If you follow me on social media at all, you already know that Under Fire, Book 3 in the Defend and Protect series, releases March 7! Just 3 weeks, y’all!! I love this story so much, and I’m busy doing lots of launchy (I just made that word up) things for that.

But I’m also on a deadline.

I’m working on the first book in a new romantic suspense series. The book is due March 1^st and will release March 2024. It has a title, and I love it, but I can’t share it yet.

Someone asked me about my writing the other day. When I stopped hyperventilating (kidding, but not completely) I decided to take a hard look at where I am.

In case you’re wondering, writing it all out did *not* help. I thought it might. I was wrong.

State of the Deadline:

Date Due: March 1

Completion Status: Trying to land the plane. Circling the runway. Not down yet. Close. Very close. Stress level –

Word Count: I will probably finish writing this bad boy somewhere between 95K-100K and then I’ll have to cut 10% of it. (My word count is 85-90K). Stress level –

Plot: Yeah, we have a few holes. Some dangling threads. A few things that I started but still haven’t finished. Stress level –

Characterization: Hate to say it, but today as I was driving I realized that my hero is too perfect. He’s had some hard stuff happen, and life has roughed him up. But he need some more flaws. The heroine has a few flaws that I think I’ve done a decent job of showing, but one of her big arcs is also one of those dangling threads I mentioned earlier. And the villain needs more time on the page. Stress level –

Romance: Y’all. I wrote a line the other day that made me all kinds of swoony. But there are some issues here as well. Stress Level –

Suspense: Not gonna lie, we’re leaning hard into the romance in this book, but the suspense is pretty creepy. At least, I think it is? Maybe? I should stop overthinking it, but I won’t. Stress Level –

Focus: None. Absolutely none. You know what I keep thinking about? The first line of…wait for it…BOOK 3 in this series. That’s right friends. A book that isn’t due for 2 MORE YEARS. Stress level –

Sleep: I either don’t sleep, or I have incredibly random dreams. Last night I dreamed that I returned to my job (a job I left unexpectedly 20 years ago when I went on bedrest when pregnant with Emma and never returned to). They offered me my old job back on the spot. And I was all kinds of awkward about it because I don’t have any plans to ever return to engineering, and it was a little bit like the scene in the Matrix where he tries to sneak out of the office. None of it made any sense at all. I woke up confused and discombobulated. This happens a lot when I’m on a deadline. My subconscious goes haywire. Stress level –

Life: This is what’s on my schedule over the next 2 weeks…teach 2 Latin classes; homeschool 2 children; help youngest finish a big presentation/paper due March 3; visit an adult day facility that is a possible place for Emma when she ages out of the school system; celebrate Emma’s 20^th birthday; celebrate Drew’s 12^th birthday; get the dog groomed; go to the chiropractor; get a massage – these are not fun massages – these are “you spend to much time sitting in a chair” massages; take the boys to five baseball practices and one baseball game; cook the meals, wash the clothes, and do all the normal things that just have to get done in the background no matter what else is happening; all the launchy things for Under Fire. Stress Level –

Needs: Prayer. ALL.THE.PRAYER. (Also, chocolate, coffee, and books….no….not the books….they’re too tempting).

I’m going to go eat some takeout now. And maybe take a nap.

More soon…

Grace & peace,

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