Hello, dear readers,
I started to try to manage a breezy tone and still list the litany of this year of discontent, but it doesn’t work. Suffice to say, I could go into detail on personal stuff, but I’m not going to now. I might on some topics later, but in short: I had a brown recluse bite, but treated it, and it seems all better now. We believe Christopher’s stalking situation is resolved (with the extension of the protective order against stalker last week). My father passed away following a brain injury due to a fall. And, a silver lining, I met my half-sister, Tuesday, and we are both delighted to have a sister and getting to know each other. She is wonderful.
Now that I’ve been through a single week with a few relatively normal days (it’s a low bar!), and been able to get some writing done, I’m gently hoping the hell of this year and its topsy-turviness is at an end…more or less (burns sage, palo santo, and knocks on wood). I’m in the closing-in stage on a draft (finally; determined to get it to my editor this month). I’ll have a cover reveal for February 2024’s The Frame-Up for you to look forward to next week along with sharing some of the SHINY (!!!) blurbs it’s picked up already.
Anyway, I’ve been tossed about on the winds of fortune, and — while battered — my resolution for the rest of the year is to be writing as much as possible, while keeping close and connected and caring for my family and friends. I’m blessed with great ones of those and my editors have both been so amazingly understanding about the cursed nature of this year and its impact on deadlines. But I desperately need to finish a project or two for myself. (And, soon, I will!)
In the meantime, some new things!
Anthology Alert
I have a fairly rare piece of shorter fiction in Pairing Up, the new anthology from the shared world Wild Cards universe George R. R. Martin oversees. My contribution is a rom-com novella co-written with Peter Newman. I wrote a bit about how that happened for the Wild Cards blog. Think Richard Curtis, but with superpowered people. It was a ton of fun to write:
I’m sure you’re thinking back to the golden rules of collaboration I mentioned above. Let’s revisit the most important one. What was it I said? Oh yeah: The biggest is knowing who you’re writing with.
Um, oops. Somehow, in the earlyish days of COVID, with Pete in an entirely different time zone, halfway around the world, having never met, we managed to write a novella together in one of the absolute most seamless collaborations of my life. We came up with our pitch over email, went back and forth with George about it, then started writing. Pete wrote his character’s POV and I wrote mine, with us bouncing the story back and forth during the writing. We ended up with a delightful modern romcom novella set in England. (I can say that, because someone else was involved and I’m confident in their work. See how it works?) Anyway, it turned out we were both sentimentalists at heart and shared a similar sense of humor. Our characters worked so well together on the page. We never even managed a zoom, and went all the way through edits just via google docs and email.
Christopher also has a delightful short story contribution. And, I am happy to say, you can pick this up and read it even if Wild Cards is new for you.
The Youngbloods: Blood Lust
Annnd the second volume of my big collaborative project for this year, The Youngbloods, with my beloveds Kami Garcia and Sam Humphries, is also out now!
Listen up and get ready for the grand finale to hit later this month. Let us know who your faves are. And don’t forget to rate and review if you enjoy these!
Bookstore Romance Day Panel!
One of the most wonderful days of the year is nearly upon us! I’ll be on a panel with ABSOLUTE LEGENDS (gasp!).
You can get your tickets for this free virtual event now and preorder books by all the panelists from Queen Anne Book Company.
Back next week with a shiny new cover and an increasing will to survive/thrive!
I hope your summers have been treating you far more kindly,
Gwenda
Hi Gwenda, I'm so terribly sorry about the pile of shit 2023 has handed you. 2022 was that year for me, and frankly I'm only just now kinda getting over it. In retrospect, the couple big good events that happened in 2022 stick out more sharply in my memory than they would otherwise. I remember them more clearly and feel the joy and gratitude for them more keenly. I hope the good events of this year, like meeting your sister, have a similar impact on you when you look back on 2023. Until it's behind us, I wish you a peaceful and, as much as possible, joyful remainder of the year. Hang in there!
Dearest Gwenda - so very sorry for all the horrors from this year and especially your father's death. I was struck by the picture of you and your sister - whoa you guys look alike! (It's the mouth and the eyes I think but definitely a resemblance!)
I wish you so many writerly joys in the coming months. 2023 has been a bitch for me and mine as well and I keep telling myself just to persevere, and the good days will build on each other.
xo