The summer is nearly upon us, Dear Reader, and I, for one, can’t wait to bask in the warmth of a sun that seems to have been hiding for far too long.
It’s a rebirth, of sorts, and one sorely needed when darkness has fallen on the writing community, its decay settling into the word world more and more with each passing day. Each new dawn seems to bring a new issue to light, overshadowing emerging authors and new releases with a cavalcade of authors behaving badly and reactionary outrage. It’s marketing algorithms and legal precedents that push the boundaries of rationale in an avalanche of insane attempts at reaching the top. It’s he said/she said and a dog eat dog mentality that you should never be subject to, Dear Reader. They are apparently out to break our will. They almost broke mine.
I’ve spent this last month doing some soul-searching, and I believe I’ve come to a decision. I’m not giving up writing. I still have stories to tell and worlds to create, and I cherish each and every one of you who picked up one of my books and lost yourselves in the words you read. Words I wrote.
Maybe I’ll never be a bestseller and maybe I’ll never conquer the insurmountable peaks of marketing strategies, but I made it into your home, Dear Reader. You let me into your world, even for just a little while, and I want to tell you how much I love having you in mine.
We read and write to get lost in a world beyond the one we have to see on the news, on the internet and outside our own front doors. Books are supposed to be an escape, not a war zone and I apologize to all of you who started to spiral downward under the weight of the negativity that has been so prolific.
To that end, I’m happy to say that the next novel in The Tribe Series is finally underway, and I’ve been able to weather the angry skies in the familiar magic of my piece of the mountain and The River will be coming to you in just a few short months. Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, The Mountain won’t be too far behind it. For this progress, I thank you, Dear Reader, for giving up your time and losing yourself in my stories. You give me a reason, when my own place in the pattern gets hard to see.
So when you see a storm of negativity erupt on your social media feeds, don’t let it deter your love of reading. Don’t give up on finding new authors and new stories. Because if you promise not to give up on reading them, Dear Reader, I promise I won’t give up on writing them for you.
The next time the clouds start to form and you find yourself getting dragged down, come and find me here. It’s a place that’s still all about the books and the friends, the love of stories and the search for a little piece of happy in the day to day. I’ll have an empty chair on my porch and a glass of strong whiskey ready for you. We can keep each other company until the sun comes out again.
