Dear Reader

Dear Reader,

Tonight I was planning on continuing with the next part of the Chronicle that I started last week, but a reader’s message left me deciding that perhaps post would be put to better use by explaining a few things. I haven’t seen it, because I stay away from readers conversations about my books because I want them to feel comfortable enough to say whatever they want and have an open conversation without worry. I’ve seen a few posts from bloggers getting upset that readers are complaining and lashing out against authors because of the long waits between books. For some reason, I didn’t think they were talking about me.

I figured that I’d been getting books out as quickly as possible and that it was understood that sometimes life gets in the way, a book takes longer than possible, or that sometimes a story just won’t come and needs some time to develop. From what I’m being told there are some very angry readers that are upset over the wait times of a few of my books. 

I get that.

It’s been seven years since Black Heart came out, longer still since we had a Hollywood Heart or an EMS book, and the Pyte/Sentinel readers have been waiting for three years for their next book. The NFH books have come out steadily because they are the easiest to write and are the best escapes for me when I need it. The waits have never been intentional and if I could plug the computer into my brain and pull the stories out for you, I would do it in a heartbeat. It is going to take some time, but I will get all the stories out.

I should probably explain why there has been such a long gap between books. I started writing books in 2007 to escape a horrible marriage. It was a nightmare that I would never wish on anyone. I began writing to get away from that and other cruel people in my life who were taking great joy in my misery. It was a struggle to get up every morning and every day I became more terrified than the last that there was never going to be an escape for us. I became desperate and began borrowing books from the library trying to learn a skill, any skill, that I could teach myself so that I could save enough money to break free and take care of my two children. I tried website design, soap making, computer repair, etc. you name it, I taught myself it. 

Nothing worked.

I finally hit that moment, the moment where you realize that you have absolutely nothing to lose. I decided to try my hand at writing. The first book was godawful, lol, but the next two books I enjoyed a great deal. For the next four years, I wrote. I just wrote. Every minute that I wasn’t taken care of my children, I was writing. It was actually what saved us when I found out just how horrible the marriage really was. We were left with nothing, no money, no car, no job, nothing. Absolutely nothing. From that horrible situation, we were thrown into another horrible situation, one that I’d hoped never to have to put my children in, but we weren’t left with a choice. 

Now, this is why the timeline for the books have been messed up and why there has been a long wait for books.

From 2011 to now we have been struggling to reclaim our lives, to make the children feel safe, and to try use what happened to us to make us stronger. Escaping abuse is great, but people do not talk about what it does to you. It’s sometimes worse than the actual abuse. It’s not a fun time and we struggle working through it daily.

While readers were waiting for the next Cursed Heart novel or the Pyte novel, I was fighting to keep my children safe in court. We had to deal with a criminal trial where the DA dropped the ball even though there was physical evidence, witnesses, and two confessions. Thankfully that person decided to brag online about getting away with it and shared a great deal of information to let everyone know just how disturbing and dangerous he really was. For four years, I worked with a private investigator following him online and gathered as much information as we could to save my children. It was more than enough and we managed to get our freedom. It took a lot out of us, but we got our freedom and once we got it…

We honestly had no idea what we were supposed to do with ourselves. We went from the fight of our lives to suddenly being free and never having to worry about the people that had made our lives a living hell ever coming near us again and it was overwhelming. That was December 2015, It took us a few months, but we finally decided to follow the advice that the children’s therapist and DCF gave us and move out of state and get a fresh start. That was late 2016. We moved two thousand miles away, moved into a beautiful state and have been working on getting our lives together. 

For the past two years, we have been working on trying to rebuild our lives, get a proper diagnosis for my son, which we finally did and that took a great deal of pressure off everyone to finally have answers, and work therapy to help get through everything. The past two years, that’s what I’ve been doing. Trying to help my children, homeschooling them when needed, taking them to therapy, working with them, and doing whatever it took to make them feel safe.

I have not been ignoring readers, or purposely teasing anyone, or focusing on certain books for money. I’ve been writing what will help me get through this. I have been writing the stories that have been playing out in my head. I love the other series and I’m very excited to have a chance to get back to the Pyte books, Cursed heart hopefully later this year, the EMS series, and others, and yes, I am working on Aidan’s book during carline and while I wait for my children to finish therapy every week.

So, if you are waiting for a certain book, I am sorry for that wait. It has never been my intention to make you wait. When I say that life gets in the way sometimes, I really mean that. I would have preferred writing all the stories that were waiting than to go through that hell any day of the week. This year is the year that I am doing my best to catch up. My children have great therapists, attend an awesome school, and while we all still have issues to work on, we are at the point where we can really start moving on. 

Thank you for your kindness and your support for the past seven years. We honestly could never thank you enough for everything that you’ve done for us and I hope that this letter helps to clear up a few things.

R.L.