You asked. I didn’t have an answer. First, it was due to a health issue which had me down and out for a period of time, then the pandemic which had the whole world down and out. During that time I kept writing, even when all I could manage was a few paragraphs a day. I kept the faith, though at times it was faith alone that kept me going. I wrote a novel that was the right book for the wrong time, or maybe the wrong book, period. (I don’t know, I’ll have to revisit it at a later date when I have some distance). During the pandemic, I wrote a novella, just for me, to keep me sane, which I really, really loved. I loved it so much that I decided to make it a novel. But wait! What if I was to write an entire series based on those characters? I wondered. I love book series. I love reading them, becoming immersed a fictional world knowing I can revisit it in future books. I loved writing my Carson Springs and Cypress Bay mystery series. The characters in those books became real people to me. I celebrated their successes and mourned their losses and fell in love with their love interests.
And when it was time to say good-bye, I was sorry to see them go.
And all the while, you, my loyal readers, asked, “When’s the next book coming out?”
Now I finally have good news to report. I just accepted a two-book deal with Lake Union of Amazon Publishing for the first two novels in my Gold Creek series, set in the California gold country. I’m over the moon. After a six-month long house remodel, I’m sliced and diced so thin, I wonder if it wasn’t the shoemaker’s elves that’s responsible for the chapters of my work-in-progress I wrote during that time. I was overdue for some good news after months of bad news on the house remodel front, every time a wall was opened to reveal ancient wiring, dry rot, you name it.
I owe a huge thanks to my agent, Paula Munier of the Talcott Notch Agency, for her editorial notes and for keeping the faith while my book was on submission. Without her none of this would have happened. I also want to thank you, my readers, for your patience and for continuing to read, and in some cases reread, my previously published titles. I will let you know as soon as I have a pub date for the new one, which will be around this time next year. In the meantime, here’s a taste of what’s to come.
Book One of the Gold Creek series (The Tattooed Ladies’ Club is the working title).
On the run from her abusive husband, art teacher Kyra Smith stumbles into Gold Creek with her rescue dog Ranger. When she’s befriended by a group of local women who call themselves the Tattooed Ladies Club, she believes that the old California Gold Rush town might be the perfect place for a fresh start.
The Tattooed Ladies help her find a place to live and get a job as a police sketch artist, but she soon learns that these generous women all have problems of their own: There’s Frannie, the tattoo artist who becomes a mother figure to Kyra but whose relationship with her own, mentally ill daughter is fraught. Suzy, the fashionista grandma who is as good with people as she is with hair at the salon she owns but whose grown son seems to want nothing to do with her. Marisol, who despairs of ever meeting a man like the heroes of the romances she sells at her bookshop. Nikki, the renegade trust-fund baby whose non-profit for at-risk teens, The Last Chance Ranch, might be the last chance for her and her estranged sister to reconnect. And Jo, the wedding photographer, whose enviable marriage to her college sweetheart is threatened by an unexpected event.
Kyra tries to repay their generosity by being as good a friend to them as they’ve been to her. Just as her new life starts to take shape, her ex shows up with vengeance on his mind—and she must call upon the strength and wisdom she’s learned from the Tattooed Ladies to put her old life behind her, once and for all.
Stay tuned for more!
I cannot wait to read this. So absolutely thrilled for you, my dear friend. Love you!
Thank you, Meri. And you know I’m a HUGE fan of your books!
Woohoo!!! I can’t wait! Been reading your books since you wrote you YA series many moons ago.
Wow. Blast from the past. I wrote those teen books a LONG time ago!
Oh that is SUCH GOOD NEWS!!
I cannot wait to read the new books, since I have read and even re-read EVERY previous book you have written !! ( I re-read thé earlier ones, because the later ones were still too fresh in my memory.) I purchased most of them through Amazon, and because I have moved a lot over the years, had not been able to save most of my books. But THOROUGHLY enjoyed them all! I truly LOVE your books, and your style of writing. So glad you are feeling better, and hope your construction problems are ending. Take care… stay well. All good wishes!! I mean that sincerely!!
Bless you, Audrey. It’s readers like you who keep me going during the hard times. Thank you for your patience and for keeping the faith. I’ll let you know when I have a pub date.
Ooh…..This new series sounds right up my alley!!! Can’t wait to read it. I loved your Cypress Bay mystery series but can only find 2 books is there more? I’ve got Swimsuit Body and Bones and Roses and absolutely loved both of them. Hope you are feeling better after your fall and so sorry about your remodeling problems .
All’s well that ends well. I am loving my new series and hope you will too. It’s set in the California gold country not far from where I’m living now. Beautiful part of the world, and such a rich history. Of course there’s more going on in my fictional than in any real life town probably.
Oh thank goodness. Love your books. I’ve read all of your books. Can’t wait.
I’ll let you know when I have a pub date.
first of all Hello my dearest Eileen, autor and friend. Wishing you all the best from Beli Manastir Croatia. Well glad to hear are now writing series of new books, which so love and these know must be put aside for me, so can get them eventually. Your trial of Secrets am reading or rather re reading, as have not since receoved ot om 2007. want to also add enjoy the photos of your new house, It is fabulous and see your smile of pure joy. Best health to you and Sandy. and thank you for sharing such great news. Hugs. Miroslava.
Thank you, my friend! It’s been a long time between books, so I’m really happy to have book news, finally. I appreciate you and all my readers for your kind words and for still reading my previous books. Wishing you good health as well!
So happy you’re still able to write such great stories. I love seeing the progress on your home and I know it never seems to go fast enough to get things like that completed. Lucky you having such a great talent you can also use a diversion from the stress of a remodel.
I can’t believe I got any writing done between all my house-remodel chores! Where there’s a will there’s a way.
So very happy about this news! Can’t wait to read it!
Thanks! I’m very excited to share my story with the world.
YES!!! 😀
Cousin, you have me intrigued! I am wondering . . . Gold River, Sutter’s Mill, Auburn, Sonora, Hwy 49 ?
I am excited for you this series is coming to fruition!
My niece has a home in Sonora, built in the 1800s. There is a stone assay office downstairs, a gold mine on the property, a creek and a waterway. Columbia is just down the road.
My fictional town is all of the above rolled into one, including Placerville. I love the Gold country, as you may have guessed. So happy to be within driving distance now.
I owe you and an old friend Lisa a big THANK YOU! I had dyslexia growing up, I had/have many coping skills that I have learned along the way. I was told that I needed to learn how to learn how to write better to advance in my career (Computer world) and was told to read a novel and study the word structure. This seemed like a big task however my friend Lisa said “here read this and handed me “Garden of Lies”, it took me the better part of 2 months to read it, but I was so captured by the characters I did not want to quit- fast forward a couple decades, I have read all your books & have been told I am a collage level reader! Now I am a Cyber Security Analyst and life is awesome! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
OH, this warms my heart! I apologize for my tardiness in responding. Between my home remodel and writing my new book, time got away from me. But your comment reminds me of why I write and why I LOVE it so. It’s because of readers like you, who can get so lost in my stories they forget their own problems (or in your case your dyslexia). So thank you for this lovely reminder, and I hope to continue to entertain you with my novels when my new one comes out next Spring.