As we head into the busy time of year, meaning the holidays and shorter days, I am feeling a bit frazzled. My goal was to have one more book out before the end of the year. Preferably in November where, it being a story set around Christmas, would be in demand.

At this time I have only 13k words written in said book, and feeling the pinch to get it done having just spent 6 days on the road selling books at the State Fair, came home with a cold, then headed 2 hours away to attend an event for research that will be in my next Gabriel Hawke book, then home for two days and I’m headed to another book selling event 7 hours away for 6 days.

When am I going to find time to write?

After talking to half a dozen writers at the last event I attended, I’m glad I am a persistent person who likes to hit my goals. Those writers either can’t find the time to write, or have written but weren’t sure of the next step, or they have ideas and don’t know what to do with them.

Finding time to write: I took my laptop with me with my WIP on it. I managed to write 5000+ words on it while sitting in the Fair Building waiting for the doors to open and people to arrive every morning. I plan to take it with me when I go to the Mt. Angel Oktoberfest, and when there are enough authors in the booth, I’ll leave and go write. I don’t believe it’s about finding time to write, it’s about making time to write.

If a writer truly wants to write, they will sit down and do it, if it means getting up at 4 a.m. or staying up past midnight, if they have day jobs or a family to attend. It’s kind of like the people who say, I do like to read but I don’t have the time. I read when I’m eating my lunch and right before I go to bed. I read paperback books, so the screen doesn’t keep my brain racing. If they truly wanted to read, they would make the time to relax and read.

Those writers I spoke to who have books, poems, or stories written that don’t know what to do next, I suggested they connect with a couple of writer’s organizations that I am a part of in Oregon. I told them to reach out to me if they have any questions. There were people, writers and authors, along the way who helped me out with writing, publishing, and promoting. I’m all about paying it forward.

And the people who had ideas. I told them to get a notebook and write down their ideas for when they do have time to explore them and begin writing. I have ideas hit me a couple times a day. If it’s something that keeps coming back and won’t leave me alone then, I take it seriously and figure out how to work it into a book, or in the case of the Cuddle Farm Mysteries, a new series, I didn’t really need to start.

Which segues me into, book 2 in the Cuddle Farm Mysteries is now on pre-order with a release date of 10/10/26.

Monologued To Death

When Andi Clark and her therapy dogs are invited to audition for a play at the historic Auburn Opera House, she expects a fun evening of helping local children build confidence. Instead, she meets a director whose razor-sharp tongue leaves a trail of hurt feelings wherever she goes.

Then, during a rehearsal, the director plunges from the theater’s balcony.

While Sheriff Skala follows the evidence, Andi and her best friend, Betty, trust Cocoa’s instincts. The gentle therapy dog had witnessed someone on the theater balcony before the fatal fall and caught the scent of something behind a locked door no one else thinks to question.

Between therapy animal visits to the local retirement home and hospital, Andi, Betty, and Cocoa discover a second body, proving the killer isn’t finished yet. As the suspects multiply and the danger grows, Andi realizes someone is determined to silence anyone who gets too close to the truth.

Can Cocoa sniff out the truth before the final curtain falls on another victim?

Pre-order Link: https://books2read.com/u/49zJyJ