Hello, all! It has been quite a while since I posted. I have a couple of health (physical and mental) updates, some rambling thoughts to share, and some book news. Buckle up!

Back at the end of January 2024 I received an email from the new pastor of the church I’d been a member of for over 20 years letting me know that he found my books to be sinful and leading my readers to hell. He said I had to repent, take my books down, and destroy all my files or I would be under church discipline. I freaked out and took my books down. But I prayed about it, very seriously, and could not agree. I told him that. I began putting my books back up. On March 17 the church voted to remove me from their membership. I received the formal letter of excommunication in April. Not only were they removing me from their church, they also said they did not consider me to be a member of the body of Christ. That was very difficult for me. My mental health suffered a lot. And of course, about a month after that I learned the cancer had spread so widely in both my lungs that there was no hope of a cure. The oncologist said he had patients with my diagnosis live for 10 years. I would probably do something like 6 months of chemo and 6 months of rest. Or maybe some radiation along the way.

I did a pretty intense round of chemo every other week from July through December. I got through it pretty well in spite of a nasty allergic reaction to one of the chemo drugs. I wasn’t horribly sick, I didn’t lose my hair, I had some energy. I worked almost every day.

In December I opened a manuscript for a romantic fantasy book I had started quite a long time ago. It’s called The Storm King. I decided that by golly I was going to finish it. And I did, in early June. It is around 95,500 words long. My editor expects it in her inbox on 8/4. I have ordered cover art. I am tentatively planning to publish it the last week of October 2025. I have started book 2, The Fire Prince, and I have a vague idea about book 3, The Ice Lord. I am pleased with The Storm King. I think it is a good mix of fantasy and romance.

I will certainly be posting more about that book in the coming months. If you are looking for pages and pages of hot sex you’ll be disappointed. But my books were never about pages of kinky sex linked together by a thin storyline. A year ago my brother told me I should add to the blurb of Lobo’s Mate. Something like “Read the book so scandalous that it got the author kicked out of her church!” But I knew if I put that on it 95% of the people who bought it would return it disappointed by how tame the love scenes were. I have spent hours in prayer, and I don’t feel that the After the Crash books are sinful. This new series has even milder love scenes. Even so I doubt that would meet the approval of my old church. And that’s okay. Because they told me that while God knows my ultimate end, they do not consider me a part of the body of Christ anymore. It’s like they are saying that it doesn’t matter to them what God decides, THEY will make up their own minds about me. That level of hubris is scary. In 1 Peter 5, it says God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

Enough of my angst. I have my next scans on 7/14 and I see the oncologist on 7/21. At that point I will know what my next steps in cancer treatment will be. Right now I feel fine. A little tired. Which might be due to emotional fatigue as much as physical fatigue. Or maybe this blessed heat! Sheesh, I hate uber hot weather!

Thanks for listening to me ramble. I will be posting again next month with more Storm King news.

Happy Reading!

Maddy