Remember that sequel? And a couple of reading recs while you wait.

I know, I know. I promised the sequel to Speak My Name at the beginning of this month. I mean, I wasn't worried. It was half written, right? So I was pretty sure I could do it in two months.

Okay, so someday I'll be able to be that person that can look at things logically while I'm writing them. But today is not that day. I needed help, to find the holes in my story, to find places to put context in. So this post is really about how important it is to me to have readers, listeners, editors. Lots of them. I'm lucky enough to have a writing group that listens to my work as I write it. Flint Area Writers have been a part of most of my adult life. When I started I was a teenager. Now I'm the old lady. The thing is that writing has changed in the last thirty-five years, so I'm still learning new things from my fellow members. If you're in the Flint area, and are interested in writing, check us out.

But the person I depend on most for input, for editing, for everything is my oldest best friend, Loren Rhoads. I've know Loren since we were freshman in high school. I started writing because she was writing. I wrote the very first version of Black Light with her, laying on the floors of various bedrooms, dorm rooms, apartments. And then 30 years later, she published it.

What I really needed was for her to talk some sense into me about Breaking Heaven. And she did, even though she was in the midst of her own sequel, to her own Angel/Demon romance, which is coming out soon. Now that I have her notes, I'm ready, I think to finish this thing. I'm going on retreat this weekend and hope to get a hunk done.

In the meantime, this is the best time to check out Loren's book, Lost Angels, As Above, So Below. Here's the blurb:

In the days before the Flood, Azaziel had been a Watcher, sent down to help God’s creatures on Earth. He fell in love with one of Cain’s granddaughters and they passed her mortal life in bliss.

Now he’s imprisoned in the Los Angeles basin. His angelic brethren, Heaven’s misfits, don’t understand the longing Aza feels: once he had been loved entirely for himself.

The succubus Lorelei doesn’t know any of this when she sets her sights on Azaziel. All she knows is that the angel’s fall will bring glory to Hell and acclaim to any succubus who accomplishes it.

Of course, it never occurs to Lorelei that Azaziel might try to tame her by possessing her with a mortal girl’s soul.

Can the succubus find an exorcist before the fury of Hell is unleashed?

I know, right? It's a great book, and the perfect fix for Angel and Demon fans. AND the next one is coming out soon! It's called Angelus Rose. You'll be perfectly poised to read that one too.

Meanwhile, if you haven't gotten around to reading Speak My Name, there's still time before it's sequel, Breaking Heaven. I promise.