Hey wonderful people!

Short email from me today. I thought about skipping this week, but didn't want to neglect to announce the new chapter of Undertow, which is up! A bit more about that below.

The last several days flew by for me in a happy blur of outdoor time, last-minute Easter planning (our celebration is strictly secular... pretty much an egg hunt and an excuse for desserts with pastel frosting in this house, but the kids look forward to it) and sneaking in some hours for writing where I can.

What I’m writing

I'm under a fairly tight deadline for a short story that I'm submitting to an m/m BDSM romance anthology. The working title is "The Pool Boy," which tells you everything you need to know about the story! ;)

As usual, my plans to keep things short and sweet (and steamy) are being waylaid by my characters—I guess they want to go on an emotional journey, or something? The audacity!

However, I had a breakthrough a couple of days ago, and now I'm (fairly) confident I can find the right balance and deliver a hot, short read and fully-drawn characters. And on time, too! Always a nice bonus.

Also simmering away on the backburner is "Sweat, Leather, and Lipstick"—the contemporary western m/m short story I shared an excerpt from last week. That story is for a giveaway I'm taking part in, and I'll make sure y'all know about it as soon as it's available for you to grab. If you enjoyed meeting Robbie in Long Winter and Signs of Spring, I think you'll love visiting the ranch a couple generations earlier in this story!

What I’m reading

I'm rereading Unmasked by the Marquess by Cat Sebastian. I love this book for so many reasons, but I'm rereading it to study its wonderful representation of a genderqueer character. If you like con artists with hearts of gold, grumpy/sunshine, and historicals, then I encourage you to check out this book.

Chapter 21 of Undertow

We're still on track to finish Undertow by the end of this month, and I can hardly believe it! I say "we" because the highlight of my week is reading your emails reacting to the story. Thank you for taking the time to share them with me! Your enthusiasm is 100% responsible for keeping this project on track.

For those who haven't been following along, Undertow is a full-length m/m fantasy romance, with magic, pirates, and a Waterworld-esque setting. And a compulsion collar. 😈 All the available chapters up to Chapter 21 (of 25!) are now posted on my website.