depression regarding that, went to therapy, started picking myself back up, and am really trying hard to get back on track.

(Pictured: my dad, Robert E. McQuiston)

To that end, I have a couple of new projects! One, Abney Kelly and the Yuletide Shenanigans, will (finally) be available on Audible April 9th. If Audiobooks are more your style, please check it out!

Next, starting April 15th, you’ll want to tune into Murder A La Mode on Rumble and YouTube. I will be reviewing books and baking things. Participation is valued and encouraged, so make sure to stop by. I will be posting links to the show on my blog and on my social media sites.

This is the only political statement I plan to make at this time, and only due to the idea that these platforms lean one way or the other. I am a writer. My preferred world is one made up in my head. I am sick of divides and sides. I think if we don’t start reaching out and having conversations, we’re ultimately doomed. Everything I create is for anyone and everyone, regardless of politics, race, sex, sexual orientation, or any other affiliations, who digs what I’m putting down. If you are interested in these things I am creating, welcome, I’m utterly delighted to interact with you. If you’re not interested awesome, I wish you peace and happiness in the things you do enjoy.

As far as social media goes. I’ve had a good break from it since January, and I’m really enjoying that quiet in my soul, so I will not be spending as much time on those places going forward.

Facebook will be limited to ads and updates. I received a warning from them over a funny medieval meme that I shared saying that I was condoning suicide. I looked at this picture every way I could, and I found this was pretty much bullshit. I only share updates, ads, things I find beautiful, or things I find funny or interesting. I did try to appeal, but apparently, they found this to be the correct decision.

Facebook is becoming a bit too Fascist for my liking, and so I’m looking into alternatives that I may genuinely interact with. Not to mention, it’s such a negative place, and it hurts my wellbeing to be on there. If it weren’t the only place I could reach some of you, I’d just delete it and be done.

Now that we got the bad-tasting business out of the way, when my dad passed, I inherited two new friends, Bo and Snow Kitty. I now live with six males, and it’s wildly unfair. On a high note, I am a few steps closer to becoming the crazy animal woman in the woods.

(Pictured top, left to right: Puck, Bo, Puck and Bo. Pictured bottom, left to right: Anubis, Horus, and King Snow Kitty)

On the front of a second Abney Kelly book, all I can say is it’s taken a back burner for the moment. I don’t really understand it, but since my dad died, that particular story just doesn’t want to come out. I’ve tried and tried, and that well has run dry. I do plan to pick it back up; I just have to work through some things first.

However, that doesn’t mean I haven’t been writing. A new heroine has emerged, and her name is Hecate Grimm. I hope to be introducing her to you all in January 2024.

And lastly here are a few photos of my new writing space, which I love, and my make-do closet recording studio.

XOXO,

SamiJo