Long time, no see! If it wasn’t obvious, I haven’t been doing much of anything publishing related for the last couple of years. To be honest, I was pretty burnt out, and thinking about taking a step back, even before all my books ended up going out of print, so it was a good opportunity for me to just take a break for a while. Sometimes I get too invested in things, and put all my time and energy into them, and the end result is that I end up completely burning out and not wanting anything to do with it for a while.
Life has been good though! I have a new office job, I moved to a new city (only 45 minutes away from the old city though), I’ve discovered a passion for vintage and antique selling (watch me get way too into it and burnout, natch) and I medically transitioned, which has done wonders for my mental health. And I’ve decided that it’s finally time to dip my feet back into publishing.
So with that, I’m happy to announce that I’ve signed contracts with Ninestar Press to re-publish Witch, Cat and Cobb and Junior Hero Blues! They’ll both be getting makeovers, and full re-edits. WC&C will be out in December, and JHB sometime next year! I’ll continue to post updates here and on my Twitter as I get more news. I also intend to work on re-publishing Ink & Flowers, To Summon Nightmares, and Sea Lover, and I’ll be sure to update when I have more news for those!
As for the future… I’m not sure. I would like to write more, but I’m not going to push it. I’d like to rediscover the joy I took in writing, but for that I have to let go of the pressure of deadlines, expectations, reviews and all the drama that comes with the publishing world. When I look back on myself from a few years ago, I see someone who was passionate about publishing, educating and changing the world (that was actually in my first author bio – that I wanted to change the world one queer book at a time) but who gave too much of themself, and left themself exposed to too many potentially traumatic situations. I don’t think I can still be that person and protect myself at the same time. So I have to be a little more reserved, I think, and a little more cautious. Maybe just my existence as a non-binary queer person writing the books I want is enough. Well, it’s going to have to be.
Anyway, lets end this post on a classic note. In case you were wondering about my cat, she is doing just fine! Here she is in all her glory:
Talk to you soon!
J.K. Pendragon 