I wanted to take a few minutes to give a quick update on both of my sites (Roxie and Lo) to let readers know a little bit more about the delays in the last couple of releases.
Most of you know that I had some serious family issues to deal with during late fall and early winter. What I kept private was that I've also been dealing with some scary and not so fun health issues.
We chalked many of these symptoms (heart palpitations, nausea, extreme exhaustion, etc.) up to the stress of the Ellora's Cave/Grabbed books situation, the terrible neighbors who have basically run us out of our home, our autistic kiddo's eating strike and my miscarriage in late December.
But we were wrong.
My family history of heart problems has finally caught up to me. I know a lot of you are thinking, "OMG, isn't she, like, 31 or something?"
Yep.
But you know what?
Heart attacks and almost heart attacks can happen at ANY age. Because it just happened to me. On Sunday evening.
I was hoping to be able to come on here and tell y'all this with the added bonus of some GOOD news from yesterday's doctor visits and today's first day of testing but sadly that is NOT the case. I got some not so good news yesterday, and I'm still trying to process what it means. I'm also facing some more testing (FUN!) but I hope to finally (!) have some real answers and a treatment plan in the next few weeks.
That said--you can expect to see the following releases in April:
Emma: Part 3 (written by the Lolita version of me)
Kostya (Her Russian Protector #7) (written by the Roxie version of me)
If you follow me on Facebook or my websites or are subscribed to my newsletters, you'll learn of the new releases the second they're live. But I'm not giving firm release dates right now or promising any other releases in the coming four to six weeks because, well, I frankly don't know what the next couple of weeks will be like. I'm basically trying to rest and RELAX and not push myself to do more than I can.
I really, REALLY hate that I've disappointed and frustrated so many of you who are waiting for the next installments of the Emma serial or the next Her Russian Protector book.
I so wish I could just wave a magic wand and *BLAM* make the books perfectly perfect and ready to release. But that just isn't reality. I'd rather wait to release the RIGHT book than rush out something I'm not happy with just because I'm trying to meet a deadline that my body just can't meet.
***Now in REALLY, REALLY good Lolita news***
Last week, I learned that emails from Ellora's Cave that were meant for me never reached my inboxes. They were sent to someone else in the company's headquarters who--curiously--never forwarded them to me or let the sender know they had gone to the wrong place. So, for six months, I needlessly stressed over something that could have been fixed with one or two quick conversations.
On Tuesday morning, Patty Marks, CEO of Ellora's Cave, offered a very, very gracious compromise on the unwritten spec contracts for Grabbed books 4, 5, 6, and 7. These books and the rights to them and the Grabbed world are back in my hands. I can't promise that you'll see Raze, Terror, Torment or Cipher's books this year (not with all that's going on with my heart) but I *will* write and publish these books.
Finally--I'm taking a bit of a social media break while I deal with this heart thing. Julie, my lifesaver and assistant extraordinaire, is always on Facebook and can usually answer questions about characters or reading order or the next signings or swag. If you send PMs or comment and she doesn't know the answer, she makes sure I know those are waiting for me.
The Viking and Julie will be monitoring my Roxie and Lo inboxes for any messages that need immediate replies. I will get to all the messages eventually, but it may take me longer than usual to answer. The same goes for snail mail sent to me. I've fallen behind on those but stuffing some of our new cool swag (Call Kostya magnets!) into those envelopes is easy, relaxing work that I'll probably tackle when I'm trying to chill.
So. That's it for now.
Also--y'all--don't be me. Don't ignore symptoms like these or brush them off as "just stress." Because I am damn lucky I didn't drop dead of a heart attack. Take care of yourselves! Listen to your bodies. Learn from my HUGE-O mistakes, you know?
<3 <3 <3
Roxie/Lo
Most of you know that I had some serious family issues to deal with during late fall and early winter. What I kept private was that I've also been dealing with some scary and not so fun health issues.
We chalked many of these symptoms (heart palpitations, nausea, extreme exhaustion, etc.) up to the stress of the Ellora's Cave/Grabbed books situation, the terrible neighbors who have basically run us out of our home, our autistic kiddo's eating strike and my miscarriage in late December.
But we were wrong.
My family history of heart problems has finally caught up to me. I know a lot of you are thinking, "OMG, isn't she, like, 31 or something?"
Yep.
But you know what?
Heart attacks and almost heart attacks can happen at ANY age. Because it just happened to me. On Sunday evening.
I was hoping to be able to come on here and tell y'all this with the added bonus of some GOOD news from yesterday's doctor visits and today's first day of testing but sadly that is NOT the case. I got some not so good news yesterday, and I'm still trying to process what it means. I'm also facing some more testing (FUN!) but I hope to finally (!) have some real answers and a treatment plan in the next few weeks.
That said--you can expect to see the following releases in April:
Emma: Part 3 (written by the Lolita version of me)
Kostya (Her Russian Protector #7) (written by the Roxie version of me)
If you follow me on Facebook or my websites or are subscribed to my newsletters, you'll learn of the new releases the second they're live. But I'm not giving firm release dates right now or promising any other releases in the coming four to six weeks because, well, I frankly don't know what the next couple of weeks will be like. I'm basically trying to rest and RELAX and not push myself to do more than I can.
I really, REALLY hate that I've disappointed and frustrated so many of you who are waiting for the next installments of the Emma serial or the next Her Russian Protector book.
I so wish I could just wave a magic wand and *BLAM* make the books perfectly perfect and ready to release. But that just isn't reality. I'd rather wait to release the RIGHT book than rush out something I'm not happy with just because I'm trying to meet a deadline that my body just can't meet.
***Now in REALLY, REALLY good Lolita news***
Last week, I learned that emails from Ellora's Cave that were meant for me never reached my inboxes. They were sent to someone else in the company's headquarters who--curiously--never forwarded them to me or let the sender know they had gone to the wrong place. So, for six months, I needlessly stressed over something that could have been fixed with one or two quick conversations.
On Tuesday morning, Patty Marks, CEO of Ellora's Cave, offered a very, very gracious compromise on the unwritten spec contracts for Grabbed books 4, 5, 6, and 7. These books and the rights to them and the Grabbed world are back in my hands. I can't promise that you'll see Raze, Terror, Torment or Cipher's books this year (not with all that's going on with my heart) but I *will* write and publish these books.
Finally--I'm taking a bit of a social media break while I deal with this heart thing. Julie, my lifesaver and assistant extraordinaire, is always on Facebook and can usually answer questions about characters or reading order or the next signings or swag. If you send PMs or comment and she doesn't know the answer, she makes sure I know those are waiting for me.
The Viking and Julie will be monitoring my Roxie and Lo inboxes for any messages that need immediate replies. I will get to all the messages eventually, but it may take me longer than usual to answer. The same goes for snail mail sent to me. I've fallen behind on those but stuffing some of our new cool swag (Call Kostya magnets!) into those envelopes is easy, relaxing work that I'll probably tackle when I'm trying to chill.
So. That's it for now.
Also--y'all--don't be me. Don't ignore symptoms like these or brush them off as "just stress." Because I am damn lucky I didn't drop dead of a heart attack. Take care of yourselves! Listen to your bodies. Learn from my HUGE-O mistakes, you know?
<3 <3 <3
Roxie/Lo