So, maybe I should apologise for shelving the Night Princess for so long. No one shelves the Night Princess without paying the price, and I paid the price. I was very sick, and my greatest regret was not publishing the books I’d already written — or thought I’d already written. So I put the Night Princess aside and worked on finishing the Umbra Chronicles, a personally important story to me.

It turned out that the Umbra Chronicles kicked my butt, much like Emer would do if she was here. I sat up late many nights, sitting on the floor because I was too sick to sit in a chair, lying in bed dictating when I was too sick to sit up at all. There was a lot more rewriting to do than I’d realised, and all very much for the better. And then I survived, so now it looks like I’ll have time to do other things.

That kind of victory is worth so much more than just a Yay! I won’t say that it’s not hard, getting over a long period of illness and struggling with new disabilities, but it certainly put everything in perspective.

Now that I’ve put the Umbra Chronicles to bed, it’s time to work on something fun, and that’s the Night Princess Saga! Honestly, hearing Juniper, sweet, quiet, shy Juniper stand up for herself is so thrilling.

I had originally thought that this would be a standalone, but it quickly became obvious that there was more story than could fit in a single novella. Juniper faces a far more dangerous predator than a vampire. And as the story goes on, I’m learning so much about Juniper and her mysterious origins and even characters from The Author’s Daughter series are showing more of themselves to me.

It turns out that Mrs Elliot isn’t as ditzy as she seems. Mrs Elliot, as it turns out, is secretly, and officially Awesome. I can’t wait until you all find out the truth behind Mrs Elliot’s charmingly absent-minded persona. Tas is going to take a very unexpected turn and I can’t tell you what happens to Rick. I’m not even sure if I can write it. I love that big brother!

The Night Princess is going to be a much longer series than I’d expected. I rocketed through Volume 2. I’ve finished Volume 3. Volume 4 is in progress. Volume 5 (FIVE I say!) is nearly done. Once I’m done with the Night Princess, I’ll move forward with The Author’s Daughter series. I have Book 3 written, but not Book 2, because that’s not how ADHD works.

Of course, I’ve hit a massive stone wall as I write Volume 6, and that stone wall is called Be Kind To Yourself Or Else. Funny, the names some walls have. I’m going to listen to what my body is telling me, because I’ve stared down the Or Else before and it wasn’t pretty.

I have a good idea of where the story is going and in a few weeks, once the Or Else backs down, I’m going to get back into writing. Volume 6 is fully outlined and there will probably be another three to six more volumes in the series. There are twists and turns and new worlds for Juniper to explore. Her heritage is a mystery that will take all her courage to face.

So, until next time my dears, look after yourselves. Be kind to yourselves. I know it’s New Year and you want to pursue All The Goals, but make sure you get there in one piece. Your wellness is more important than any goal.

And of course, there is always cake.