Cheers to a New Year!

Greetings readers,

I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays. Hope that everyone found a light to hold onto despite the darkness always there to cover you like an avalanche of snow. But remember, even on the darkest of nights, the sun still rises.

I’m going to be honest, 2025 has been a rough year for me, personally. One day you will be able to read all about it, but that time is not now. I have been battling with what is called imposter syndrome. Basically, I started believing that I don’t have what it takes in the publishing world. I’m not the only one. There are so many authors out there that go into publishing their books for all the right reasons, but their voice gets drowned in the sea of books that are published daily, which is in the thousands. In the race to rise above the noise, I found myself sinking, getting swallowed in the abyss. Why? Well, partially, I forgot who I am. Who I want to be as an author. I started following the crowd. The trends. They have not worked for me well. Yes, I have many accomplishments under my belt, but it’s not why I wanted to be an author in the first place. I must walk away from the known and walk into the unknown. Dare to be unique, like I used as my slogan. I never was one who was comfortable walking with the crowd. I always found my way walking against the crowd, even if it was harder. That’s the approach I’ll be taking from now on into 2026.

I must confess, I suffered a heartbreak during 2025. Sometimes what we want isn’t what we are meant to have. Sometimes what we need has been there the whole time, staring us in the face. Since summer, I’ve had two familiar faces greet me each and every day. I kept my distance, but they made my day, even my bad days.

Let me introduce you to Peanut and Jelly. Two feral cats that have made my home theirs. Of course they are there for the free meal provided, but they would faithfully greet me each night coming home from work. They even inspired me to write a little something about them.

Peanut was born a year prior before the same mama cat had Jelly in the spring. Mama cat is a true feral and wants nothing to do with humans. She’s survived at least two years on her own, so she’s set in her ways. Peanut was unsure, but warmed up enough for me to stroke him/her when he ate. Same with Jelly. The difference with Jelly though is he’s more curious. I noticed a difference in him early, but with my own clowder, kept my distance. As winter came, along with colder weather, things changed. A neighbor was able to catch the mama cat and her new litter of kittens. They are hopeful to find homes for the kittens, but if not they will get them fixed before putting them back out in the spring. A few weeks later, Peanut disappeared. Unfortunately, the neighbor did not catch him. I’m uncertain what happened to him as I’m writing this. I’m hopeful another neighbor caught him and provided him a home. Sometimes ignorance is bliss in making your own happy ending instead of thinking about the worst possible outcome. So, that left Jelly. By now he got more friendlier and I could pick him up. After a family discussion, we decided to take him in.

Jelly Bean is a special kitty. I don’t know how my other cats will take to him, time will tell of course, but I can’t help but see the signs. Not only does he resemble the same curiosity of my current cat, Monkey, but there are characteristics he demonstrates from my prior cat Tiggie, who ended up being the inspiration behind Leo in The Dark series. I do believe a part of Tiggie is reincarnated in Jelly. Like I mentioned earlier, sometimes we don’t always get what we want, but we sometimes end up getting what we need. The year 2025 has not been good for me, but I ended up blessed with Jelly.

As one door closes, another opens. I’m closing the door to 2025, and welcoming the open door to 2026. I will say, 2025 hasn’t all been bad. Although I suffered from a period of impostor syndrome, my writing spark was reactivated with a regional short story contest offered by Nicole Frail Books:

Fingers crossed my original short story, Love at First Latte, makes the cut! I poured my heart and soul into crafting a story that centers around coffee. I won’t go into too much detail yet, but I love what the anthology of coffee stories centers around. Supporting a coffee shop that centers around being inclusive. The writing project helped remind me why I got into writing in the first place. Writing is my voice. My passion to help others the only way I know I can, through the written word.

With that, I’m going to announce that I’m taking a step back from social media. I won’t be as active. Posting daily is time consuming and also a strain to mentality. One thing about The Dark series is, it’s a series that encompasses mental health. Mental health is a serious issue right now. I live it every day and so does everyone else. The hardest part about being an author is wanting to talk about the books you’ve written to someone who actually wants to listen. Who read the books and wants to know how scenes were crafted. Going into 2026, that is my goal because there is a story behind how The Dark series was crafted.

And the book covers have a story too…

A Darker Demise is coming 2026!

Now you’re in the scoop!