Happy New Year! Another year has passed and time seems to be moving faster and faster. I hope everyone reading this had a lovely holiday season. It was rather quiet in our household. The strangeness of having adult children, I suppose. I miss the days when there were excited shrieks and general chaos of having young children around, but I will admit that I do not miss getting up at the crack of dawn on Christmas morning.

These past few months though, I have been reminded of what it is like having a toddler under foot. Our new puppy, Freya, is quite a handful. I don’t know if it is her breed (Mini Australian Shepard) or just Freya, but, wow. Poor Freya lacked any attention for the first seven and half months of her life, and she was bullied by thirty-seven other dogs at the farm she was born at, so she is making up for that in spades. She has pretty much commandeered all my attention. She is finally settling into our home and is allowing me a bit more time to myself.

I will say though, I think I needed this break. Both mentally and physically. I started the third book in The Warwick Witches series, A Flare of Fire, but I was distracted by Freya, and life in general. It’s odd, really. I have a new fur baby, but my human baby, my daughter, is in her senior year of high school. With that milestone, has brought college applications and everything that goes with the whole process. Throw in the lovely fact that she wants to study in a different country and…yeah, I’ve been a little crazy. I have no one to blame but myself. I passed on my love of all things British to her and after a trip to the U.K. this summer, her mind was set.

I’m still living in the land of denial and I am trying, rather comically, to push schools here in the US on her.

Writing just has not been a priority. I have also lost the thread which is something that can scare any writer. However, I decided to tackle another project I have wanted to do for quite some time. In an effort to rediscover my writing, I decided to journey back to the beginning. Yes, I am revisiting the Isle of Skye trilogy.

I have always wanted to go back over the first three books I wrote and give them a bit more polish. I am a far better writer and editor than I was when I started out, so I am thoroughly ensconced into Willa’s world once more. It has been rather enjoyable and I am realizing why I started to pursue my passion years ago.

I am hoping to publish the updated versions by the end of the month. I also want to put all three books together and publish it as a complete set. I’m excited to have those first stories exactly the way I want them and to be able to share them.

The Warwick Witches are never far from my mind and I can’t wait to dive back into Everly’s story. She and Caspian hold a special place in my heart, as do all the characters in Cauldron Glen. I have big plans for many of the residents in the magical community and I am cautiously optimistic that A Flare of Fire will be ready in the spring.

If, for some reason, that doesn’t come come to fruition, you can blame this girl.

~Shannon