I hope you're all well and safe in this world turned upside down. It's been over a month since I've done an update, so it seemed like time. First, I want to thank everyone who has bought/read/reviewed/spread the world about The Artist's Masquerade, which is back out in the world as of May 4th (yay!). Going through The Artist's Masquerade to polish it up for rerelease, I realized how much I still love this book, which was my second published book back in 2015, and Cathal and Flavian, my overly proper and dutiful duke's heir and the sharp-tongued artist in disguise he falls in love with. I hope you enjoy their story too. If you haven't read it yet (or if you want a new copy with the pretty new cover—the story remains the same for the original), you can find it everywhere in ebook and paperback, and the ebook is 40% off on NineStar's site. Find links over here.

The Scholar's Heart should be rereleasing from NineStar on July 13th (more yay!). I'm working through proofreads of it now. The story has again remained the same. I did some polishing of the language and NineStar gave it an edit to catch things I missed and make it conform to their house style. It will be getting a pretty new cover from Natasha Snow to match the covers on the rest of the series, and I'm so excited to see it and share it with you. I've also been working on edits for The Sorcerer's Guardian, the fourth Tournai book and the last of the books I took rights back to from Dreamspinner in October. Again, no major changes to the story but it will get a new cover as well. I don't have a release date yet, but I'll share once I do. After The Sorcerer's Guardian is back out, the new Tournai book will be next out from NineStar.

Writing is still going slowly. I'm still working on the first book in my new dragon shifter series, and I'm still planning on self-publishing these. I love the characters and I'm excited about the project, so it's extremely frustrating that my brain won't cooperate. It will get written, though—it's just taking a longer than I planned.

If you're looking for some new books or if you've missed any of my books, NineStar Press is still running their sale. All of my books are 40% off in ebook on their site. I hope you find something to escape into if you need it.

That's all for now. Take care of yourselves and each other. Stay home as much as you can, stay safe, wear masks. Love to you all.

I'm sorry it's been so long since I did one of these updates! Time got away from me, and then the world turned upside down and March feels like it was a decade long and now I can barely remember what day it is...I doubt I'm the only one. I'll try to do better, and I do have some news to share with you.

First, though, I want to thank anyone who bought/read/reviewed/shared The Prince's Consort when it rereleased. I'm so happy and relieved to have this book back out in the world—it's my first published book and it hurt to have to pull it from Dreamspinner—and so grateful to all of you. If you haven't reviewed yet, I would truly appreciate even a short review. They help authors so much.

I turned in the proofread for The Artist's Masquerade at the beginning of the month, and it's off to be formatted and finalized. It's rerelease is scheduled for May 4th, barring anything unforeseen happening. I'll be thrilled to have Cathal and Flavian's story back out in the world. I've cleaned this one up a little, but no big changes have been made to the story. It will have a gorgeous new cover from Natasha Snow, which I'm so excited to share with you soon (seriously, it's so pretty).

I'm currently working on the edit of The Scholar's Heart (and Natasha is working on the new cover!). I don't have an estimated date for its rerelease yet, but I'll let you know as soon as I do.

Writing has been slow the last month or so. I'd hoped with all the enforced time at home I would be able to get lots written, but that hasn't been the case. I've been anxious and had trouble focusing, but I'm still pushing to write as much as I can and trying not to be too hard on myself when that isn't much. I'm currently writing the first book in a new dragon shifter series, while brainstorming ideas for the next Tournai book and another new trilogy.

If you're looking for books to distract you, NineStar Press has extended their sale indefinitely. The whole site is 40% off, so all of my books (including The Prince's Consort) are on sale. Grab yourself something to escape into for a while. I hope you're all staying safe and healthy and at home as much as you possibly can. Lots of love to you all.

It's been a little while, so I wanted to give you a quick update. All four Chronicles of Tournai books that I pulled from Dreamspinner are now under contract with NineStar Press. I've made some minor revisions to them, mostly cleaning up language (and will probably do a bit more of that as my editor works her magic on them), and they'll all have shiny new covers to match the later books in the series, but the stories are the same. I just got the proofread for The Prince's Consort, and I've seen the draft cover—it's so pretty! I can't wait to share the new cover with you. The Prince's Consort should be back out in the world in late February. Once I have more information on release dates for the other three, I'll let you know.

I've also just signed a contract with NineStar for a new book in the Tournai series called The Envoy's Honor. This is Griffen's story, and there's some intrigue and mystery and more dragon shifters. It stands on its own, but it definitely follows up on some of the events of The Dragon's Devotion and Corentin revealing his secrets. The dragons were going to have questions for him at some point, right? More information on release dates etc once I have it.

Now that the first four Tournai books are with my editor, I can finally start something new. I've had lots of plot bunnies running around and bugging me, but I think I'm going to start on the first book in a new dragon shifter series first. The series is a spin off from the Chronicles of Tournai, but you won't have to have read those to read the new series (though, of course, I'd love it is you did...). I'm also thinking about the next Tournai book, which I believe will be about Joceline and Oriana. You might remember them if you've read The Sorcerer's Guardian. Joceline is the younger sister of Captain Loriot. Finally, I'm playing around with ideas for a contemporary witch trilogy. That's still pretty vague right now, though, so I have a ways to go before I write anything. (And I'm not much of a planner when I write, so when I say something is vague, it really means I have almost no idea what's going to happen yet!) I have lots of others swirling around in my head, but those are the three ideas that are most pressing right now, so that's where I'm concentrating. And here's a bonus picture of  a bunch of pretty journals I'm planning stories in with my little dragon friend, who thinks I need to buckle down and write those dragon shifters. I think I better listen to him!

I'm not sure when my last writing update was, but I have the feeling this one is long overdue. First off, I finished writing the next Tournai book and submitted it to my editor. Finally. It's been a tough writing year with everything that's been happening in the world and everything that's been happening with Dreamspinner and just everything. So this book took me much longer to write than I expected, and it's the only book I finished writing this year, which wasn't the plan. But I finished it and I really like it. I hope you will too when you read Griffen and Kirill's story. More news on that when I have some for you.

In other Tournai updates, I've been polishing up the first four Tournai books--The Prince's Consort, The Artist's Masquerade, The Scholar's Heart, and The Sorcerer's Guardian—since I got the rights back from Dreamspinner and sending them to my editor over at NineStar. NineStar will be republishing them, but I don't have a timetable for you yet. It looks like The Prince's Consort may be out in February, but it's a tentative date, so don't hold me to it yet! Natasha Snow is working on a new cover for it now, and I'm working on the edits my editor just sent me. So, lots of progress and as soon as I have more news, I'll share it. I've actually really enjoyed going back through these books. My writing has definitely evolved (improved?) since I wrote them, but it's reminded me I still really love these characters and stories. 

Last bit of news for you: The Spymaster's Secret is a nominee in the 2019 #readRchat Awards! I'm so excited to be nominated among such great books and authors! If you'd like to vote for your favorites, the ballot is here, and you can vote through the rest of this week.

The Spymaster's Secret has been out in the world for a week now, and I wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who's bought and read and reviewed it, who's talked about it and shared it and shown it some love on social media. I'm so grateful to you all! I had so much fun returning to Tournai and writing about Alexander and Marcus, and I hope you all enjoy them (and visiting with some old friends as well, if this isn't your first time in Tournai) as well. If you haven't read it yet and you'd like to know more about The Spymaster Secret, you can find buy links and an excerpt over here. 

In writing news, I'm so close to being finished writing the next Tournai book. So close. Really close. I've been working on this book since January, which is the longest it's taken me to write a book since before I was published (it's been a tough writing year, my darlings), so I'm very happy that the end is in sight for this one. It's Griffen's story with a kind of enemies to lovers plot, lots of kissing in the garden, a murder, and more dragons (yay for dragons!).

As for the first four Tournai books, NineStar Press will be rereleasing them. I'm so excited that the entire series will be together on their shelves with beautiful matching covers. No release dates yet, but I'll keep you updated. I do still have a few paperbacks of those four books with the original covers with Anne Cain's lovely artwork. If you'd like copies for your shelves, I'm selling what I have at the steep discount of $7 per book plus shipping, and I'm happy to sign them for you and include bookmarks and other goodies with them. You can use this form to order.

In other news, I'll be signing at the Barnes & Noble in Woodland Park, New Jersey, this Saturday October 26th at noon with lots of other local romance authors. I'll have copies of my NineStar Press published books--The Dragon's Devotion, The Merchant's Love, A Dance of Water and Air, A Harmony of Fire and Earth, and The Spymaster's Secret if the box arrives in time (fingers crossed!). I won't have the first four Tournai books as they're no longer in Barnes & Noble's system, so the store can't sell them. If you have your own copies, I'd be happy to sign them if you bring them along. Come say hello if you're in the area!

It's been a while since my last update, so I have to apologize. I never meant to go so long between them!

Progress on The Spymaster's Secret, the next Chronicles of Tournai book, is moving along well. If you've missed when I talked about it, The Spymaster's Secret is a fantasy romance between Alexander, a young flirtatious, charming royal cousin with hidden depths, and Marcus, an older, more serious widower with a mysterious job. It's an opposites attract, age gap romance about two people learning to trust themselves and each other enough to drop the masks and take a chance on falling in love. I've shared a couple of snippets during Rainbow Snippets, so check those out if you haven't yet! I just reviewed the proofreader's comments and sent the file back to my editor so it can be formatted. I've also seen a draft cover by the wonderful Natasha Snow. Hopefully, I'll have a final one I can share with you soon. It looks like we're still on track for a mid-October release date. More information as soon as I have it.

Part of the reason I haven't written an update in a while is that, honestly, writing hasn't been going so well this year. I'm sure the effect of state of the world and the state of the industry on me are at least part of it. I'm getting words out a lot slower than I usually do, which has been frustrating and upsetting because I want to get these stories written and into your hands. I was hoping to have the next Tournai book (Griffen's story) finished and submitted to NineStar about now. Unfortunately, that isn't going to happen. I'm now aiming for the end of September. Fingers crossed I can get lots of words written and meet my new goal.

I also wanted to say a few words about Dreamspinner Press, though I'm hesitant to do so. I haven't said anything about the situation publicly because honestly, I didn't want to get yelled at by others who have feelings that differ from my own, and I'm really hoping that doesn't happen now. My first four books (the first four books of the Tournai series) were published by DSP, and they remain with DSP for now. I assume most of you know the background of the situation with DSP's nonpayment/late payment of authors and other contractors. My first quarter royalties for this year were over two months late and finally paid without the promised interest. My second quarter royalties have not been paid yet. Obviously, I'm upset by this, as contractually DSP is supposed to hold my royalties for me and pay them to me quarterly (as it is obligated to do for all authors). It's just as obvious that they did not hold onto this money for us as they were supposed to. (If you want a simple explanation about small press publishing and what should happen and what happens sometimes when things go wrong, check out this post by Julia Talbot.) I'm not sure what I'll do going forward. As I said, my books are still with them. I can't afford the expense of self-publishing four books at once right now, and I don't want those books out of print for any length of time as the next book in the series comes out soon, so I've left them where they are. This might change at some point. I just don't know. I said earlier that I'm upset, and I am, but I'm also confused and tired and frustrated and a bunch of other emotions, and all of that has a horrible effect on creativity. These are my feelings, my thought process, and my decisions—everyone is entitled to their own, so please, don't go on the attack in the comments. DSP gave me my first publishing contract; they put lovely covers on my first books and sent them out into the world. They introduced me to books and authors I love as a reader. I hope very much that they can turn their situation around.

On to something more pleasant: I don't have any events currently scheduled in the near future, though that could change, and I know I don't often get to events to do signings far from home. So I was wondering if anyone would be interested in buying signed books directly from me. I'm not sure how I would do it yet—I'm just trying to get a sense of interest—but I would likely take orders for a limited period of time, and then if it goes well, maybe try it again a while later. Maybe an annual thing? Let me know what you think.

That's all from me for now. I'll try to stay more on top of updates in the future.

Just a quick update this month because I am super late with it! At the end of March, I attended the Liberty States Fiction Writers Conference and had a wonderful time. I went to interesting workshops, was inspired by Sonali Dev's keynote about finding her voices, and had fun catching up with other writers and readers. I'm looking forward to next year already!

A Harmony of Fire and Earth has been out a little over month. A big thank you to everyone who has bought and read and reviewed! It means so much to me. I'm thrilled the book is out in the world, and I hope you're all enjoying it! If you haven't read it yet, you can get Harmony and all of my other NineStar Press titles 50% off at NineStar with code Narrative0420 through next week. It's a great time to pick them up if you haven't yet. And if you need to catch up on the first four Tournai books, they're 35% off at Dreamspinner through the 26th.

Writing has been a little slow lately, but I'm working on Tournai book 8 (Griffin's story, plus more dragons!) and also a contemporary royalty romance with a demisexual prince. Tournai 7, The Spymaster's Secret, should be out this fall from NineStar. I'll keep you posted on that as things get going on that.

A Harmony of Fire and Earth has been out in the world for a little over a week now, and I just wanted to start by thanking everyone who has bought it, read it, reviewed it, spread the word about it. I appreciate it so much. These things really help authors. I hope you've enjoyed getting to know Gaz and Rhys and catching up with Edmund and Arden again as much as I did writing them.

Right now, I'm writing Tournai 8, which is Griffin's story (plus more dragons!), and the first book in a contemporary romance trilogy. The last couple of weeks have been frustratingly slow for writing, but I'm pushing to get back into it so I can make more progress on these books. Other than that, The Spymaster's Secret (Tournai 7) is under contract with NineStar and should be out later this year. I'll have more updates on that soon. I'm excited for you to get your hands on Alexander and Marcus's story.

Other news: The first four books in the Tournai series are 31.4% off through today (March 19th) at Dreamspinner, so it's a great time to pick them up if you haven't yet. Don't miss out! Also, I'll be attending the Liberty States Fiction Writers conference again this year. Say hi if you're there, and please come by the book fair on March 30th even if you aren't attending the conference. I'll have copies of all of my books with me (including A Harmony of Fire and Earth), and I'd love to see you!

Happy belated Valentine's Day, all! Much love to all of you!

​We're halfway through February already, which means halfway through JeRoWriMo, NJ Romance Writers' writing challenge month in which we all try to write 30k words in February. I've been trying to use it as a way to jumpstart my writing, which has been slow for far too long. Um, I'm not sure how well it's working since I had to juggle a set of edits for A Harmony of Fire and Earth in there. But edits are done now, and Harmony is off to the proofreader. And I can try to buckle down and get some words written on my contemporary royalty romance (demisexual prince and eventual heir to the throne dodges attempts to push him into a suitable marriage and ends up falling for his sister's old college friend, but an American artist is not who anyone envisioned for him) and on Tournai 8 (Griffen's story! Plus, more dragons!).

A Harmony of Fire and Earth with be out next month. Yay! I should have more for you soon, including a final description and cover (it's so pretty). I've been sharing snippets of it during my weekend Rainbow Snippets here, so check those out.

And finally, I signed a contract with NineStar Press for the seventh Tournai book, The Spymaster's Secret. It's Alexander and Marcus's story, and I really love it. It should be out later this year, and I'll have more on that for you soon.

Back to writing now!

It's my first writing up date of the new year (and does anyone else still have a hard time remembering to date things 2019?). I haven't gotten as much writing done as I'd hoped in the first couple of weeks of the month. I submitted the next Tournai book to NineStar before the holidays and then took a little time to clean and catch up and prepare for the holidays. And I admit that after it's been slow getting back into it. I've made a bunch of notes on the main characters for the two books I'm going to work on (in my pretty notebooks!). Now I need to buckle down and get some more words on the page. Next month should help, since I'm participating in New Jersey Romance Writers' JeRoWriMo challenge to write at least 30k in February.

I'm trying something a little different than usual, and I'm going to see if I can write the contemporary royalty romance that's been in my head and Tournai 8 (Griffen's book) at the same time. I don't usually write two books at once, but I'm hoping it might help me if I can switch between them, since writing contemporary is a little out of my comfort zone. I'll let you know how it goes. I've spent a little time this week working on the blurbs for A Harmony of Fire and Earth, which will be out in March (so soon!). More on that soon too, I hope.

Finally, I have a couple of sales to share with you. The Prince's Consort is 35% off right now at Dreamspinner, and all paperbacks are 30% off through the 23rd, also at Dreamspinner.