New Urban Fantasy Releases

While working on Rogue (which is still not finished), I realized there was too much that happened in the month-or-thereabouts gap between Rogue and Tough Choices. That meant I needed to write about what had happened in that gap, rather than trying to summarize it in the opening of Rogue. THEN, I realized the story that resulted wasn't quite finished and needed one more "scene", so to speak, which didn't fit into the first story. Thus came my two newest urban fantasy releases.




A Missing Child, Unexpected Complications, and a Father Behaving Suspiciously.

Private Investigator Max Johnson is contacted by the parents of a girl who has disappeared without a trace. Routine missing person case, or so he believes at first. It doesn't take long for him to realize there's more going on than the couple knows, or admits, and he's even more driven to find the promising young artist.

To complicate matters, Max is struggling in a way he can't begin to define or explain to himself, much less to his new wife, but he fears she might be the cause.




A Child with Much to Learn

As twelve-year-old Chelsea settles into the Campbell Wildlife Preserve werewolf pack, she has much to learn. Some lessons are harsher than others, for both daughter and mother.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Also released in May, Missing and Tough Love are now available in paperback as part of the Bridging the Gap anthology, which also includes the short stories Change and The Prisoner and the novelette Restoration.



Anthology of 5 short fiction stories previously published only in e-book

CHANGE, a short story
Pack alphas Ian and Sophia Campbell have been married less than a month, and already the responsibilities of leadership are distracting him from her. She's trying not to resent it but knows something has to give. Now he has no choice.

THE PRISONER, a short story
Michael Phillips was held prisoner by a werewolf alpha who encouraged his pack to abuse the new Turn. Now he's living in a cage in another alpha's basement. Not because Ian Campbell ordered it. Fear holds him there. A prison of his own making.

RESTORATION, a novelette
Though he'd known the risks when he joined the Marines to fight in Korea, Lance Corporal Max Johnson had never expected his life to end so soon. He certainly hadn't thought the end would come in enemy hands and a dark hole. Injured, half-frozen, and feverish with infection, he finds himself rescued by a familiar ally who makes him a very unusual offer.

MISSING, a novella
Private Investigator Max Johnson is contacted by the parents of a girl who has disappeared without a trace. Routine missing person case, or so he believes at first. It doesn't take long for him to realize there's more going on than the couple knows, or admits, and he's even more driven to find the promising young artist. To complicate matters, Max is struggling in a way he can't begin to define or explain to himself, much less to his new wife, but he fears she might be the cause.

TOUGH LOVE, a short story
As twelve-year-old Chelsea settles into the Campbell Wildlife Preserve werewolf pack, she has much to learn. Some lessons are harsher than others, for both daughter and mother.

Ready or Not, Here It Comes!

Photo courtesy of taliesin on morgueFile.com

It's said only two things are certain in this life - death and taxes. That's not exactly true. There's a third absolute certainty no one escapes.

Change.

Change comes. Like it or not. Ready or not. It comes. Every single person on the planet faces it.

Life is not stagnant. It's ever-changing, ever-shifting, which means we're ever-changing and ever-adjusting, whether we realize it or not. Even the slow creep of age hits us all and brings its own changes and challenges.

Sometimes, change is good. The birth of a child. A new job. A squirming, playful new puppy. Marriage to your beloved. The arrival of spring after a long, cold winter. The start of the summer rains. Or, as an author, one of your books being published.

Sometimes, it's not so good. Loss of a loved one. Losing a job to downsizing. Foreclosure of your home. A very dear friend moving away. Loss of health or ability. Having to walk away from a well-loved hobby. A publisher you've worked closely with closing their doors and leaving you floundering.

If you notice, all of those involve loss in some way or another.

We don't tend to lament change when it's good, even if it causes stress. Like the adjustments to life that a new child or bringing a new puppy home requires. Or the mega-huge adjustments getting married brings. Although, most aren't too keen on "spring cleaning". he he

When the circumstances of the change aren't so good, we tend to have a very different response. We whine, groan, cry, grieve, rage and/or go into depression. Or just try to pretend nothing is going on - go about our day putting one foot in front of the other and keep ourselves too busy to stop long enough to face whatever the change is. And no two people deal with change exactly the same way.

The key to remember when facing change, no matter how difficult?

GOD IS IN CONTROL.

Even when we know a change is in God's control and He won't allow anything without a purpose and a reason, it's still hard. As human beings, we go through the emotional process even if we're trusting the Lord. Trusting God with a loss doesn't make that loss magically go away. It just makes it more bearable and assures us that it's not random happenstance.

It's hard sometimes to keep focused on God's will and God's work when we don't like the changes He's allowing in our lives. I'm going through this right now - struggling to stay focused and do what's right in God's eyes even as I grieve. It ain't easy. The human part of me wants very much to be angry, hurt and rail against God and a few folks along the way. But I know that's not how He wants me to deal with it.

Change isn't easy. Neither is the grief that so often comes with it. But at least we don't have to walk that journey alone. We may not see Him, but the Lord is always there.

... and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. 

Matt. 28:20 (NASB)

His unwavering presence is certainly what's getting me through these days. I've had some major changes thrown into my life of late, and I hate them! I'll be flat-out, dead honest about that.

But I decided I have three choices:

1. I can sit around feeling sorry for myself (yeah, I want to do that).
2. I can rage about how unfair it is (um, yeah, kinda want to do that, too, some days).
3. Or I can put on my big girl pants and accept God's will and plan in these matters (did I mention I actually DON'T want to do that?).

The former two won't change matters. The change has come and will come regardless of how grown-up (or not) I act about it. So, I figure it's less stressful to be a grown-up and go with the flow. Even if I don't like it. At least I'm not facing any of it alone, and I'm not grieving alone. Others grieve with me, and the Lord is always there.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 

Matt. 5:4 (NASB)

So what changes are you currently facing? Are they good or bad? Are you dealing with them the way you'd like? Are you letting the One who loves you most see you through?

And for you writers - is it affecting your ability to write? Affecting the writing itself if you ARE writing your way through it?

Photo courtesy of hotblack on morgueFile.com