Lisa Shearin, National Bestselling Author

Audiobook update, new website, new Aurora Donati!

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I’m a seriously busy girl! 

First, thank you so much for all the fabulous posts, emails, and reviews for The Gorgon Agenda! I’m so glad y’all are enjoying it!

Next Monday, I start writing The Embassy Reprisal (working title), the second book in my Aurora Donati thriller series. The first book (The Entity Game) was so much fun to write, and I’m looking forward to working with Rory, Gabriel, Berta, Samuel, and Ambrose again. I’ve had this plot in mind for three years, and I can’t wait to dive in. My goal is to have the first draft completed by mid-June (in celebration of my 60th birthday).  

Derek and I are finalizing the work on the home audiobook recording booth. It’s taken this long because I came down with RSV at the end of January, and I’m still getting over the cough. Recording simply ain’t happening while I’m trying to cough up a lung. ; ) At least now I’m in good enough shape to get some test tracks recorded. I’ll record The Gorgon Agenda first, followed by The Solstice Countdown. Then it’s The Entity Game, and the Raine Benares books that weren’t done by Audible. I don’t have availability dates yet, but when I do, you will be the first to know. 

Also in the works is a new website! The one I have now is ancient and is definitely showing its age. I hope to have that live by early April. 

For those of you interested in the custom teas for The Gorgon Agenda offered through Adagio Teas, I’ve been told they do ship internationally. Here are the links to the caffeinated version and the decaf version. I created the blends myself and have them in regular rotation in my tea cabinet.

I think that’s it for now! Take care! 
L.

The Gorgon Agenda is out now!

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Get it today at . . . 

Amazon 
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
Apple

Tolino
Vivlio    
Smashwords

SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES
Kobo Plus
Scribd

LIBRARY SERVICES
OverDrive
Bibliotheca
Baker & Taylor
BorrowBox
Hoopla

There WILL be an audiobook version which I will be recording myself. I’ll be starting production on that in the next few weeks. And after The Gorgon Agenda, I’ll be recording The Solstice Countdown, The Entity Game, and the Raine Benares books that don’t have an audiobook. 

Take care & happy reading!
Lisa

The Gorgon Agenda is available for pre-order!

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The Gorgon Agenda (print and ebook) is now available for pre-order. Release date is January 24.

The print and ebook will be available from:

Amazon 
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
Apple
Tolino
Vivlio    
Smashwords

SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES
Kobo Plus
Scribd

LIBRARY SERVICES
OverDrive
Bibliotheca
Baker & Taylor
BorrowBox
Hoopla

There WILL be an audiobook version which I will be recording myself. I’ll be starting production on that in the next few weeks (I had to get the ebook and print versions out there first). As I’ve said before, I’m a one-woman business.    

Here’s the jacket copy!
A planet-killing weapon, sinister sisters, and immortal monsters.  
All in a day’s work for the agents of SPI.

I’m Makenna Fraser, seer for SPI (Supernatural Protection & Investigations). I knew SPI protected some of the world’s most dangerous relics, but I didn’t know our draconic founder, Vivienne Sagadraco, kept them in a vault deep below Manhattan.   

Until the most lethal relic of all was stolen.

The Aegis is the shield once wielded by Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war. The center of the Aegis contains the head of Medusa, making it the ultimate weapon. All who look on it or its reflection are instantly turned to stone.    
Old enemies and new adversaries have descended on New York—and one of them now has the Aegis:
Tiamat—Babylonian goddess of chaos, and Vivienne Sagadraco’s sister
Stheno and Euryale—Eight-foot-tall, snake-haired gorgons, granddaughters of the Titans, and Medusa’s sisters
The Sisterhood of Medusa—An ancient gorgon military order
The Cabal—A supernatural terrorist organization

Those behind the theft have declared war on humanity, with a hatred that was millennia in the making, and a heist that was centuries in the planning.     

Our mission is simple yet impossible: Retrieve the Aegis and save the world. But we can’t do it alone. We’ll need our friends, family, and some unexpected new allies if we’re to stop this ancient evil once and for all.    

More updates soon as they come in!
Lisa

The Gorgon Agenda on sale January 23!

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Finally! I know, right? The book turned out to be ten chapters longer than I’d anticipated. I *so* wanted to have it to you by now, but apparently it just wasn’t meant to be. The manuscript is with my editors now and I’m working on their revisions. My book designer (who makes the interior look beautiful) is on standby to work her magic. 

In the next week or so, I’ll pop out a short newsletter with the back jacket copy. (I need to write it first. Something else to add to my to-do list.) 

As soon as The Gorgon Agenda is available for pre-order, I’ll send out another newsletter with the info and links.  

And before some of you ask, the audiobook version will come after the print and ebook editions. I’m a one-woman business, and I can only do so much at the same time. I’ll send you yet another newsletter with updates. Just keep watching this space.

The one thing I can offer you now are the custom tea blends for The Gorgon Agenda from Adagio Teas. I created caffeinated and decaf versions. If you have a tea lover on your holiday shopping list, they might enjoy these.    

The tea is the one served by Vivienne Sagadraco to her two gorgon friends in the book and is inspired by Grecian flowers and herbs. The tins and bag feature custom artwork by my SPI Files cover artist Elizabeth Peiro.

The caffeinated version is a blend of pomegranate green tea, spearmint, and dragon fruit dream accented with lavender flowers and lemon verbena.  

The decaf version is chamomile, spearmint, and dragon fruit dream accented with lavender flowers and lemon verbena.

I wanted to make them as similar as possible for those of you who can’t have caffeine or want a blend you can have before bed and not be awake until o’dark thirty. I drank copious amounts of both blends while writing the book.   

There are three sizes: A sample tin for $6 that makes 5 cups. A 3 oz. pouch for $14, and a 5 oz. tin for $24. Note: Adagio Teas prices all of their Fandom Blends the same. I have no say in the pricing. And I pay the same price, no discounts for the creator. ; ) I do however earn points with each purchase you make toward more tea. I don’t believe Fandom Blends are available for shipping outside the US, but I’m confirming that now.     

To give you an idea of how much tea is in a 5 oz. tin, the tin’s dimensions are just shy of 6 x 4 inches and 2 1/2 inches deep. And the tea is *packed* in there. It’s seriously full, so be careful opening it.     

The sample tin is about the size of a credit card and 3/4 in. deep. Likewise packed full. 

As you may have guessed, this is loose tea, not in bags. Use one teaspoon (or a wee bit more) per cup. The directions for preparing the teas is on the page where you buy it. If you don’t have a tea kettle that you can program the temp, the decaf needs boiling water (212 degrees) and steeps for 5 minutes, and the caffeinated needs just before boiling (190 degrees) and steeps for 2 minutes.

I’ve also linked both blends to Adagio Teas ChariTea program and have chosen a charity near and dear to my heart: Greyhound Friends of North Carolina. 5% of the purchase price of each tea will go to GFNC. Derek and I have been members for 22 years. In that time, we’ve adopted nine retired racing greyhounds. Ruby (our latest adoptee) is prominently featured in The Gorgon Agenda.

I think that’s it for now, but there’ll be more newsletters soon with jacket copy, sale dates, audiobook info (I’ll be recording them myself). People who know me say that when they read the books, they hear my voice. Now you’ll get to hear my voice (with its North Carolina/Southern accent) too. 

Take care, be safe, and stay healthy!
Lisa

Audiobook news and The Gorgon Agenda updates

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Audiobook news and The Gorgon Agenda updates
I haven’t sent a newsletter in a while because I’ve been busy writing The Gorgon Agenda. I know you’d rather have me working on a book than sending a newsletter telling you I’m working on a book. But I’ve been feeling really guilty, so here’s an update. 

And by the way, if you don’t hear from me for a while, it means I’m working hard. I’m not dead. If I’d died, my husband would contact my agent who would put out the announcement. So when you think about it that way, not hearing from me is good. : ) 

Here are the updates:

1. I’m finishing The Gorgon Agenda now and will be turning the manuscript over to my editor Betsy Mitchell on September 1. It’ll take her about a month to do the edits, which will then come back to me. I’ll take about two weeks to make my changes, then send it off to my copy editor Martha Trachtenberg. Martha generally takes a few weeks to do her thing, sends it back to me, and I do mine. Then the book is ready to go into layout/production/proofing. All this to let you know that from the time I finish a book until it’s ready for you to buy is 2-3 months. So we’re looking at a November/December release date.    

2. I’m going to narrate my own audiobooks. I’m really excited about this, and I know a lot of you will be, too. I’ve been looking into what’s involved, and after an initial investment in recording and editing equipment and software, I can produce my own audiobooks and upload them through ACX for sale on Audible, Amazon, and iTunes. I’ll be narrating them myself. For years, when I’ve done readings, I’ve had people ask why I didn’t record my own books. I’m comfortable in front of a microphone, and I’ve always loved doing readings. My husband, aka my computer dude, will be doing the editing and production. While I finish The Gorgon Agenda, he’ll be getting everything we need to set up a recording booth in the house. I don’t have a date for when I’ll start recording these, but it’ll be in the next few months.

That means there will be an audiobook for The Gorgon Agenda and The Solstice Countdown in my SPI Files series. Wedding Bells Magic Spells, Ruins & Revenge, and Treasure & Treason in my Raine Benares series, and The Entity Game in my Aurora Donati series. And any other book that doesn’t already have an audiobook.   

3. Tea label for The Gorgon Agenda. As you can see from the newsletter banner, my artist (the amazing Elizabeth Peiro) has finished the label for The Gorgon Agenda custom blend tea that’ll be offered for sale by Adagio Tea through their Fandom Blends program. It’ll be offered in bags and tins. If it goes well, I’ll be creating a custom blend (with character art) for each of my future books.        

I think that’s it for now. I’m back to work on The Gorgon Agenda.
L.
 

Creating custom tea blends for my books

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How would you like to drink the same teas as my characters? 

Being a big tea drinker myself, I’ve often had my characters drinking tea in at least one scene. I thought it would be so much fun to create an actual custom blend and feature it in my books.

I’ll be starting that with The Gorgon Agenda. I’m working with Adagio Teas to start my own line of teas based on my books. I’ll be offering a caffeinated and decaf version of each tea. I know that some people can’t have caffeine; or like myself, like to have a nice cup of decaf to finish the day or before bed. 

The teas will be available in three sizes. A sample tin which makes 5 cups for $6. A 3 oz. pouch for $14. Or a 5 oz. tin for $24. Adagio will donate 5% of the sale price to the charity of my choice. As for me, when you buy one of my blends, I’ll earn points to buy more tea. I go through at least two pots of tea a day while I’m writing, so you’ll be helping to keep me properly caffeinated and writing — or relaxed after a long day at my desk.

For even more fun, my cover artist Elizabeth Peiro will be creating custom art exclusively for the bags and tins featuring major characters that you’ve never seen on the covers. 

And as to the blends themselves, the finished product has to be a tea that I love so much that it’ll be one of my go-to and must-have teas. I’d never put anything out there that I wouldn’t buy for myself. I’ve got the decaf version just the way I want it, but I’m still tweaking the caffeinated version. 

The Gorgon Agenda teas will go on sale on Adagio’s site the same day the book releases.

And of course, there will be teas for my Aurora Donati thrillers, and my Raine Benares adventures as well.    

What do you think?

Lisa   

The final cover for The Gorgon Agenda

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Here is the final cover from my new artist, the fabulous Elizabeth Peiro! What do you think?

May be an image of 2 people and text that says 'A SPI FILES NOVEL THE GORGON AGENDA LISA SHEARIN New York Times Bestselling Author'


My apologies for not having The Gorgon Agenda (SPI Files 8) finished next month as originally planned way back when. Thanks to the Cuisinart of crap that is the world right now (and the past couple of years), a LOT of authors are struggling to meet deadlines (and are missing them). It seems that creativity, borderline apocalyptic world events, and doomscrolling don’t mix. I’m still on the first draft, but it’s a strong first draft, and I know you’re going to love the finished product. I’m shooting to have the first draft done by the end of next month, and the finished book out this fall to give y’all some much-needed escapism.

I’m also grateful to be an independent publisher. I founded Murwood Media LLC a few years ago. And yes, some of you are remembering correctly. The name did come from a forest in the goblin kingdom in my Raine Benares series. Thanks to industry upheaval and supply chain issues in traditional publishing, I have it on good authority that some books being turned in to publishers now are having their release dates pushed out as far as 2024. I’m so glad to be a one-woman business. Having to do everything myself gets overwhelming at times, but it also lets me control what I write and when I write it. My previous publisher decided to pass on more SPI Files or Raine Benares books. But I knew you wanted more, and I wanted to write them. We never offered the Aurora Donati series for sale. I knew I wanted to do it myself. Thanks to you all spreading the word about my books, I have a good core readership. Please keep spreading the word! The more books I sell, the healthier my tiny business is. And thanks to my agent teaching me how to do self-publishing, I’m free to write what I want, and what you want to read. Let’s hear it for indie publishing!

After The Gorgon Agenda, I’ll be writing the second Aurora Donati thriller, then comes a *new* Raine Benares adventure (with more to come). Raine is now back in my writing rotation. Unless one of the series has a book that simply will not leave me alone, I’ll be writing SPI Files, Aurora, and Raine. Rinse and repeat.

Take care, be safe, and stay healthy!

Lisa


Lisa

Updates on The Gorgon Agenda and more

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The following is my October newsletter. Click here to subscribe, and you won’t miss any book updates.   

This newsletter is a little different. As always, I will give you an update on The Gorgon Agenda. It’s going great. Taking July off did wonders for me. Dory and Loki (our greyhounds) are doing well, though mealtimes are a challenge with Dory because of her kidney issues, but I’m up to it. I’m only working five days a week. I’m taking weekends off, at least from writing. There’s plenty of household chores and yardwork that won’t do themselves. Though at least now that it’s fall, everything needing cutting and trimming starts to slow down, so that’s less work.

Fall is my favorite time of the year, and not just because the grass and weeds stop growing. Today I’m going to talk about tea – fall teas, to be exact. I love tea even more than fall. I always drink tea while I’m writing, either in a mug, or if I’m feeling fancy, from a vintage pot with a pretty cup and saucer. I write my first drafts longhand with vintage fountain pens in journals, so good tea is a must.    

Ashley from Adagio Teas recently contacted me to ask if I’d like to review some of their fall blend loose teas. Of course, I said yes. Adagio always has a wide selection of seasonal tea offerings, as well as teaware and gifts for tea lovers. I told her that I have a serious weakness bordering on addiction for teaware, especially infuser mugs, but it’s hard to find a good one. Ashley graciously sent me one of their double-walled porcelain mugs with a stainless-steel infuser and lid.       

I requested the Double-Wall Leaves infuser cup. The verdict? I love it. The stainless-steel infuser extends down far enough in the cup to allow for a good steeping. It’s rare to find a good infuser-to-cup-depth ratio. Plus, it has a lid with a cutout for the infuser hook. Great feature. I’ve never had a double-walled porcelain mug. A problem I’ve had with other infuser mugs is that they don’t keep the tea at a good drinking temperature for long (or even short) writing sessions. The double-walled cup took care of that. The tea stays hotter for longer, and the mug is nice and warm. Hot tea without burned hands. For marathon sessions, I have an electric mug warmer, but for normal workdays when I want different teas for the morning and afternoons, the Adagio infuser cup does the job — and I love the fall leaves.

Ashley sent me their Autumn Tea Sampler, which came in a nice gift box containing four of their fall seasonal blends: Autumn Mist Green, Honeybush Pumpkin Chai, Pumpkin Spice, and Bonfire. These are loose teas, not tea bags. But don’t let that scare you. Each package tells you the amount of tea per cup, water temperature needed, and steeping time. Just do what the package says, and you’ll get the tea as it was intended to taste. Note: Those of you who drink a lot of tea probably already have an electric tea kettle where you can select the water temperature. If you don’t, you should treat yourself to one. They’re not expensive, and you’ll be getting the best taste from your tea.  

Here’s my take on each blend – with each brewed per the package instructions in my new Adagio fall leaves infuser mug. Note: I left all of these unsweetened. I only use sugar (and then very little) in seriously strong black teas.    

Autumn Mist Green: A blend of gunpowder green tea, apple pieces, cinnamon, rose hips, natural crème brulee flavor, marigold flowers, and rose petals. I love green teas, but I’m not normally into fruit teas. And I have no idea what marigold flowers taste like. And crème brulee? Okaaay. I had no idea how Adagio could put crème brulee taste in a cup, but they did it. To tell you how much I liked it, I’m drinking it right now. For me, enjoying a tea is as much about the scent as the taste. I’ve got to have both for it to be a winner in my book. The verdict? I need to make room in my tea stash for this one. The crème brulee, along with the apple and cinnamon, makes for a silky smooth taste and aroma. I love this tea. It’s coziness in a cup.

Honeybush Pumpkin Chai: A blend of honeybush tea, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cocoa nibs, natural pumpkin spice, and safflower. I pretty much stick to the basics when it comes to tea, but I’m always up for trying something new. I’ve never had honeybush tea. Turns out it’s a “naturally sweet South African tea with a honey aroma and taste,” which sounds like it’s right up my alley; and as a bonus, it’s caffeine free. Also, I’ve never had chai anything. I know, what rock have I been living under, right? I brewed a cup. The color is a deep amber/red. Nice. The scent is Red Hots. You know, the spicy candy? I can taste the honeybush tea (honey), cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger. I can’t pick out the cocoa nibs, pumpkin spice, and safflower (I don’t know what that last one would taste like). There’s no, single overwhelming flavor. It all balances, which is good. It’s what a blend is supposed to do. This tea leaves a light, spicy taste, but not too spicy. It’s like a warm fire on a cool night. Note: When you get to the bottom, give the cup a swirl so you don’t miss out on the final pop of taste in the leaves.   

Pumpkin Spice: I went to Trader Joe’s this week and only bought two pumpkin spice products: coffee and tortilla chips (the chips because I just had to know what pumpkin spice tortilla chips tasted like). Verdict? Not bad, not bad at all, though my taste buds were confused by the combo. I’ve never gone in for that whole “pumpkin spice” craziness that erupts as soon as the first leaf hits the ground. I love cinnamon and nutmeg, but that’s pretty much the extent of it. Adagio’s Pumpkin Spice Tea is a blend of black tea, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, natural pumpkin spice flavor, cardamom, and marigold flowers. The scent (to me) is cloves and ginger. The taste is ginger snaps in a cup, and I do love me some ginger snaps. Other than the cloves and ginger, the flavors blend, which as I’ve said is a good thing. If you like your pumpkin spice with a little kick, this is your tea.

Bonfire: This tea is aptly named. A blend of honeybush tea, apple pieces, lapsang souchong tea, aniseed, cocoa nibs, cinnamon, rose hips, cloves, orange, red peppercorn, safflower, natural cinnamon flavor, natural hazelnut flavor, and natural orange flavor. There is a lot going on in this tea. The scent is smoky and licorice-y (if that’s even a word). I’m not a fan of licorice or hazelnut. (I’ve only had hazelnut coffee. Once. I really wish hazelnut tasted as good as it smelled.) Then comes the peppercorn. Bam! Bonfire is the perfect name. Kudos to whoever named it. My verdict? This tea is not shy. If you’re one who prefers tea with an attitude, you’ll probably like it. But for me, pardon the pun: It’s not my cup of tea.

Final lineup of the four: Autumn Mist Green (I’ll be buying more of that one) is my number one pick. In second place is the Honeybush Pumpkin Chai. I’d never had honeybush tea before, and I really liked it in this blend. I’ll have to explore that one and chai further. In third place was the Pumpkin Spice. It was really good, but a little too spicy for me. In fourth was the conflagration in a cup that is Bonfire. Only the adventuresome tea drinker, or hard-core spice aficionado need apply.

That’s it for now! Ashley also sent some of my all-time favorite tea – Genmaicha. (I drink that stuff by the pot.) I’ll cover that in my next newsletter, as well as any book updates.

Thank you Ashley and Adagio Teas!    

And as always, take care, be safe, and stay healthy!

Lisa

Update on The Gorgon Agenda (SPI Files 8)

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I wanted to update you all on The Gorgon Agenda (SPI Files 8). Unfortunately, it won’t be out in November as I had hoped. I’m shooting for the spring of next year. It’s only a couple more months.

I needed a break, and this time I actually took one. A month, in fact. July.

Before I wrote this email, I wanted to be sure the book (and myself) were back on track. I’m glad to say it is, and I am.

Here’s what happened. Buckle up, people. This is a long one.

Back in May and June, the book wasn’t “jelling” as I like to say. I was past the point where I’d normally stop brainstorming and start writing. This time, it wasn’t happening. I thought something might be wrong with the plot, so I went back and reviewed the 30K words I had. Nope. That wasn’t it. The plot was strong and solid. Awesome, in fact. But I still couldn’t get started. I was like a horse balking at a jump. I simply couldn’t do it. Pretty soon the thought of trying to write and not being able to would come close to bringing on a panic attack. I’ve only had those three times in my life and was in no hurry to have more.

I knew I had to stop and back away. During that month off, I did a lot of thinking and came to several big realizations about myself. First and foremost, I realized I was physically and emotionally exhausted. I’m a workaholic, or more precisely, a writeaholic. In the past five years, we’ve only taken two vacations. I wrote nearly every day of both of them, and was proud for having done so. That was another realization I had about myself: That was nothing to be proud of. Vacations are for taking a break, relaxing, and recharging. I did none of those. Plus, once I was in the final draft, I would write 7 days a week to get a book into editing and production.

If I only wrote one book a year, I felt like a failure. Other authors I know do two, three, or even four books a year. I felt something must be wrong with me that I couldn’t do that for you all. My oh-so-wise sister-in-law make me realize something that really helped. (Seconded soon after by my sister.) My books are complex, with twisty plots, intricate details, and a large ensemble cast. Not to mention the research. All that takes time. I realized she was right. That helped a lot. I really want to give you all two books a year, but I simply can’t. And by pushing and pushing myself to hit that number, I was wearing myself out, and even worse, I was not taking any time to recharge my batteries. You can’t write without recharging, and I was riding on fumes. The Gorgon Agenda will be my 20th book. And last month was the first time I’ve ever taken a significant break.

I’ve always said that after each book, I would take at least two weeks off before I even started thinking of the next one. Two weeks always turned into two days. Last July after my surgery to repair tiny holes in my inner ear (where the surgeon had to go in through my skull and move my brain aside so he could get to them), I had The Solstice Countdown finished and in editing only five months later. I was proud of that. I should’ve been mortified. I wanted so badly to get that book to you after you had to wait so long since The Phoenix Illusion while I wrote The Entity Game. Before my surgery, I moved a desk into the bedroom, and as soon as I was able to get out of bed and walk across the room, I was back at work. Two and three months after the surgery, we lost Cameron and then Odin (two of our greyhound babies) to a stroke/paralysis and bone cancer. And still I worked. Though now it was more to get through the grief. And even now, I’m tearing up typing this. Derek & I couldn’t have children (after multiple miscarriages), so our dogs are our kids. A few weeks ago, we found out that Dory (our brindle little girl greyhound) has severe renal issues, and Loki (our sweet, big boy grey) has a limp that’s not going away. The vet has ruled out cancer, and think it’s probably arthritis. (Both Dory and Loki are 10 yrs old.) We’re taking it one day at a time, and we’re at peace (at least that’s what I’m telling myself) with what may happen.

The point is, we’ve all had had events, illnesses, problems, and situations that have beaten us down over the past few years. (Thank you Covid.) We’re all absolutely worn out. We’re afraid and we’re angry, and we just want it to stop.

That’s why I’ve told you all this. Not only to explain why my output will only be one book a year and why, but also to perhaps help some of you. The past few years have been tough (hellish, even) on all of us. We’re all going through something, and are overwhelmed. That was the one word that described my emotional state perfectly: overwhelmed. It reached a point where *everything* was simply too much. Heck, I’ve stood in the kitchen more than once and cried because I couldn’t figure out what to cook for dinner, or I knew what I wanted to cook and it was too much work. I was just so tired. Everything that happened was one more weight on my shoulders. I was overwhelmed, and I simply couldn’t do or take any more.

And yes, I’ve been on both an antidepressant and an anti-anxiety med for many years. I tell myself that we writers are wired differently than everyone else. ; ) My meds are wonderful, and until Covid and overwork piled on top of them, they’ve been doing exactly what they needed to do. Unfortunately, they don’t make a pill for stubborn and stupid. I thought I could do it all and keep doing it indefinitely, and oh boy was I wrong. That’s another thing, if you need help. GET IT. See your doctor. Talk to someone. Don’t keep telling yourself that you’ve got this. Chances are you don’t. We all need help at points in our lives. Get the help you need. Don’t put it off. Reach out to your family and friends. I’m blessed with an amazing husband and family. Don’t try to do it alone.

Take time for yourselves. I am. Be kind to yourselves — and to others. A kind word or action could mean the world to the next person you see. We’re all going through something, and a little kindness goes a long way. A lot goes even farther.

I know some of you will tell me to take more time off. ; ) Rest assured, if I needed it, I would. Writing is more than what I do, writing is what I love and who I am. If I’d never had a book published, I’d still be writing. I love it, and I love sharing my stories with y’all even more. But I’ve realized that writing can’t be all that I am. I have to take time for me and those around me who I love.

We all deserve — and need — a well-rounded life. It only took me 19 books to realize it. I know now that I’m not a failure or lazy if I can’t write two or more books a year. I will take time for myself, I will not let work consume me, and I will be happier and healthier because of it. I know I won’t get there overnight. Changing a lifetime of workaholic-ism is a process, a process by which I’m getting to know myself better, be kinder to myself, and taking the time to enjoy the world and the people I love.

I’m happy to say that I’m back on track and writing The Gorgon Agenda. You are gonna love it! Maybe even more than The Solstice Countdown.

As a present to you all, I know exactly what I want for The Gorgon Agenda cover. In the next few weeks, I’m going to get Julie Dillon to work on it. Hopefully we can have the artwork to you by the holidays.

Take care, stay healthy (physically & emotionally), and be safe!

Your on-the-path-to-work/life-balance author,
Lisa



The Solstice Countdown (SPI Files 7) is on sale now

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Today is release day for The Solstice Countdown (SPI Files 7)! I’m so excited that y’all finally get to read this one. It not only answers questions you’ve been asking about Mac and her family, it also sets up a lot of future storylines and new characters. I hope you enjoy it; and as always, let me know what you think. You know I love hearing from you!

L.

Amazon (ebook)

Amazon (paperback)

Barnes & Noble

Apple

Kobo