MONDAY: What will you do for fun this summer?

I knew it had been a while, so I checked to see. My last MONDAY post was nearly two months ago. (Yipes!) Life went a little crazy, so the break was necessary. But things have settled down, and I miss our little chats. So here we are! Let’s catch up. : )

Focus Time. The main reason I had to take a break from blogging & serials released last Friday. If you haven’t realized it yet, Pursuing Prissie is now available in the Amazon marketplace. I somehow managed to (technically) publish it in Spring 2015 with two days to spare. Summer began on June 21.

This will be the first book in the Pomeroy Family Legacy collection, which will include both full-length novels and some shorter novellas. For those of you who are reading (or have already finished) Prissie’s ten-years-later angelic reprise … I hope you’ll say it was worth the wait. ♥

Before you read Pursuing Prissie. If you have to wait a bit before you can read the book, I highly recommend you first read (or reacquaint yourself with) two stories.

1. If you haven’t read Rough and Tumble in a while, you’re due for a re-read! Ethan and his Flightmates have a role in Pursuing Prissie, and you’ll be reacquainting yourself with Zeke Pomeroy’s two besties—Jasper and Timothy. MORE >>

Trio by MistyTang

2. If you’re fuzzy on details from Angel on High, you’ll definitely benefit from a re-read. There are regular references in Pursuing Prissie to events from Koji’s past. MORE >>

Ethan and Koji

Pursuing Prissie Party! I’ll be hosting a Pursuing Prissie party during the week of July 20. That gives you a whole month to save up for a $5.99 splurge and read the book. The party will include a long-awaited Q&A with the cast and book-related challenges. We’ll wrap the festivities up with a giveaway on July 25, which just happens to be Koji’s birthday.

CJ’s Latest Books. The other reason for the delay in regularly scheduled posts to this blog was … the other three books I published. At the end of May, the next installments in the Byways series released (5-7). Why three? Because the storyline follows three half-brothers who take sibling rivalry to new lengths. Ewan, Zane, and Ganix are racing each other across their homeland in a threefold adventure. If you’re into fantasy, give the series a whirl!

Byways, 5, 6, 7

Teaching and Learning. What else have I been up to? Welp … there’s the Bible study I teach every Tuesday morning. We’ve been using various Bible narratives to springboard into topical studies. Since I write each week’s lesson myself, part of my week is given over to study and preparation. And because our church’s School of Ministry offers college classes to members, I’m auditing a Church History course. Brushing up on my creeds and canons, movements and martyrs.

ACFW Stuff. I was a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers for over a year without thinking much about it. My publisher told me to join up. I did. End of story. Until this winter. Over the last handful of months, I’ve become more involved. I love the monthly meet-ups with other writers in the area. I even ran the June meeting by going over all the different programs the ACFW offers. For my writerly followers … do you have friends who also write? How do you support and encourage one another?

Fun and Games. Now that I have a little wiggle room back in my schedule, I’ve been able to play some games. Our family loves games. Over the weekend, we test-drove our newest. Qwirkle is deceptively simple, with just the right balance of strategy and luck. It’s now on my list of Favorite Writing Break Games. The kids kept saying, “Marmee, stop Qwirkle-ing!”

Qwirkle