Ok, ok, I know, I've been gone a while. Close to a month, I know, please don't throw things at me. I have been busy with writing stuff I swear. I finished the editing and publishing work for my latest book Just Deal With It which was an adventure and a half. I have also been working hard to set up a launch party for it. In Vegas that can be a challenge. There are so many things happening all the time that you want to find a time and place that will have people but not have to battle a full social schedule in order to find a time to do it.
I managed to find a weekend that wasn't fighting Labor Day, other book signings, still close enough to the publish date to be relevant, and gives me time to work hard on the other book I am releasing this year, Fish. Fish will be out in mid-October and while I am excited to share another of my Sharing Strength characters, this book is hard to write.
Just Deal With It is a fun and funny group of stories form my experiences over the last 8 years as a dealer working here in Las Vegas. The casino world is definitely one I could never compare to anything else and the people watching is second to none. People bugged me for years to either do an open mic night and tell stories about the crazy things I have seen or write a book so others can get a taste of what my "day job" is really like. As a writer I decided the latter was the way to go. That isn't to say I won't myself with a mic in my hands eventually as well though.
Fish on the other hand is a labor of love because it is difficult to write, discuss, or even describe. I can say the theme is extremely relevant in today's society right now, sexual assault. The main character is a sweet, innocent girl who is always there for her friends and never wants to let anyone down. She is from a strict, sheltered household with parents who do not always approve of their daughter's friends because some are more "fast life" than Rachel. When a rape happens the entire world turns upside down for Rachel and her friends as moving forward seems impossible.
Minor topics in the book also include bullying and high school society as a whole but the center of the book is dealing with the sexual assault. I have openly discussed in the past that I am a domestic abuse survivor but I do not talk about the times I was raped often. They were a result of the mental state was lived in after my abuse and while I am using much of the emotion I experienced while working on Fish the story is completely fictional. Rachel is a part of me and I'm a part of her so I cradle her in a loving embrace in my mind. Sharing this story will be painful and emotional but it is a topic we need to be talking about so I want my sweet Rachel to stand tall and do what she needs to do in order to lend her voice to such a painful subject.
Now if I can just make the mental switch from the fun and laughs of Just Deal With It and get focused I can get Rachel off to the editor and back to work on the Voices series.
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