What to Look for From Me in 2017

First off, how is it possible that we’re already ¼ of the way through 2017?

Like, seriously…how?

Whether the time is flying for you (like it is for me), I wanted to give you a heads up on how things look for the year.

First off, some of you may be have noticed that I planned to have The Third Wheel out by now. What you may not know is that I have since been contracted to write a screenplay that will be filmed in the Middle East. The movie is not an adaptation of any of my stories. I am writing a story that an amazing director wants to shoot. Her name is Eva Daoud, and she is an internationally award-winning director for each of the short films she has created. This will be her first feature-length film, and I have the honor of writing it. Doing so meant switching my schedule around, but when you have a phenomenal director who wants to work with you, you kind of push current projects back in the queue and get to work.

Or at least that’s what I ended up doing.

This means that while last year I put out three books, this year I plan on putting out two: The Third Wheel and Pimpernel 2, in that order. The Third Wheel will be in summer and Pimpernel 2 in the fall.

I’m really excited for both!

The Third Wheel is Luke’s story and ties in with The Kiss That Launched 1,000 GIFs and King of the Friend Zone. I do have to mention that it’s a bit more intense and deals with some heavier topics, like gaslighting, narcissism, abuse, and infidelity. It’s a bit of a heavy one to write, but it has a whole lot of heart. I think you’ll like it…or at least my fingers are crossed that you will.

As for the second Pimpernel book, what is there to say about that except that each book in the series goes bigger than the last and they’re all giant rides. So if you liked the first one, I’m hoping you like the next one even better.

But right now all the focus is on getting the screenplay done.

An interesting thing about these projects is that they’re all intense in different ways. Writers have different ways of composing their stories, but I’m one of those writers who goes and sits in a scene and tries to capture what I see and experience with text. Sometimes scenes kindly loop over and over, letting me see things again and again (sometimes even zooming in and out) until I get them right; sometimes they pass through like a gusting breeze that makes contact before zipping on, and I have to focus to capture that one exposure as best I can before a bunch of other breezes cloud that specific memory. So it’s interesting to sit inside the scenes of an accused suicide bomber, a devoted gaslit wife, and a mastermind guiding a team of differently gifted masters who pull and snip strings in the world of “too big to fail.”

I love it. I wouldn’t trade these muses for any others, but the screenplay and The Third Wheel, in particular, are intense scenes to sit in and it’s a challenge (that I happily accept) to find the right words to pull you into that space with me and share those journeys.

So that’s where I am right now.

I’ll fill you in as things unfold, but I wanted to let you know where things are at.

Also, we’re less than 2 months out in finding out if either Walk of Infamy or Pimpernel will win a Whitney Award. Fingers crossed, but thank you so much for nominating me! That means a ton! I could tell you which muse wants it more, but I’ll keep that to myself for now.

Thank you for your support and thank you for reading! I literally couldn’t do any of this without you.

Hugs!