I don't know what the heck was up with this summer. It's been weird. Hubs started his own business only to have an accident with nerve damage to his hand that required surgery. So he couldn't work for several weeks during the first half of the summer. Then the day after his stitches came out, I broke my wrist, leaving it useless for the second half of the summer.
"I can't have a broken wrist! I'm a writer," I whined to the ER nurse.
"Oh, no!" he replied. "Which hand do you use?"
It's okay. He got it after a split second, and I didn't have to answer "Same one I use to sharpen my quill," but it was close.
Don't you hate those brain-blank moments?
Good things!
At the same time, some excellent things happened too. First, as you know, my entire backlist and future front list titles (except Wings in the Night) were picked up by Oliver Heber Books. Everything's going to be released in mass market paperback editions! That hasn't happened since pre-2014. Brick-and-mortar bookstores will be able to order my titles from their favorite distributor, Ingram's. This is wonderful for me. It's a process and will take some time to complete, but it's happening as we speak.
But this change brought work. Every link to every title changed. Many of the covers changed as well. It took hours of work to gather and update all the new links (5 for each title, 40+ titles) and replace them on my website. Days of work, and it kept going and going, as retailers went live one by one, each at a different time.
But I did it! All the books contracted to OHB have made the transition. All their links and new covers are in place on my site. Phew!
Wings Return to the Nest
Simultaneously, another great thing happened; I got back the publishing rights to my entire Wings in the Night series! I was sure I'd die before these books reverted, and they are my babies. But of course, this meant more work. First cover art design and creation. Then every title (20) had to be scanned, then formatted, then proofread. Back cover blurbs had to be written, a publishing plan put into place. Plus, I decided to create a series of short stories from Rhiannon's childhood to release with every Wings book, so I had to get those written. AND I had to recreate every book's page with all new links on my website. Again.
With one hand.
And I did it! Well, I'm doing it. Wings in the Night books are dropping every other Tuesday until the full series has been re-released. 1-5 have come out so far, and 6-13 have pre-order links. They all have cover art. I'm only one release ahead on the short stories, though, so I need to get hustling on those.
Wings in the Night flies into the Future
Here are my future plans for Wings:
The 3 Wings in the Night: Reborn books will be integrated into the main Wings in the Night series. I only made a new series because I didn't have rights to the old one when I left Harlequin. Now I do, so they can be in the same series as they always should have been. So Twilight Guardians, Twilight Vendetta, and The Rhiannon Chronicles are Wings 21, 22, and 23. Or will be, when it's their turn. These three are on sale now, with their old covers, but the new editions will include more of the Rhiannon stories, so you might want to wait. The novella Dead by Twilight is still owned by Berkley. Because we can't control it, we can't number it within the series--it's a whole logistical thing. So it's unnumbered, but still listed as part of the Wings in the Night series on my website, and we're trying to get it added to the series page at Amazon.
Fear the Reaper, which was a serial story for newsletter subscribers a couple of years ago, will finally be fleshed out into a full length novel and released, also, I hope, in the summer of 2023 as Wings in the Night book 24.
The Young Rhiannon in the Temple of Isis stories that appear in each Wings re-issued title, will all be published together in one book in the summer of 2023, after they have all been written and have had a proper edit. This will be Wings in the Night 25.
Fiona: Aberrations, sequel to Fiona: Origins is also planned for release in 2023. These are their own series, but are set in the Wings in the Night universe and Rhiannon and company appear. So they're crossover novels.
I am absolutely committed to creating new books in the Wings in the Night series going forward.
A Writer Writes
Finally, all of the logistical stuff is done on my end. It's September 1st, and this is the month when I can really dive back into my writing! I will be wallowing in The Fatal Series book 4, Fatal Phantasm, which has a deadline now. I have also set a deadline for the next Brown and de Luca Novel, which I'll be writing next. At the same time, the Young Rhiannon stories will keep coming. They have deadlines too–two of them a month, but they are flowing beautifully so far.
Balance Restored
Hubby's hand is mostly healed, though his forefinger still has very little sensation. It can take up to a year for the nerves to heal, though, and we expect full restoration. My wrist is mostly healed too. Range of motion is reduced, and some things still hurt, but I can type on my computer at the speed of sound again, and that's what counts.
The Autumnal Shift
I feel like this has been a summer of great change all around me as well as within my own life. Challenging times are always followed by leaps of improvement. Hubs' new biz is taking off now that he's healed. I can devote more time to creating new stories with OHB helping me to manage my old ones. I feel like things are getting ready to pop again in my life and businesses.
In nature, (in the northern hemisphere) the energy of summer–action, growth, expansion–is shifting gently into the energy of fall–harvest, reward, gathering. It's the time when all that has been expressed begins to return. It's the Rule of Three in action. What we put out returns to us, tripled. "Ever mind the rule of three, three times what thou giveth returns unto thee."
Hard times always come to instigate the change it will take to convert them into better times, into great times, and into the very best of times.
May Autumn of 2022 be better times for all of. I welcome it with open arms.