On Monday, I drove a few hours north from where I live in Michigan to my best friend’s family cottage on a lake. We arrived in the afternoon, got unpacked/made the beds, then went straight out to the lake. We had a lovely evening, spent the entire day out on the water on Tuesday, and by that evening my eyes were extremely irritated (we weren’t yet aware of how bad the fires had gotten). By the time woke up Wednesday morning, the air was visibly smoky and there was fine ash fa

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

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

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

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 spring, and although we’ve already had some hellishly hot days here in Michigan, we’ve also had some lovely ones that feel like a nice relaxing spring day should. Sunny, but cool with a light breeze. On Sunday, I went for a three-mile hike. The trees are nearly all leafed out and the wildflowers were blooming and it was great to be out in the fresh air. I have plans to go hiking with a friend in a couple of weeks as well and I am really looking forward to it. You may

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'

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

It’s been both a fun and challenging week! I started planning and writing my latest book and planning the next series, which is always great fun. I also attended a really cool networking event with my cousin and ran across a fellow Loon (Heated Rivalry fan, if you’re not familiar with the lingo). I met someone who is going to introduce to me to a sapphic writer in the Michigan area, so it will be nice to connect with more local queer authors. I also got taken out by a migrain

I am back from my road trip! I had a fabulous time in Chicago and Minneapolis. At Sports Romance Con, I was able to sign books, meet readers, and do Heated Rivalry trivia! I hung out with Julie, who worked her butt off as my PA for the weekend, met people I’ve only talked to online, and connected with other authors. In Chicago, I got to visit friends, eat delicious food, stay in my favorite hotel, visit Shedd Aquarium and the American Writers Museum. All of it is such a great