Well, I’ve had a bit of a rough few weeks.
I was babysitting the kids’ dog, and he managed to take me out. Down I went, right onto my recently replaced knee.
I wish I could tell you I got up, dusted myself off, and called him a few names. There were probably names involved, but mostly I cried. It hurt, and I was scared. After everything it took to get this knee replaced and get moving again, all I could think was, Please tell me I haven’t broken something.
And then there was the problem of getting up.
“I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up” takes on a whole new meaning when you’re the one on the floor. It took me about an hour, with plenty of tears, to fight my way to the desk chair. An hour is a long damn time when you’re hurting and just want to be off the floor; the knee hurts, and you’re afraid to put weight on it.
I think I’m okay. I’m sore, swollen, and bruised, and my ego ain’t winning anything either. But honestly, I was so relieved to finally get up that I didn’t much care about my pride.
I joke because that’s what I do, but this one shook me. I’ve worked hard to get back on my feet, and I really could have done without being knocked off them quite so literally. So I’m taking it a little easy and feeling a little sorry for myself. You’re welcome to feel sorry for me too. I’ll accept all sympathy. Oh, and snacks.
They don’t call me Auntie Boo Boo for nothing is the truth. Ever since I was a kid I’d crash and burn regularly. I was that person who could fall UP the stairs or walk into a door, but I’d be perfectly happy to stop earning the name for a while.
Now that we’ve established I cannot be trusted to babysit a dog without adult supervision, let’s talk about something I’m better at: ruining fictional people’s lives.
Dawn of Destruction is available, and I would really love for you to read this one, because Book 2 just released with books 3 & 4 hot on its heels.
This is where Fire & Ash begins. I’ve spent a whole lot of time building this world, worrying over these people, and making terrible things happen to them. Now it’s time to let you in.
If you’ve been waiting for my next apocalypse, this is it. Grab Dawn of Destruction and come meet the people you’ll be worrying about with me. I could use the company. Keeping them alive is getting stressful.
And when you’ve read it, be sure to tell me what you think. I spend months alone with these people. Finding out what readers make of them is the part I look forward to.
As for what’s happening in the writing cave…
Book four in the Light Dies world is coming along. I’m back in the middle of everybody’s problems, making them worse. You’d think after three books I’d let these poor people have a decent meal and an uneventful afternoon, but apparently we’re still doing this.
There’s also a whole new world taking shape, and I want to tell you about it SO BADLY. Unfortunately, my ability to explain it currently resembles that of a six-year-old telling you about a dream.
“Okay, so there’s this thing, and it does something, but nobody knows it’s doing it, and then everything—well, I can’t tell you that part—but there are these people, and OH! I haven’t told you about…
You’re just standing there holding your coffee, wondering whether you missed the beginning. You didn’t. That’s pretty much the explanation but it will be really good. I’m excited. I have notes. Some of them even make sense. More on that once I can tell you something useful without giving away the bits I want you to discover for yourselves.
Then there’s A New Project, a new series I’m writing for next year.
And this one… okay, well, you see…there’s this guy, and its after some apocalypse (I still don’t know what that part is yet, but I’ll get there). And he’s mad, like, really mad at some bad guys, and he’s going to find them. He has very definite ideas about what happens when he does.
Except there’s all this stuff and people that get in the way of that, which is inconvenient when he’s trying to devote his remaining time on earth to murder. He would really prefer to be mean, but people are making that difficult.
I realize I’ve just explained an entire series like a child leaning into the front seat on a road trip, but underneath my rambling is an apocalypse, a very angry man, and a long road to vengeance. I’m kinda getting attached to him, and this usually means trouble for the both of us.
But while I’m writing all that, you can start Dawn of Destruction today.
Give yourself something good to read this weekend. I’ll be over here with my bruised knee, trying to keep the next disaster confined to the manuscript.
Till next time…
DJ