Blursday

Usually, when I say it’s blursday, I mean that the days are all running together and I don’t know what day it is. Today, though, I know exactly what day it is. It’s the day I get my eyes dilated enough that I see all timelines at once. It’s not a fun experience — my appointment was at 8:15 this morning, and here it is 3:20 in the afternoon and I still can’t see clearly. But things look fine — everything is status quo, so we’re good for another year.

(Why do I do this? Because I am so VERY nearsighted that it’s possible for my retinas to self-destruct with no warning.)

Thankfully, I don’t have much on my plate today. I finished my revision pass on The Sea Prince last night and sent it back to the sensitivity reader, which brings it one step closer to publication. Once I get the all clear from the sensitivity reader, I’ll get the layout done and the cover ordered. I’m looking at a summer release, so that I don’t dilute Raven’s Fall.

The first reviews are starting to come in for Raven’s Fall, and I’ll be honest — I am reading them. I know that it’s not recommended for writers to read their own reviews, but I want to see what people think! And I’m loving that every review so far has called out the accuracy of my research. That makes EVERY bit of web crawling and cross-referencing and finding obscure references worth it! And to my reviewers? You are going to LOVE Raven’s Flight for just that reason! There’s a reference list of healing herbs used in one scene, with the proper names in Latin and Gaelic, cross-referenced from Dioscorides’ De Materia Medica (c. 64CE) and John Cameron’s Gaelic Names of Plants (1883).

Do I overdo it on my research? Possibly. Do I need to go and spend three hours to find a reference on trains from Aachen to Salzburg in February of 1899. in order to find out of there was a direct train, or if they would need to change trains? Possibly not, especially when those three hours of research translated to three lines of text. But my readers are the ones who will know exactly what trains I’m talking about, and will know that I’ve gotten it right. So I owe it to them to get it right from the start. And yes, someone did know the train I was talking about, and did appreciate that the research was correct!

In the case of Raven’s Fall? The areas of research I spent the most time on were on types of gladiators, on Roman weddings, and on Roman baths. Now, no one has yet mentioned the baths in a review, but that was, I think, the largest research topic for me — in what order were the rooms experienced, how were things heated, and what rooms were included. Part of the research was a surprise — actually experiencing a caldarium! (Really, who expects to find a reasonably accurate Roman bath experience on a Disney cruise???) For the record, the baths Lorcan experiences are a combination of the Old Baths at Pompeii and the Baths of Caracalla (with a slight hint of flavor from the caldarium in the Rainforest Room on the Disney Fantasy.)

I am history geek, see me over-research!

Now Available!

Kidnapped from his home and sold as a slave in Rome, Raven-Prince Lorcan must survive in a world where entertainment is murder, diplomacy is betrayal, and love is a commodity. And where a raven who is only supposed to ever have one mate will somehow find two…

Work in Progress

Tales from the Arena: King of Swords
(Tales from the Arena, book 4)

15673 / 90000 (17.41%)

The Coral Throne
(The Sea Prince, book 2)

15354 / 90000 (17.06%)

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Appearances

Enchanted Knights: Myths and Legends
March 8th, 2025
Oviedo Mall
Oviedo, FL

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ICFA
March 19 – 22nd, 2025
Orlando, FL

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3rd Annual Spring is in the Air
April 13th, 2025
Venetian Center,
Leesburg, FL

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6th Annual Mother’s Day Bazaar
May 10th, 2025
Ormond Beach Elks Lodge
Ormond Beach, FL

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Enchanted Knights: Summer Solstice
June 21st, 2025
Oviedo Mall
Oviedo, FL

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3rd Annual Summer Artisan Market
June 29th, 2025
Brannon Center
New Smyrna Beach, FL