Hey, folks!
I’m going to start this show with a piece of artwork; I’ve been playing with botany sketches / paintings to accompany the special edition version of The Murder at River’s End (cover later) for the special edition version. The eBook version will have black and white versions of some art (but not all art), which is fun. I’m also learning calligraphy so I can make my own little botany pages for the interior of the books that use botany as a notable portion.
My fantasy works (other world, often high/epic/traditional) are more likely to have arkwork like this.
Why, you may ask? Because I can.
I’ve already begun writing the Murder at River’s End, (Patreon subscribers in the Otter+ tiers got a sneak peek of it here) and I’m hoping to have it finished by the end of 2026 for a first quarter 2027 release. As this is being done on the side, I’m essentially blasting through the regular work as quickly as(and as well) as I can before diving into this and my sekrit project. I am also working on Herding Polecats, the next Magical Romantic Comedy (with a body count.) If I finish it ahead of its scheduled appearance on the list due to overtime and evening sessions, I’ll release it earlier than expected.
Because I can.
In good news, the anthropic settlement stuff is looking hopeful for my plan to work on completing series. That leads me to the meh part of today’s post.
Ending a series is, frankly spoken, one of the worst parts of being an author. When I start a series, I have a rough idea of where it is going. Lowrance Vampires should have been fairly obvious what the end game was from the first chapter or so of Blood Bound: eliminating the bad person who did bad things to Pepper.
Many people are not going to like how I handled this. (And they will try to let me know it in reviews, which I don’t read.)
Reviews are for the people who are buying the book, not for me. There is 0% chance I’m going to be changing a book based on reader commentary. Sorry, that’s just not how this works. If I want reader input, and I plan on using the reader input, I do so on Patreon, the post is very clear anything discussed can and will be yoinked for my books with zero obligation for compensation to anyone contributing to the discussion, and everyone involved has consented to the process.
Reviews aren’t for me, so I don’t read them. Reviews are for people who are thinking about reading the series and aren’t sure if they want to dive in.
As a reader, one of the absolute best ways you can help an author, outside of the fiscal support needed to keep us trucking on, is to leave a review telling people why you think they should read the book.
“I loved this series! I didn’t want it to end!” is a great way to show all the support for the author. Have a new favorite character? Tell the other readers! “$This_Character is my favorite because s/he’s snarky!”
Unfortunately for authors everywhere, haters are far more likely to leave reviews than those who loved the book. (It’s just how it is.) So, if you want to show authors some love, give the book some nice reviews!
As a reminder, I just look at the star ratings for the series/books, so even if you don’t leave text, your choice of star does matter. (And yes… if I notice people are low starring books because “it’s not a Mag Rom Com”… the Mag Rom Coms suffer right along with the targeted series. My PA scans for that sort of thing when I am doing reviews and I’m informed. So, do yourself a solid. Don’t sabotage the series you want because I was working on something else. The fastest way to sabotage the series you want is to complain I was working on something else and not the title you want. Client from Hell did not get worked on for a while because of this behavior. Between the people doing it, the low stars that showed up on other books with people bitching, and my absolute Taurus of a mentality and personality type… I dig in my heels, resent the book/series in question, and require a few years to decide to dig out of the trench I have inserted myself into.)
I’m not the only author who does this. Don’t be the reason an author decides they’d rather spend their energy elsewhere, okay?
In other news… I HAVE started working on the plot work for the sequel to Client from Hell, but “It’s complicated” applies because I have to triple and quadruple check the timing of events to make sure I keep the world consistent. This is also a huge part of why these books take so long to write.
When I wrote Dragon Her Heels, I had to carefully reread something like eight books in the series to make certain it stayed consistent. This takes a LOT of time… and no, story bibles only go so far with that. Sometimes, a reread is just required.
The current files open on my computer are:
- Failed Colony (hoping for December 2026)
- Murder Floof (hoping for December 2026)
- Game On (Due out November 2026)
- Winter Paradise (Due out December 2026)
- Purple Stained Sky (Romantasy, Leanne Hearst)
The current files open on my BYOK are:
- Herding Polecats (Maybe 2027. We’ll see.)
- Sekrit Projekt (Sign up for the sekrit pen’s newsletter here)
The current file open on my cell phone is:
- The Murder at River’s End
The current file open on my pomera is:
- The Edge of Midnight
For those who have been curious about the BYOK, yes, I do absolutely still ADORE mine. It’s such a great little device.
I like my pomera, but the reality of the pomera is simple: it’s very, very fragile, so it can only be used in very controlled conditions. I did write Grave Intentions mostly on the pomera, but because of its state as fragile, I have to plan ahead, etc.
My BYOK is much more friendly about stuff like that. The only downside is hauling the keyboard around with it. But I solved that with a mix of a small travel keyboard (lofree lite style) and a folding extra small travel keyboard which can go into my purse.
The BYOK is compatible with MOST of my keyboards but not all of them. If the keyboard specifies which OS you are using when you’re setting it up, it’s probably not compatible with the BYOK on the keyboard side. (The BYOK tries real hard, though.)
Reminder: if it’s not on the list of things open on my computer, please don’t ask me about it right now. Please. I am at max capacity for life, the universe, and everything.
So, yeah. That’s where I’m at now that Death Dance is out the door. If you loved it, please leave reviews. (Amazon and Kobo all need a lot of love, as those are the two vendors that make me the most money / have the highest readership.) I mean, if you hated it, go ahead and leave reviews, too. (Just know I’m not going to read them, and there’s zero chance my PA is going to cherry pick your review to show me when I ask her to show me the nice stuff from the release when I need a little bit of happy in my life.)
Anyway… today is going to be busy. If I want to get to the play projects, I need to make a lot of ground on Game On today. Wish me luck. I’m going to need it.
The cover above is gorgeous 💜
Rebecca Frank is the designer, and it’s fully hand illustrated! 😀
Just read this post from you and was surprised to hear that you don’t read any of the reviews on your books. While I understand that you’ll probably ignore what I have to say, I’ll say it anyway. You are making a huge mistake. Avid readers like myself appreciate it when an author takes the time to read our reviews especially when you blame us for not following through with a writing complete series. I love your Jesse Alexander books but your choice to ignore continuing the series has caused me have little faith in wanting to purchase your books seeing as why should I spend hard earned money when you can’t be bothered to continue a series. Also many future readers look at those books and say why buy when they know they’ll be left hanging since 2019 for the next book. At this point all doing is make me turn away and look for more consistent authors who actually show respect to their readers.
May you find your next favorite author with ease! Good luck, and happy reading! Sorry to hear that, but I’m not trashing my emotional health over reviews. You are not entitled to that.
Also, if you were to actually be an avid reader, you would have seen the post which says exactly when Jesse Alexander will be written. It’s on the list. It’s just not on the list right this second.
I appreciate my readers, I really do… but it sounds like you’ll be happier finding other authors, and I’m just not into emotional blackmailing. Go actually read reviews and see what horrible things some people say.
Then put yourself in the shoes of authors for a few minutes.
It’s an unpleasant place to be in. That’s why my PA cherry picks the nice things people say.
If you’re not saying something nice, no, I am not going to see it. End story.
You’re not entitled to that. You just aren’t.
I think you should re-read what you wrote. It smacks of entitlement! If you can do better, write your own books. She is so prolific, and yet you complain. She has very very clearly explained how and why she works on a series. Your hard earned money is apparently not joined by enough other folks for her to write the one you want right now. You are being a keyboard bully and we don’t need that vibe here. Nor is she required to be stressed out by reading reviews from negative Nelly’s. DO BETTER!
>snort<
Frankly, I don't expect any author to read the reviews on their books – even if they restrict themselves to only one bookseller site. Too much time taken away from doing other things.
If I want to personally let an author know how I felt about a book, I would hardly expect to do so via a book review – a review is (IMNSHO) where one expresses to other *readers* how much the book was enjoyed it (or, on rare occasions, to warn that the book wasn't as described), that they may be encouraged to purchase the book themselves. Anytime I've contacted an author, it was via their noted preference(s) for contact – their website, a message forum they visit, or via their publisher (for example).
I, too, consider myself an avid reader – by which I mean I have at least one book in progress on my computer, and another on my kindle (hard-copies are few these days) – and as soon as one is finished, another is started. I don't restrict myself to one specific genre. But frankly, being an avid reader don't mean much, other than one spends alot of time (and money) reading books. I learned decades ago that though I may really like a particular series, not everyone does – and if there are too few that do, the series stops. That's life in reading.
You don't like that an author won't do as you want them to – then [bluntly] go read something by someone else. In my opinion, an author owes only one entity anything regarding their writing – and that's the publisher to whom they are under contract.
As always, the mileage of others may vary. Oh, neat-o – The Flame Game is on sale for 99¢ today!
I’m learning art and calligraphy, mostly from Lindsey Bugbee’s newsletter and website ThePostmansKnock.com, although I have her book as well.
Have fun with your efforts!
I got a fancy calligraphy box for a year that apparently teaches you ALL the things… it should arrive this weekend, and I’m really looking forward to it!
i am so glad you’re finding fun creative outlets (calligraphy and drawing) your sketch st the top of this post was wonderful.
thanks so much for all the stories you share and please continue to take care of yourself and your mental health (try not to worry about the haters)