It’s officially August! If you read last week’s newsletter you know that there was a plumbing disaster. It has now been fixed knocks on wood, the bathroom’s clean again, and I was even able to take a nice relaxing candlelit bath in there the other night. Things did NOT go as smoothly when it comes to the cover image, so check out yesterday’s post for more on that. The important thing is, Game Misconduct is live and you can read the book readers are calling a “definite must-r

Can you believe it’s August?? My brain is still somewhere back in May … The good news is that my foot is looking MUCH better. It’s been a little over two weeks since I slipped and fell on the stairs. I am so grateful that it wasn’t anything more serious than a soft tissue injury because the swelling has all gone down and the wildly colored bruises are gone. It just looks like my normal foot now! The bad news is that there’s been a plumbing disaster. There’s currently a hole

I am currently writing this almost a week ahead, because by the time you get this, I will be at the cottage! Not that cottage, but I am spending the week at my best friend’s family cottage with her, her kids, and her parents. It’s an annual tradition and I love it so much. It’s supposed to be HOT (hitting 100°F!) by mid-week and I am planning to pretty much roll out of bed and into the lake. As someone who loves the water and grew up on a lake, spending a huge amount of time

As always, James did an incredible job recording Made to Order. He brought Donovan and Tyler to life in only the way he can. The tender scenes made me cry and OMG the spicy scenes are just 🔥. Absolute fire. If you haven’t started the series yet, now is a great time to do that.

I survived the gauntlet of four days of extremely high heat and thunderstorms and came out alive! I even felt up to going to a 4th of July party at a friend’s house (even though I did not feel like celebrating where this country is currently at) and had a nice time. I got to play with a cute doggo, eat some delicious food, chat with friends, and play games. This week I’ve been putting the finishing touches on Game Misconduct and it’ll be off to edits while I am up north hang

I had a lovely time last week. I got a haircut, walked along the river, then went to the farmer’s market. I came home with black raspberries, asparagus, a little ceramic container, dill Havarti cheese, blue cheese stuff olives, and raspberry & vanilla macarons. I chatted with a few lovely people, enjoyed some dogs, then took myself out to dinner. It was exactly what I needed! This week has been a challenge. Michigan is in the midst of a heatwave and we have four days of storm

Thank you for all of your kind words about my migraines. I really appreciate it. This hasn’t been a particularly exciting week, although I did have a nice time on Father’s Day. My parents invited my second cousin (who is in college, doing research during the summer semester) to dinner and we ate out on the porch. For once, it was lovely weather and it was really nice to spend the time outside and actually enjoy it! I am writing this Wednesday but have plans to get my hair cut

Hockey season is officially over with the Hurricane’s Stanley Cup win. I don’t know if any of you are Vegas Golden Knight fans but I think we can all agree that seeing Carter Hart fall apart at the end was very satisfying after the league worked so hard to get a horrible person back on the ice. I wasn’t really rooting for Carolina either but I DID root for Seth Jarvis. He’s an absolute ball of chaos with a delightful friend group and although he wasn’t who I pictured when I c

Sadly, despite a valiant attempt, the Baby Pens lost the Eastern Conference Finals. That’s officially the end of hockey season for me, although I did catch the Stanley Pup the other night. As always, it was an adorable “hockey game” played by dogs to help rescue dogs find homes. If you want to watch, you can find it here on YouTube. I’ve been reviewing audio and am up to my eyeballs in Shop updates, illustrated paperbacks, and fun new merch. Keep reading to learn all about th

Uhh, so if you didn’t already know by now, sometimes the ADHD strikes hard. I’ve been blathering on about James recording Flipping the Switch but, uh, that is in fact not the next book in the series! Kim finally pointed out that Made to Order comes next. Not sure how I forgot about my subby Army vet and his bossy chef, but well, somehow I managed it. It was no big deal. I hadn’t sent the files to James yet but it meant I needed to make a very quick pivot to get everything re

The Baby Pens are off to the Eastern Conference Finals, Sidney Crosby is doing Sidney Crosby things at Worlds, and Evgeni Malkin signed to play with Pittsburgh for one more year. throws confetti All is right in my hockey world. (I am disgusted and saddened by the situation with VGK going to the playoffs and their vile-excuse-for-a-human goalie and will not be watching any of the NHL playoffs.) I am having a great deal of fun in my fictional hockey world. Leif & Tanner are

The weather went full-on summer in the past week, and I went for a lovely (if ridiculously hot and humid) hike on Sunday. I got to enjoy nature (including seeing a relatively rare bird for this area –a pileated woodpecker!) and hang out with a friend I haven’t seen in months. We grabbed lunch and watched a movie after and it was a really nice way to spend the day. My Baby Pens are still doing very well in the Calder Cup playoffs so I’m having fun watching the newish prospec

Before we get into the good news about Cheap Shot being available in audio, I wanted to share some info with you. Audible recently released an update saying that they are changing their payment structure. It's a decision that will hurt both authors and narrators, so I wanted to take a moment to tell you that I appreciate each and every one of you who is willing (and able!) to support me by shopping directly.  Running the Brigham Vaughn Shop is a ton of work. Kim & I work very

Great news! The Baby Penguins are still in the playoffs, and I’ve had a very productive week! I stopped by the thrift store and bought a little metal organizer for under my bathroom sink. This led to a full sink re-organize (and required buying several more organizers at another store) but after years of it annoying me, now it looks and functions exactly like I hoped and I couldn’t be happier with it. On Wednesday, I had a meeting with my web designer, Pippa, about some si

As many of you know, the Pens got eliminated from the playoffs. I was very sad but honestly, making it to the playoffs at all was a gift. The entire season they had was a gift. Last fall, they were predicted to be the worst team in the league. Making it to the playoffs with Sid, Geno, and Tanger all there and healthy was impressive and I am so glad they got that again. I had to mourn for a bit and step away from hockey. While I did, I worked on puzzles, plus went hiking and s

It’s funny the difference a week can make! Tanner & Leif are behaving (for now) and words are flowing again on Game Misconduct. The Penguins won their last two games and forced a game six. knock on wood but here’s hoping they drag it to a game 7 on Saturday! The odds are not in their favor historically, but as I said last week, they do have a tendency to be dramatic, so … fingers are firmly crossed again! Let’s go, Pens! Want to know what else I’ve been up to? Writing: A

It’s Wednesday when I’m writing this and my beloved Penguins are struggling in the postseason. They’ve lost the first two games against Philly and let me tell you, I was NOT prepared for this. Apparently, neither was my mom because the other day she said, "You need to tell them to get it together! I was counting on them for some happiness because the rest of the world is pretty awful right now. They're just going to have to win the Stanley Cup. For my sake." I replied, "I'

Several years ago, I created a fictional small town on the shores of Lake Michigan called Pendleton Bay. The town may look quaint and charming, but there's a naughty side underneath. It's a place where ordinary guys find their kinky happily ever afters. James has been recording it in audio and I am happy to share that book #2 in the series is now available on my shop! Series: Naughty in Pendleton Title:  Embracing His Shame Book #:  2/5 Couple: Jarod Keener & Forrest P

Thank you so much! There are always nerves before I release a book. I wonder if I “got it right” and worry I might let readers down, especially ones who have been dying for Luke’s story for so long. But I couldn ’t be happier with the reviews coming in for Cheap Shot . You LOVED Luke & Sebastian’s story. I talked about that in yesterday's post , but now let's talk about what else I’ve been up to lately! I attended the Hockey Night with the Grand Rapids Griffins event on Sa

So, this has been a rough week, huh? Let’s all take a deep breath, hold it for a few seconds, then breathe out slowly together. It’s been incredibly hard to focus on writing and promoting books. Lately, I’ve been able to create some compartmentalization where I do what I can, when I can (calling reps, showing up to protests, making donations) but try to be 100% present for my writing and all of the other parts of being an author. Some of it comes from spite. I REFUSE to let