This summer has been BRUTALLY hot in Colorado but it seems like it’s finally starting to cool down (in the 90s not the 100s is good, right?). That made it hard to get outside as much as I wanted to this summer, but hopefully I’ll make it paddleboarding another time or two before the cold sets in.
While I don’t have any news on THE RACING LINE, I do have some updates about some of my other writing getting published soon. Read on to find out what and where.
Reading
This summer has been all about the audiobooks. I have a physical and an ebook on the go, but finding the time to want to read with my eyes when I’m not looking at the computer screen working on my new book is… hard. Audiobooks I can pop on while I’m driving, cleaning, making stained glass, taking a walk. So they’re getting significant usage this summer. Here’s what I read in July and August:
Harvest Season by Brynne Weaver 🎧️
A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams 🎧️
Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake 🎧️
🏎 Driven by Susie Wolff 🎧️
You Won’t Forget Me by Mazey Eddings 🎧️
Bad Boy Era by Amy Daws 🎧️
Extracurricular by Rachel Lynn Solomon 🎧️
Romantic Hero by Kirsty Greenwood 🎧️
Lost and Found by Tarah DeWitt
Good Spirits by B.K. Borison 🎧️
It’s Different This Time by Joss Richard 🎧️
Unconventionally, Elle by Jourdana Webber 🎧️
Let’s Kiss and Tell by Joss Richard 🎧️
Into the Blue by Emma Brodie 🎧️
Writing
I’ve been getting a lot of new words down, but not in either of the books I started writing this summer. Instead, two side projects have been keeping me busy. BUT! Before that! I commissioned some new art of Maeve and Jill from THE RACING LINE. This art is by the divinely talented Jess Amy Art and I am in love with the way she brought these babes to life.
I mean… LOOK AT THEM! The details—Jill’s helmet and her car! Maeve’s little clipped sunglasses and that smirk looking at her girl. I adore.
A short story
Romance Writers of the Rockies is releasing a winter holiday-themed anthology soon and I’m so excited to have contributed a short story to it! “The Cat Came Back” is about two neighbors with a unique method of communication:
When Lucy finds a cat on her doorstep during a blizzard she takes him in for the night before a pet sitter arrives to collect the feline. Soon, the cat is back, with a note from a mysterious neighbor. Is the cat just delivering the mail, or could he be delivering love, too. “The Cat Came Back” is a sweet contemporary romance set between Thanksgiving and New Year’s.
Look for more details in next month’s newsletter, including where you can read or buy the Anthology. All proceeds support Romance Writers of the Rockies.
Some journalism
For my birthday in July, I went on a mini-trip up to the north west corner of Colorado for Rally Colorado. It’s been a very Rally-centric summer as I also attended Dirtfish’s Women in Motorsport Summit in August, where I got to do a ride-along with current ARA Championship leader Lia Block.
At rally Colorado, I did some ad hoc interviews with drivers, co-drivers, and a marshal and write an article about rally racing for Shift Colorado magazine. Look for it in Issue 17, which should be out in mid-September.
I’ve also joined the Substack team at Women on the Grid. I’m working on a piece about the WiM Summit and will probably try to write something about the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which I’m attending in a couple weeks.
A project back from the grave
After reading some excellent second-chance romances this summer (including Joss Richard’s It’s Different This Time), I got the itch to pick up my retelling of Much Ado About Nothing again. The last draft of it stood at 94K words, which, combined with the dual timelines and four POVs made it more than a hard sell as a new adult romance. So I’ve sketched out a plan for dropping it to two core POVs (with the other two POVs maybe splitting off into their own book). I’m also doing some tense and 3rd vs 1st person POV changes, so it’s a pretty major overhaul. But I’m loving getting back to Beatrice and Benedick.
… and Randomness
It’s Sapphic September. Go pick up a book with some women loving women in it! If you need a recommendation or two:
One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston is one of my all-time faves. It’s a little magic, a little nostalgic, and all wonderful.
If you are obsessed with Stevie Nicks and, in particular, that video of her singing “Silver Springs” AT Lindsay Buckingham, there’s a book for that: You Won’t Forget Me by Mazey Eddings.
The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow is beautiful beyond words.
Do you want something to get you ready for the holidays? Alice Rue Evades the Truth by Emily Zipps is a sapphic take on “While You Were Sleeping".”
Another great one: Single Player by Tara Tai.
On my TBR: Make Your Move by Melissa Braydon (the only other sapphic F1 romance!) and Homeward For A Spell by Jamie Pacton and Rebecca Podos. Among many many others.
OHMYGOD I’m going to Azerbaijan in two weeks for the Grand Prix!!!! It’s still hitting me!
I went to California and saw Chappell Roan perform and there’s been so much happening that this is the first time I thought to mention that in this newsletter!
This time next month, I’ll have seen another Formula 1 Grand Prix! Wish me luck!
