It’s been a long time coming. Longer than I intended. But Shara Isador is finally back. On May 3rd, grab Queen’s Crusade to continue her story!
Now for the long-winded post…
I’ve talked a little about the divorce and how ugly things were in 2019. Before that too, but once the divorce paperwork was filed, it got even nastier. Shara went into hiding and I locked her down. Hard. I had to keep her safe.
(I had to keep myself safe.)
Slowly, things got mostly better but he continued to take me back to court over. And over. And over. Finally I got a final resolution – so I thought – and then he filed a new motion. It was crazy. I couldn’t do anything. My life was in limbo. Which put Shara in limbo too. I still wrote, but I couldn’t get her to talk at all. Everything was “temporary.” Even the rental where we lived. I couldn’t afford to move until I knew what was going to happen.
Last year was better. I finally got the all clear to start my life. I moved forward with building my little red house on the Burkhart farm. But of course that took longer than I expected too, and while a dream come true, it was stressful making so many decisions. Then I ended up living with my dad for five months rather than a few weeks. All my clothes and books and shipping supplies went into storage. I had to go buy winter clothes because it was summer when I moved in with him. I had one suitcase and whatever I brought home from Literary Love Savannah in July.
I love my Dad and I’m so grateful he let me stay with him. But it wasn’t MY space, you know? It was hard to establish any kind of writing routine. I worked and slept in the same bedroom. I was a guest, and I didn’t want to lock myself away to write all night after working all day. I was also going through Evil Day Job interviewing for a new position (since Retirement had been sold) and that skyrocketed my stress levels off the charts. Not knowing if I’d still have a job after 29 years. Not knowing which team I might end up with. My mind was consumed with what ifs and contingency plans.
At 53, I was basically homeless and starting over with my professional career. It sucked. Big time.
However, Shara finally started to whisper to me again. I had enough to write the first chapter, and I read it at the House Isador party at LLS in July. Temporary housing made it extremely difficult for me to get into any kind of regular writing routine, so I really couldn’t work on her story much until I moved into my house just after Christmas.
On Jan 2nd, I started Chapter Two of Queen’s Crusade. I only missed 9 days of writing until I finished the first draft on March 31. (Considering I only managed to write 2k TOTAL in July of 2023, I was pretty pleased with that!) I did things a little different this time. I made myself SIT on the draft rather than race to publish. I took my time. I wrote another 12k of extra scenes for the second draft, and then I started the bonus Queen Takes Blood scenes immediately (coming soon). I wanted all of it done and ready before I finally hit publish.
No last-minute deadline scrambling. For one, I’m too old for that shit. And second, Shara–and you–deserve my best. Especially after waiting so long. It was hard to sit on my hands. I felt like the kid who’d saved up all her allowance to buy the best Christmas present ever, and I CAN’T WAIT for you to open it!
But this time, I’ll have the print version ready immediately. Patreon copies already went out. The newsletter bonus will be finished and ready to go. And best/most important of all, I think you’ll be way happier with the book and especially the ending.
Endings aren’t my strong suit. Probably because I’m so excited to FINISH. I don’t like to add “superfluous” scenes once the plot scenes are resolved. However, those extra details add richness and depth to the story, and I think you’ll be really pleased with those extra details.
I can say that I really think it’s one of the best books I’ve ever written. It’s definitely one of the longest at 118K (not including the Blood prequels).
Now the nerves begin to set in. I hope you love Queen’s Crusade as much as I love it.
Long live House Isador!
