Only days after my last post, my grandmother passed away. We were very close most of my life. In fact, we lived with my grandparents for the first year of my life after my mother passed away. So this was a tough one.
Then only a few weeks after this loss, my dad had a severe stroke. We celebrated Christmas with my parents in the hospital and have spent the months since trying to support my dad and mom as best we can. Recovery has been slow, but my dad is now able to talk, eat, and even walk with the use of a walker. It is amazing that a simple little blood clot in a portion of someone's brain can wreak such chaos in these normal activities of life.
While there is still plenty of rehab left before things get back to something resembling normal for my parents. I feel like I'm finally at the point where I have the time, and more importantly the emotional bandwidth, to resume work on my next book. With a topic like human trafficking, I find I need to be emotionally fresh, just to get through the heart-breaking research.
If you're on Twitter, I'd encourage you to stop by my profile and check out my #WritingExcerpts posts. I try to post intriguing snippets from my most recent pages, without giving away any major plot directions.
'Til next time! (And I promise it won't be another six months.)