Introducing Orion

My June and July have been an exhausting two months. I was wrapping up an accelerated summer session of grad school, co-championing Summer Reading Club at my day job, and . . . drum roll please . . . welcoming a new puppy into the household!

There is rarely a perfect time to do anything, and I have often found myself falling into the common trap of thinking I have to reach a certain milestone to really start enjoying my life. Sometimes these are long-term goals, like writing full-time for my career. I struggle to slow down and enjoy the process and the journey of life. I have put a lot of things on hold in my pursuit of crafting the life I want to live. With the encouragement of my family, I decided there was no time like the present to add this puppy to my household.

With a small battalion of help from friends and family, we have been ensuring Malachi Vom Corvinus Haus “Orion” is set up for a successful and happy life as an adult dog. As a guardian breed, early and consistent socialization will be especially important!

Orion is a happy boy who enjoys digging holes, terrorizing toads, and chasing moths. He is an attentive listener and receives affection well from strangers. He is a sweet boy with tons of puppy energy and I am excited to hone his prey drive and focus into dog sports! We are looking forward to competing in obedience, rally, barn hunt, or whatever else might catch our fancy.

I am looking forward to a two-week break from school, during which I plan to grind out some necessary revisions on A VILE AND VENOMOUS WOMAN. These revisions are not too extensive as we are pretty far along in the process, now moving from draft seven to draft eight. Then, the manuscript will go into the hands of more betas for some last minute scene-level and line-level feedback. Fingers crossed, we will be query ready by the end of the year!

Also this past month, I had the privilege of receiving my first bout of Internet hate on a TikTok post where I highlighted the irony of gun violence threatening a presidential candidate who is beloved by gun rights advocates. Of course, not every possible element of nuance is able to be communicated in a TikTok photo, and it is not always possible to have good faith conversations about gun control with people on the Internet. This incident was overall amusing, but did raise some concerns for me regarding the involved Internet presence those stepping into a creative field are expected to have these days.

It can be hard to be on the Internet. However, like many things, it is neither inherently a positive or negative force in the world. It gives back the energy that you and others put into it.