Happy New Year My Friends

I hope you are setting into 2023 well. It's been a long time since I made a post here on the blog. I have put more energy into my social media accounts. I feel it's time that I return my energy to my online home base. Instagram will still be a place where I post, but I miss the long format.

A lot has changed since we last gathered. Some good. Some terrible. Let us get terrible out of the way, shall we? Last October…what should be the greatest time of the year I faced a great tragedy. I lost my home in a house fire. It was unexpected, unexplained, and traumatic. It happened in the middle of the night and my family and I escaped barefoot and with our lives. This was spooky season! A time for pumpkin spice lattes, planning the release of my new Spookie Boopie Coloring book, and all the autumn adventures. Instead…the universe tried and failed to burn this witch down. I was greatly overwhelmed by all the love and support of my community that came to lift my family out of the ashes. They made GoFundme accounts, bought clothes for my kids and toys, and my best friend purchased me a brand new laptop and a few art supplies so I could get back to doing what I love without skipping a beat.

It's been a few months since it happened and I feel like I'm just now beginning to grieve. Sometimes I feel very sad about some of what I lost, original artwork, family photos, and items I'll never retrieve. Other times I get angry, thinking why did this have to happen to my family? My children are traumatized by this experience. Not a day goes by that my four-year-old daughter asks me about the fire. My teenage son never wants to be reminded of it. I just try to focus on rebuilding our lives. We are staying with family until we can get into a new home.

I told you the bad news was terrible! Okay, let's talk about the GREAT news. I have two projects in the works for publication. Let us talk about the Oracle cards first. They will be launching this March 28, 2023, and is available for pre-order on many websites. I created the illustrations for an oracle deck for author TJ Perkins. The deck is a companion to The Healthy Witch published through Red Feather, an imprint of Schiffer Books. The publisher is mailing me a copy of the deck. I can't wait to get my hands on it and share it with you! This was such a fun project to work on. I had a lot of freedom to play with the illustrations and just have a good time with them. I think that really came through with the artwork.

Project number 2 for publication! This one is truly a labor of love. I have been pouring over my manuscript Vanessa and the Flightless Dragon. In fact, I have spent all of 2022 re-writing the story. I got picked up by a publisher, Indigo River. YAY!! I have been working very closely with my editor. My original vision for the story has really transformed. It has developed from a small children's book to an epic chapter novel for middle-grade readers. I am really very proud of where the book is now in its transformation. My editor keeps pushing me out of my comfort zone and challenges me. It's a great relationship and she is helping me create a far better story. I am just so eager to share with you all. However, I have more work to do! At this point in time I have no publication date to share. We are really focused on getting the story right. I’m meeting with my editor next month and I hope to be completed with my current edits, my fingers are crossed!! Send me good energy and love! Thanks for checking in on me. I hope to talk to you again soon.

Cheers to a great year!