Although I was very much looking forward to resting and recharging at the cottage last week, that was cut very short by the wildfires (see yesterday's post for details on that). Climate change is impacting us all and it’s very worrisome to imagine how much worse it will get in the future. I tried to rest and recharge at home the best I could, but I am still teetering on the edge of burnout and am not quite sure how I’m going to deal with that. Given the state of the world, i

Stupid fucking Viking-named asshole, Tanner grumbled under his breath as he got into position for the faceoff. Stupid pretty-faced Viking-named asshole. Leif Rasmussen really shouldn't look like that. It was rude of him. Distracting. Series: Scoring Chances Title: Game Misconduct Book #: 6 Couple: Tanner Clayton & Leif Rasmussen Team: The Boston Harriers Release Date: August 7, 2026

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

Dear Diary. Fuck Tanner Clayton. He’s been driving me up the fucking wall since we played together in JUNIORS. And he hasn’t gotten any better over the years. Every time there’s a Harriers vs. Rockets game, I swear I lose my mind. I always take so many stupid penalties when I let him rile me up. And after ten years, he’s still the single-most annoying person I’ve ever met. It wasn’t bad enough that I had to spend time with him during the skills camp last summer, but of cours

It was like Tanner knew that Leif was always hanging on by a thread. That every time they argued he came this f*cking close to kissing him. It was like Tanner knew Leif was afraid if he was alone with Tanner again, he wouldn't be able to stop. That sooner or later, he'd give in. Again. Series: Scoring Chances Title: Game Misconduct Book #: 6 Couple: Tanner Clayton & Leif Rasmussen Team: The Boston Harriers Release Date: August 7, 2026

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

Colleen did a beautiful job with the illustrations for Graham and I really am delighted with the way the Delayed Penalty cover turned out. I also had a blast creating the merch and couldn’t resist making a little backwards cap, movie popcorn, and eggplant sticker with quotes from the book! The hoodies turned out really cute too and are slightly different styles, because the players have one style and the people who work for the team have another. We’re taking pre-orders for D

"I mean it, Clayton. I'm not doing this again. I refuse," Leif said through gritted teeth, turning to leave. He didn't like the person he turned into around Tanner Clayton. "Coward!" Tanner called out after him. 'You know arguing like this gets you hot." Series: Scoring Chances Title: Game Misconduct Book #: 6 Couple: Tanner Clayton & Leif Rasmussen Team: The Boston Harriers Release Date: August 7, 2026

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

Dear Diary, Fuck Leif Rasmussen. I mean, like, literally would be fun too, but also fuck him because he’s such an asshole on the ice. I swear to fucking God if he reads my play, steals the puck, and scores for the Rockets one more time I will sic Crawford on him. Ugh. And the worst part is he’s always so fucking smug about it all too. Oh, I’m Leif and I have a cool name like a Viking. I have a Hall of Fame hockey playing father and I’m growing up to be a fucking top-line cen

Leif never felt like he had any control when Tanner was around. He was ... something about him made Leif's brain burst into flames that threatened to consume everything around him. Series: Scoring Chances Title: Game Misconduct Book #: 6 Couple: Tanner Clayton & Leif Rasmussen Team: The Boston Harriers Release Date: August 7, 2026

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

I hope you enjoy the illustrations that Colleen did for Mickey & Rafe. I think she nailed their expressions perfectly. Rafe looks like a big ol himbo and Mickey looks focused (grumpy) on the ice. I hope you enjoy the gorgeous special edition paperback of Slew Foot. ​We are taking pre-orders for Slew Foot now and signed paperbacks will begin shipping August 25th. I also designed some fun merch for Mouse and Turtle. It’s a toss up between my favorite sticker but the Level 4 B

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

As much as I loved the illustrations Colleen O'Malley did for Connor and Jesse on the Goaltender Interference cover, I think Gavin’s illustration might be one of my favorites. He looks exactly like I pictured him. Every inch the stressed-out Boston Harriers general manager! I did not have Colleen do an illustration of Dakota so we could prioritize getting these paperbacks done. I am hopeful that once we wrap up the paperbacks, I can have her do illustrations for the other non

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

While I’d really love to be that super-organized author who always has my shit together, last summer’s migraines really set me back when it comes to bigger projects. This summer, the migraines are significantly better (but not completely gone) so I am trying to be careful not to overload myself. So although someday I hope to have illustrations and merch done before a book is finished that hasn’t been my reality lately. My more realistic goal was to get them out before the fin

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