Grieving my dog Charlie and barely functioning through my son’s graduation, I finally returned to my computer—only to find my worst writing nightmare. Someone had tried to hack my system, not for my personal info, but for my WIP files. Pages missing, formatting broken, entire sections corrupted. It wasn’t a glitch. It was deliberate. Now I’m rebuilding every manuscript from the ground up.

Two months without a working printer derailed my entire indie‑author workflow — from cover art to daily operations. After a broken “replacement,” a refurbished offer, and a full contract reset, I’m finally getting a real printer and getting Book 3 back on track. Here’s the saga behind the chaos.

My six‑year‑old printer started failing in mid‑March and died completely by early April, taking my scanner—and my Book 3 cover timeline—with it. Nearly two months without a working printer has stalled everything, from shipping labels to school essays to digitizing my cover art. A broken replacement from HP only added to the chaos, but a new printer is finally on the way.

The past year felt like rough seas for so many of us, from what I’ve seen and heard. I hope this post finds y’all steady, hopeful, and ready for whatever twists this new year decides to throw your way. The past few months were quieter than I intended — at least on the outside. If you follow my blog or social media, you probably noticed I slipped out of the loop for a bit, tried to jump back in, and then got swept away once again. Life has a way of rearranging our plans withou

Earlier this week, I was contacted by a local high school teacher in regard to participating in an “Industry Interview” project for the...