January 2023
Greetings from Louisiana.
Rogue still has me spending my time in Sherwood Forest and Nottingham. You WILL see this novel later this year - promise! With feedback from beta readers and my critique group, I'm adding a bit of tension here, more conflict there. I'll try to send monthly updates over the next few months, and hope to publish by late spring.
What is taking me so long? Not exactly procrastination, but distractions galore: I sold my house in Kansas, bought and moved into a 'family compound' in Louisiana, and have been working with contractors on some massive renovations. Electricians, plumbers, carpenters, painters/drywall guys - some show as scheduled, some do not. Waiting for them, having them in and out - crazy times! As Tammi, the Newsletter Ninja writes, "I can't do anything before they show up because I'm in waiting mode, and it's hard for me to do anything even once they're gone, because my day has gone so topsy-turvy that I can't get back on track." This is my life.
I did manage to escape some of the madness and left my son, DIL, and her parents to oversee the work. (Bless them!) I traveled to visit other family in Colorado (June and Jan.) and Washington (Nov.-Dec.), and finally - yes, finally - traveled to the UK, a trip postponed twice since 2020 because of COVID. More details of that 3 week adventure in a future email.
On the Blog
I updated my website and blog in December. In case you aren't a frequent visitor, you might be interested in guest posts from Helen Hollick, Alison Morton, Anna Belfrage, and M.K. Tod.
"The fifth son, the eighth and last child, of Henry II, of England and
Eleanor of Aquitaine was born at Oxford, in the "King's manor" - that is, the palace of Beaumont - on Christmas Eve, 1167."
--John Lackland, by Kate Norgate, London: Macmillan and Co., 1902