Where did summer go?

OH my goodness, what a whirlwind life has been since my last post!  Let me catch you up on the highlights…

1. Family vacation week in the beautiful Outer Banks of North Carolina! This was our 10th consecutive year. My husband and mother-in-law have only missed a few of the last 37 years. Always the same house, same beach, same little piece of heaven. This year was a good one. I didn’t work, but I did write. We had 4 extra teens all week, plus my aunt and cousin came in for a couple days. We even set loose a giant 10 foot alacorn (unicorn pegasus) loose on the sound. It was a lot of fun. Avon, NC will always have a special place in my heart. It’s my happy place and I look forward to that trip every single year. It never gets old!
2. Three years ago my oldest sister passed away. At that time, the remaining 4 of us made a pack to take time off for a sisters weekend (sometimes week) every year. In July my sisters and I headed off to ICELAND!!! Holy cow, I can’t even describe properly how beautiful that place is. We spent 7 days touring the island nation, and while we didn’t see everything, we saw an overwhelming amount of awesomeness. Waterfalls galore, glaciers, blue icebergs, black sand, volcanoes, we even got to go through a lava tunnel! There are a ton of pictures up on my personal facebook page under the album “Iceland 2018” if you want to see what I’m talking about. Simply amazing!
3. With all these vacations I began work on a new series. It’s going to be short, quick, and feel good vacation romance books. Each book is based on somewhere I’m experiencing, starting with Avon, NC, then Iceland. So far this summer I’ve already added a Frankenmuth, MI and a VA Beach Labor Day weekend story. I’m hoping to have them start rolling out in 2019. I should have 5 or 6 completed by then. Just a fun little side project.
4. Once Upon a Book! So much fun! If you want an awesome author event where you can hang out with some crazy awesome authors, join in one some really great writing panels, and party with authors and readers in the too cute for words, little town of Frankenmuth, MI, check out OUAB. This year was a Gods and Goddesses theme, but for 2019, it’s Comic Book Heroes!!! How fun is that? I got to road trip to Michigan with my good friend, Tobi. It was a whole new area of the country to explore, and we had a blast. It was great seeing so many familiar faces, and meeting lots of new people. I am definitely considering doing it again for 2019.
5. I ended the summer in the most ridiculous way! 7 teenage girls at a 5 Seconds of Summer concert and camping at the beach over Labor Day weekend! Wow! Talk about an experience. LOL They were a great group and we made a lot of memories. It was miserably hot and I likely lost a few pounds sweating to death, but so worth it. My kids are growing up quickly and I cherish every moment I get with them, and I love that they, and their friends, still want to spend time with this crazy old mama!

Summer came to an end much too quickly. I feel like we barely got any pool time and we definitely spent more time at Kings Dominion in the spring than we did this summer. My blood pressure didn’t appreciate the heat this year. I’m certain it’s the meds I am on, but it really sucked, because that meant I spent way more time indoors than out. Sad face.

Before I knew it Roman was heading back to school and the girls were kicking off homeschool and heading off to co-op.

First football game of the year ended in tears. Roman took a hard hit to the back of his head and is suffering a severe concussion. He’s homebound, unable to return-to-learn, and I’m certain his last season of football has ended. No one wants to see their kid suffer. He’s struggling right now and could use all your prayers. He has a long road to recovery ahead of him, BUT he has no permanent brain damage or memory loss. His brain will heal in time, but we’re all going to be digging deep for patience in getting him there.

After that sad note, I do have good news… Breathe Again released today!!!! My 9th book is officially published. That number keeps going up and I am still in disbelief, like wait.. where did 6, 7, and 8 come from? Oh yeah, I did write that many! LOL I’m very proud of this book and my awesome editing team that stuck with me through the bitter end.

Next up is either going to be Pack’s Promise, book 1 in the ARC Shifters, OR Sedition — yup, you read that right! My Compounders fans are screaming hallelujah! It’s about dang time! I hear ya. Sedition, book 3 in the Compounders series will release in October or November. We haven’t locked down the release date yet, but be on the look out, cause I promise it’s coming!

I will try not to go so long between posts this time. Heading to Penned Con in St. Louis in just 2 weeks. So excited about that and hoping to see some of you there.

Till next time,

-JT