Cover Reveal: Unmask the Night

Greetings from your writing hermit! It's been a while, once again, and I'm sorry for that. This has been kind of a crazy, rough year for me, and as many times as I thought about sitting down to write, whether on my blog here, or on my Red Wolf series, words just wouldn't come. Part of that was burn out, part of it was dealing with another round of anxiety and panic attacks, and their ensuing depression. All fun, exciting stuff. Maybe someday I'll write about it. It's sort of been on my heart for a while now, how people, and Christians in particular, react to those of us who are going through a time of frustration and pain, whether it's emotion or physical. But honestly, it's hard to talk about, especially when you're trying to move past it. Like if you look back too soon, you'll get sucked back in. Like you need a chance to leave that person you were (and still sometimes are) behind for a while and simply look forward. So that may or may not be a discussion for another day.

Dealing with all that definitely contributed to writer's burnout. As much as I love Aaro and Rowan and their world, I'd spent so much time with them, that my creativity seriously needed a refresher. Some time away and some other projects. I couldn't even look at my manuscript there for several months, much to my dismay. I've been trying to get into some more professional writing habits and get more productive, but that just hasn't worked well for me. Through this journey I think I've started to learn the value of working with myself rather than against myself-- meaning setting a schedule and trying to show up for work, as it were, just doesn't work for me. Especially if I get interrupted by an attack of nerves, and then spend the rest of the day depressed because I didn't get anything done. I've been learning to give myself permission to have off days. To forgive myself and move on, rather than dwelling on false guilt and thus making myself even less productive. And I think, slowly, things are getting better. Not every day is a good day, but the really bad days are farther between. I'm back to writing, working on a final round of revisions for Unmask the Night, and keeping things fresh with a side project that's gonna stay a secret for now.

All that said, I am VERY excited to be back to writing, and making really good progress again. I don't want to jinx myself, and Christmas will probably slow things down a bit, but I'm really hoping to finally get Unmask the Night out to you guys within the next couple months. Despite burnout and everything else going on during its writing, it's been an incredibly fun project, and I can't wait to hear what you all think of it. Then on to the final book in the trilogy! And yes, I'm planning on keeping that secret side project going until it's able to become a main project. Another thing I've learned is that I seem to work better on two things at once. Go figure.

Hopefully I'll get to check in again soon. And, finally, what you've been waiting for...
Here's the cover! Artwork once again by Abigail Rodriguez.