I'm Too Hot, Hot Damn

...call the police and the fireman...I'm too hot (hot damn)...make a dragon wanna retire, man...

Anybody else totally done with summer 2024? I don't know about you guys, but I've been feeling absolutely roasted lately. Today I took my dog out for his morning visit to the backyard, and I'm not even kidding; I was outside less than ten minutes and covered in jam-hands. You know that sticky feeling toddler's hands always have? Yeah, that. Like, pre-sweat, just everywhere. And before caffeine, too! Yuck.

Between that, heat intolerance, and the kind of pale skin that burns if I even think too hard about being outside in summertime... I'm ready for fall.

Otherwise though, things are okay, and staying in to avoid the heat is doing a lot of great things for my writing, my home declutter, and great bonding sessions with my youngest - which has been so much fun! I love how chill we get to be in the summertime (oh, the irony), when we can take breaks from some of the everyday busyness. Which leads to these wins for the week (which I actually struggled to narrow down):

We're 43 weeks away from the expanded second-edition re-release of FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM, and I can hardly wait. FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM was originally written and published in 2013, and by the end of that year my life completely imploded; in the years since, I saw so much loss and turmoil it's a wonder I can still figure out which way is up. Thankfully things are a lot more peaceful now, and I couldn't be happier to be back in my element, crafting stories and coaching strong characters into their best potential. But there was always supposed to be at least one sequel to FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM...

Currently, I'm writing my way through the eleventh chapter of STILL FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM, which is well overdue and incredibly exciting; when this chapter is complete, I'll officially be able to say this book is at the halfway mark! Christine's growing in leaps and bounds, adjusting well to her new life, and rebuilding like a champ after her husband's abuse - but the story isn't over yet, and her biggest, most terrifying challenge is yet to come.

Which means I'd better get back to it. In the meantime, friends...

*song lyric from "Uptown Funk," Bruno Mars, Mark Ronson