Immortal Grave takes another step closer

In case you haven't seen the news on Facebook or Twitter, Immortal Grave is now in the hands of my critique partners, who I lovingly refer to as Critters. Only because it amuses me.

So, what does this mean? It means that we are one step closer to publication. Once I hear back from my lovely Critters, I will be making changes, tighten up things, and getting ready to send this bad boy to Anne, my wonderful editor from Victory Editing.

Some of you wonder why it's taken so long to get this book out and I'm going to be very blunt. Life  often dictates the amount of writing time that I have. Medical issues, a crazy toddler, normal every day things sometimes eat up so much time, you don't realize how much time has passed. And if I'm being very, very honest, writing Immortal Grave was one of the harder things I've done. I've compared writing and publishing a book to having a baby before. Since I've done both, I feel like I can do that. No, it's not the same thing, but they both require a lot of work, love, and pain. Immortal Grave was difficult for me in many ways. I was ending something that lived in my head for so very long and I wanted to do it just right. Everything needs to be perfect and work correctly for the ending to make sense. So, I took my time. I deleted passages that I felt didn't do things justice, or turned down a road that was not where I wanted to go. Sometimes that was because characters said or did something I didn't expect. Make no mistake about this: Immortal Grave ends the way I envisioned over two years ago. Every bit of the outcome is exactly as I planned when I sat down and drew out my timeline. When you read it-- love it or hate it, know that it is exactly how I pictured everything from the get go.

Here's the thing. I know there are teams out there in the reader world. Team Paden and Team Roland. For some of you, it is all fun and games. I joke about it and even have O'Reilly and Diakos stuff in my Dark Betrayal Trilogy store. But, for some of you, it's serious and you have made it very clear what you think if I don't have Ree end up how you picture. (By the way, I get that from both sides of the divide.) I'm glad that you love my characters so much. Everyone wants you to love their babies. But trust that I know my story, know my characters, and that I might have plans.

Immortal Grave is going to come with a warning. This book contains violence and some sexual situations. You read that right. Violence and sexual situations. This book is non-stop. Just so you know, I cried at the end of the book. A lot. I had to get up and walk away for a while. I was moved by the scene I wrote and by the very fact that I had just written something I'd been working toward for years. That's a big moment. For me, that was a huge moment. So, I hope you will hang on just a little longer while I get it ready for you guys.

So, I say one more time (likely for the last time!), thank you for your patience. <3 I have some of the best readers ever.