I’m always torn between keeping mum and potentially saying too much, but so many lovely people have been curious about why I haven’t gotten Acair’s book out the door this spring that it seemed like a little update was in order.

2017/2018 turned out to be a bit more turbulent than I’d anticipated. You would think that after all this time I would understand—and heartily support—that sometimes a protagonist’s best-laid plans get derailed by crazy secondary characters and even crazier events, but in the paraphrased words of Marilla Cuthbert: “You’re not safe from surprise till you’re dead.” I’m still kicking, thankfully, but thinking maybe I should never try to write mysteries because I’m always surprised by life’s twists and turns. :)

The past couple of years have been full of house-selling, condo-hopping, road-tripping with family, many emails from wonderful reader-friends touching base to make sure I was doing well, and 20+ hours behind the wheel of an overloaded U-haul that left me vowing I would never, ever drive a U-haul again. 

All’s well that ends well, though, and I find myself in the PNW, happily near the water, gratefully soaking up the rain and the green, and feeling profoundly grateful that I’m able to freely write stories about these characters I love so much. Thank you, every one of you wonderful souls, for sticking with me on this wild ride. Life is very, very good.

A final note: Acair and Léirsinn are indeed still engaged in Heroic Questing—all the do-gooding is leaving Acair with a bit of tummy upset, truth be told. (Is this the place to admit I’ve rewritten most of The Prince of Souls three times now? That may be affecting his digestion as well!)

I think I’d better peek in and see what things still lie in wait for them as they near the end of their journey . . . stay tuned!

Come into my cyber livingroom, friends, and have a seat on the couch. It’s time for a little catch-up!

When it comes right down to it, I’m an intensely private person. It’s partly from wanting to give my kids some space and partly because when I shuffle off the old mortal coil several decades down the road, I would like my stories to live on without too much personal-life interference from me. But I’ve had so many lovely people ask what I was up to that I thought I might open the door a crack and put some questions to rest.

First and foremost, I am still writing.

Second—and thanks to so many of you who’ve asked—I’m fine. Several of those proverbial other shoes have dropped and I’m still here. Life is good!

And books, yes. Spring has sprung and summer is icumen in, as they say, so where are books?

The truth is, Acair was ready to take the stage in January when he and I decided the recycle icon was the best place for what was jotted down so far. He spent the winter languishing in his dungeon, I spent that same winter mulling his straits, and we regrouped a couple of months later to get back to business. More to come on a release date, as well as news about more romances!

All of that leads me to perhaps one of the bigger changes in my little world and that is that I’ve parted ways, amicably and with a great amount of residual fondness, from both agent and publisher. I’ve had the priceless opportunity to be a part of traditional publishing through some amazing times, but after twenty-three years with Berkley/Jove and the accompanying umbrellas we were existing under, it was time to make a change.

What does that mean for you, my friends sitting on my cyber sofa?

Well, for one thing, it means more books. Some will be the length we’re accustomed to, some will be shorter, some may be longer, but there will be more. On the fantasy side of things, I’m seriously considering moving away from the trilogy structure for a while and experimenting with just how long a robust Nine Kingdoms book would have to be to tell the story properly.

I will be using a variety of e-book platforms, and I’m definitely leaning toward a print-on-demand entity that produces what I consider to be absolutely lovely books. (If we’re going to read paper books, the paper they’re printed on better be glorious!) The main things that will change will be how much control I have over how often stories are released and how they’re produced. Everything else will feel very familiar.

As for the rest of it, I’ve spent a good part of the past few months just breathing in and out. Sometimes when you lose, for whatever reason, huge things that make up your known life, it takes a bit for the ashes to cool. It also takes some time to decide you’re going to be a plucky little Phoenix, stretch out your wings and eye them for sturdiness, then make a great, big leap into the sunrise.

I’ve watched many people I love make that leap and never thought I would be doing the same. It’s a lot scarier than I suspected it would be, but what a glorious view!

So, that’s where we are, my dear friends. I’m going to pull out my laptop and get back to writing. Please feel free to rummage around in your bags/backpacks/rucksacks for something to read—you all know you have at least one book in there!—and settle in. It’s going to be a fantastic journey from this point on full of new adventures and old character friends. We might even manage some retreats across the Pond where we can all tromp up and down castle stairs, inhale some glorious Highland air, and walk along beaches overlooked by centuries-old castles.

Stay tuned!

Affectionately,

Lynn

Star of the Morning was released on Audible a few days ago.  Massive thanks to author LL Muir for introducing me to James McCreadie of Duncurra LLC who did all the Gaelic pronunciations for Tantor’s great narrator, Laura Jennings. I’m really happy with the results and hope you’ll enjoy it!

The White Spell is releasing today, October 4th. I have to admit, Acair might be my favorite character ever. There’s a part of me that wishes I’d written a whole series about him, a la Sue Grafton: A is for Acair; B is for Bad Mage; I is for I’m Really Not Bad All the Time, etc. 

The Prologue is posted over there to the left behind “read an excerpt,” so click if you like and happy reading!

I decided it was time to get back to the land of the living. I’ll be in Layton, Utah, October 8th for the Fall into the Moment conference. 

I haven’t had the chance to do this before, but they’re doing a reader’s luncheon that looks absolutely awesome. Here’s the link: http://www.utahreadersluncheon.com

I think the space is fairly limited, but I’m going to be doing not only that but the entire conference. The conference link is: http://www.utahrwa.com/HOWConference.html

I’m going to be doing the book signing on Saturday as well. Come see me!