I promise I'm still here!

Did I let you all know what was going on with me lately? I don't think so, and for that, I apologize. Due to many factors, I've had no time in my life, so it's been lucky for me to have so many incredible authors putting out cover reveals and new releases and things for me to post about!

So, what have I been up to?

Well, I actually started taking classes 2 months ago to change careers, from education to medical administration (specifically coding, billing, and other office stuff). As you can imagine, this takes quite a bit of time in the form of studying and tests and teaching my brain how to learn again. 2 months down, 10 months to go. However! My hope is that when I finish and get a job in the field, I will be making more money (which means more books!) and have more time (which means more books!) and be able to attend more events (you know, with the more money and more books thing).

I've also been busy meeting with high school students, which has been AMAZING. It began with guest speaking at the LCPS Battle of the Books finals, and just last week I was blessed with the opportunity to speak with a group of Creative Writing students from an LCPS high school. While I still get so nervous about speaking to a group that I have to talk myself down from a mild panic attack in the car, I have so much fun during the talk and during the resulting Q&A sessions. It's kind of like riding a roller coaster. The entire time you are waiting in line, your stomach is churning and you think about leaving and you are torn between thinking, "this is going to be awesome!!" and "what the heck did I get myself into?" And then you do it, and it's awesome, and you leave going, "I want to do it again! Let's do it again!"

The Lady of Steinbrekka was officially chosen as an LCPS Battle book for next year! OMG. This is still very surreal to me, and it is awesome seeing my book on posters hung throughout the high schools of LCPS. I cannot wait to attend the semi-finals and finals next year and listen to the questions and answers that the competition comes up with regarding my books.

But have no fear! Soon I will be back, at least a little more. In only 2 weeks I will be freed from my 2 hours per day commute and 7 hour work day and be able to devote significantly more time to my characters, my books, and, the most important part, my readers!