New Blog Post

Hey guys, I posted a new blog with links to the German and Italian translations, a book/personal update, and me possibly attending a 2025 book convention (will announce once things are confirmed).

Thank you to those who have been checking in with me to see how my move went and how my mom and I are settling in. I hint at this in the blog and some of the posts I've made on here, but I actually had to take my mom out of a domestic violence situation involving my father and it's tossed my whole family into chaos. Thankfully, I have a sister who agreed to help and is hosting us at the moment. My mother is getting counseling and we'll see where she wants to go from here. 

I'm tending to my mom while also trying to get myself mentally and emotionally in the right state to go back into the story. The need to escape (mentally) and slip back into Roth and Jasmine's world while all of this has been going on was a compulsion I wasn't allowed to indulge in while I was responsible for her and all of our travel and moving plans over the past weeks. But all of that is finally concluded and I'm allowed to dive in and and get lost in Roth and Jasmine's problems (which I can fix) versus my own (which aren't necessarily up to me). I will also be getting counseling (my sister insisted) to make sure I'm okay since I've taken the brunt of the emotional trauma and responsibility of this. I was insanely blessed to have friends and family offer to help us. I'm not sure what we would have done without them. 

I'm sorry if this was a little too personal, but bits and pieces of this may come out during chats or in future stories and I'm still processing everything, so it's helping me to try and summarize what the hell happened this past month. Overall, I'm just relieved that my mom is safe and has a chance to get help and figure out what she wants. She married at 19, had 6 kids, and has been married for 47 years. Homemaker. It's a miracle she agreed to come with me. Me and my sister keep staring at her, amazed she's here (she hasn't traveled to the mainland for 15 years). I have no idea what's going to happen, but I guarantee it's going to be better than what it was. This has jolted all of my siblings, most of whom have turned a blind eye over the years. Half of them don't support what I did so there's that as well... Life, family, relationships--they're incredibly complicated and we do the best we can to handle them. I sleep soundly, knowing I tried my best to help. Not everyone's going to win in this situation, but my mom definitely would have been the loser in the other, so I'm okay with the consequences, whatever they are. 

Deep breath. 

I'm usually not this personal and don't plan to be in future, but I just wanted to share with you all what's been going through my mind and if I seem more absent-minded, there's a lot going on behind the scenes. All of my attention will be on finishing Bitter Confessions. I'm hoping I breeze through it (fingers crossed). I'm going to try not to harp on stuff and just get it done or ask for your guys opinion if I can't decide on something. I'm desperate to seep into R & J rather than dealing with messy reality, so I'm honestly looking forward to leaping in!

I hope this wasn't too depressing. I actually think of this as a victory of sorts since my mom followed through. I kept waiting for her to back out at the last minute, but she didn't and trusted me to get her here safe and sound. I'm very proud of her and my sister and I are enjoying our time with her as she goes through the journey of finding herself and figuring out what she would like to do with the rest of her life. We're all deconditioning from my dad, which is why I accepted the invitation to do the book conference. It's something I never would have considered attending two months ago because of my dad's influence and I'm letting it all go (or attempting to, LOL). 

Snippets in March will switch back to Bitter Confessions. Combing through the book got me excited so that's a good sign. I think this book is what I need right now. I'm too tapped out emotionally to do something insanely angsty like the first two books, but the healthy development in their relationship in this book will be a balm for me. I just need to do my taxes and then... Roth and Jasmine, HERE I COME!!!