2021 August

Last month I lost my Nana suddenly. I was fortunate enough to be there for my nana, and to say good-bye, but to also be there for my dad. It has been hard on all of us. What my nana thought was a backache turned out to be her gallbladder. Gall stones were blocking the bile from draining. With surgery, the stones were removed and she opted out of any other surgeries. The unfiltered bile from her gallbladder made her very septic; along with having carbon dioxide in her blood, kidney’s not wanting to function and also her lungs failing (she had severe COPD prior), she was on a b-pap machine to help sustain her. Knowing her very explicit instructions of not wanting to live on any form of life support, she passed away surrounded by family in Oregon on July 29. She was 80 years old. I will always cherish the memories we made together from Sunday morning breakfasts at Shari’s restaurants and riding in her two-door red thunderbird as a kid on our way to the Redland Market for ring pop’s. My nana grew up on the east coast in Alverton, PA and moved out to Redland, OR in the 70’s, where she was an accountant for various companies up until her retirement. My nana was an amazing lady, always happy to have me spend the night and never missed a softball game if she could help it (she hated night driving). She is greatly missed by all of us.

And to add a touch more chaos, things have been a little wild in our household lately. We haven’t moved into our house yet. The bathroom is getting redone still – shipping of the new shower has been delayed for a bit and on top of that, we found termites and are getting the house treated. That’s ok thought. We are grateful to be staying with our cousins where we have a roof and a shower. The original hardwood floors in our home are getting refinished and completed and hot damn they are pretty! And I am thrilled to inform that even though the house was built in 1920’s – no ghosties! The house needs love but that is to be expected since its an oldie but a goodie. The kids have made new friends and start school soon. They are loving it here in Kansas. We are too. Same with the doggo’s and the kittie’s (including the newest kitten – Skittles)

I’m almost done with editing the paranormal romance – Opening Danger: Dangerous Ties Book 1 – and the pre-order will be up sometime in September (once I get it proofread and ready to go). I am so excited for this book that has been a year in the making to finally release on Halloween. I am hoping this will give me enough time to get book 2 – Finding Danger – written and ready to go to the editor. My poor editor is going to be loaded down as she is also working on editing the westerns as well.

Recently, I have made the – Castre World Novel Series – into boxed sets each with a new and gorgeous covers! Part 1 has the two short stories and 3 novels while the Part 2 book has the last 4 novels. I heard someone state they wanted a boxed set, so that’s what I have done and with paperbacks to boot! I am so thrilled to bring those to you all and especially with these gorgeous paperbacks too. I can’t even express how beautiful these are in person. Mouth drooling for reals!

Next on the docket for publication this year is the last 4 western series books. I am hoping to have them out this year, more toward fall/winter. These will be the last for the Whitman Series Romances although there may be more westerns in the future. I heard someone speak about a Mail Order Bride series and that sounds kinda fun to do. Who knows, I may even make it all set in my new state of Kansas. Despite people telling me “it’s pretty darn flat” the area we have decided to reside in, most certainly isn’t flat. It’s gorgeous. And the thunderstorms are awesome!
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Well that’s it for now. I will keep ya’ll posted about the paranormal romance since I know a lot of you have been patiently waiting for that – thank you. I hope ya’ll stay safe and healthy.