It’s a real treat to see one’s books on the shelf of a bookstore!

I hope this post finds all my family and friends well. Given the times, love and compassion are all that will keep our heads above water. That said, a lot has been happening since my last post. I keep enlarging my publishing contract with Next Chapter. In addition to taking on the re-publication of All the Bodies Do (eventually–these things take a lot of time!), they have requested to re-release my Driftwood Mysteries under their imprint. I have no idea how long that will take. You may know that the series consists of four novels and two short stories. I am re-editing them, so the short stories will be epilogues to the novels that precede them, making the series just the four novels. So far, I’ve given Next Chapter Seal of Secrets, with Eye of Newt as its epilogue, and Woman in the Waves. Now I’ll be starting on Dungeness and Dragons. Paper will be its epilogue, and Gallery of Gangsters will conclude the series. My latest short story, “Irreducible,” will see the light of day in August in the 2026 Anthology Keepsake, published by the Northwest Independent Writers Association.

My main focus for now is gaining traction for Persona. To that end, I have hired a professional book marketer to get it out there. That’s a big (and scary!) step for me. The good news is that within the first week, she was able to round up 22 new 5-star reviews on Goodreads and 25 new 5-star ratings for the novel. That’s progress! I have also submitted the book to onlinebookclub.org, where it should appear within the next month or so. Another fun thing that happened is that a digital magazine called CompanyGlance did a very nice news brief for it. Click here if you’d like to take a look. And here’s my plea: if you’ve read Persona and enjoyed it, please leave a review or at least a rating on Amazon. I know we all have mixed feelings about Amazon, but it remains the largest purveyor of ebooks, and reviews make a huge difference.

I have begun a new project, but it hasn’t really ignited for me yet. I’m struggling with whether I should just slog through it or table it while trying to come up with a new idea. My blessings go out to my writers groups: the monthly critique group that meets at my house, the weekly Writers Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow (WYTT) that meets at a local church, and the monthly sessions of the Salem branch of Willamette Writers that meets at the Salem Library.

This is a perfect day show kindness and compassion to everyone we bump into, online or face-to-face! Cheers everyone!