It's been a while

I haven't posted in a long time. That's because in July of 2019 I was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. I have had two surgeries and am still on chemo, and right now I don't have much energy. I have not been able to write since I finished my last published novel Worlds Apart, which came out in May of 2021. I managed to publish four novels that year: Worlds Apart, Hidden Magic and the Nameless World duology of The North Edge of Nowhere and Oaths and Promises. I still don't know how I did it. 

Unless a medical miracle happens I am unlikely to publish anymore books. I am saving my strength for time with my family. But one of the things I am doing is rereading all of my own books, the ones I wrote and published. Generally, if I enjoy a book the first time, I will often reread it, I find that rereading is a somewhat different experience from reading.

When you read a book the first time, you want to know what happens. When you read a book a second or third time, you already know what happens. That allows you to concentrate on the writing and on the growth of the characters-- how they interact, how they change-- and to spend time with the people in the book as if they were friends. 

I've just started rereading, but so far I enjoy my own books. I write what I like to read, after all, so I'm not surprised. I just finished The Nostalgia Gambit, one of only two novels I wrote in first person, and I quite liked it. First person really lets the author show the true nature of the character-- their values, their personality, their truthfulness. It's all on the page.

So, I'm curled up in a comfy chair with my Kindle and rereading like crazy. Not just my own books. I'm a big fan of Georgette Heyer, who wrote mostly historical romances but also mysteries. I really like her writing and I think she influenced my own writing a great deal. 

Anyway, this explains the long gap between this post and the previous one. I don't know if I'll get back to the blog again, so I'll say now, thanks for reading this, and hopefully for reading some of my books. I'm glad I have them to leave after I'm gone.

I'll get back to my Kindle now. I have 17 books to go.