Greetings my wonderful readers! Here we are in 2023… in October… which means this year is almost over. The years do roll faster downhill, don’t they? So here’s your update on all things writing:

Progress on the next book has been… slow. I realize that I swore up and down that Book 4 would be the final chapter in the “In Caves & Catacombs” series, but I find myself conflicted on whether to continue with a fifth book. I feel that there is more of the story to tell: what happens to Valentino, Maggie, Susannah, April, Damian, and the others? How do they survive? How do they adapt to the dangers of their new world? To the dangers within themselves?

Here’s what I know: these characters are the bringers of the new world. They will shape everything that comes After. You can see how there is so much more to the story…

And yet!

The first book in the next series, By Scion and Sea, awaits. Set in the same universe and featuring the descendants of the “In Caves & Catacombs” series, the next series explores how the sea people clash with those who bunkered through the apocalypse as they emerge from their underground cities. Love. War. Brutality. Hope. Etc.

I want to jump into this so much… I have a draft that I wrote just about ten years ago now that is in need of serious revision. Well, more like an entire rewrite, really. But I’m struggling to write it because I feel the characters from The Cave are calling to me to write more into their story, which could change how By Scion and Sea comes to be.

Sigh.

And this is how I find myself with zero meaningful progress on either project.

That being said, I am as dedicated as ever to the worlds I have built and those I have yet to build. My writer’s fire still burns brightly, even when internal conflicts suck all the oxygen away.

Please know that I hope to provide more concrete updates on my writing plans and timeline in the coming months. I will also commit to the one project to breathe life into by the New Year.

Thank you all for your ongoing support, and for the wonderful reviews! They all add logs to the fire :)