Happy New Year

Despite the passing of more good friends, 2014 has been a much better year for me than either 2012 or 2013. I reconnected with my daughter, Tammy, visiting her in Medford, Oregon, in May, then helping her to buy a condo and get everything moved to her new digs by the first of December. I wrote and sold four new novels and two short stories, though they won’t see print until next year. I did autographings or panels or workshops at three major cons, reconnected with dozens of writer friends in person and many more on Facebook, and lectured on writing and hypnosis at Rock Valley College. Macabre Ink and Crossroad Press will soon re-release The Devil Made Me Do It, Claw Hammer, and Daddy’s Home as e-books, and David also agreed to publish a couple of new never-before-published novels I sent him in manuscript.

            2015 looks to be even busier than 2014. Abandoned is scheduled to come out in paperback and hardcover by the end of February or beginning of March. I am so very fond of that novel and its sympathetic characters that I wrote four sequels containing some of the same characters. I’ll be signing copies of Abandoned at Barnes and Noble in late February, the World Horror Convention and Wiscon in May, the World Science Fiction Convention (Sasquan) in August, and the World Fantasy Convention in November.

            Impossible is developing nicely. I’m in the fun process of building the sexual tension between Jack and Sylvia at the same time they’re fleeing for their lives from two teams of super-assassins. Jack doesn’t dare tell Sylvia everything, and Sylvia, of course, doesn’t believe half of what he has told her and certainly doesn’t believe the threat is real. Her naivete keeps putting them both in jeopardy. Let this be a lesson to you, guys. Leaving the woman you love in the dark can be hazardous to your health.

            My writing was often interrupted by the real-life dramas of people close to me. Too many of my friends developed cancer or heart conditions, and several friends died quite unexpectedly. Some of my friends made life-changing decisions or endured life-changing events. On the plus side, Elizabeth has remained clean and sober for more than a year, and Tammy now has a more stable living environment. I had my annual physical and the doctor tells me I can expect to live for another year or more. Maybe I can equal Isaac Asimov’s output before I die. I’ll keep working at it.

            Happy New Year to all my friends, family, and fans. May each year be better than the last.