Living the Dream

Welcome to 2026 and the IWSG monthly blog hop! I’ve started the year with a head cold–things could be far worse–but it is what it is.

In 2026, I hope to publish the second book in my Evie Chambers Mysteries series. The book is started and is entitled The Case of the Missing Prince. Once that’s done, I need to format a couple of books into audio and paperback. My biggest want is to complete my Listen to the Stones fantasy series which I’ve decided to release in a fashion similar to the Lord of the Rings. So far, I have released two of the four books. In Book One, The Awakening, my heroine discovers that she is more than she ever expected to be, while my hero continues his search for a woman he loved and lost in the past and suffers psychic attacks he doesn’t understand. In Book Two, The Homecoming, my heroine learns more about her past through dreams, out-of-body experiences, and encounters with withches and humans alike who prepare her for what she’ll find when she reaches home. My hero continues his search and worries since the stones he relied on, not only for information but for the plots to his successful novels, have gone silent. Discovering that the woman for whom he’s been searching is the new chatelaine of the Fraser lands, the place where his stones are located, is exhilerating and confusing. He knows exactly who she is and what she was in the past, but she doesn’t know him. To make matters worse, he has competition for her affections. The catch is both of them must find and recognize true love, freely given, before the enemy regains his powers. Once they do, they will both have access to the abilities they need to cdefeat him. If they fail, the world such as they know it, will end. Book Three, The Bonding, is finished and just requires editing. Book Four is barely started, so that’s my big push for the year.

I’ve penciled in a couple of romances as well as another book in my paranomal detectives series, and would like to work on a couple of holiday books, but we’ll see. After a fairly decent December, book sales and pages read so far in January have been abysmal. I’m hoping that will improve. I also my try more promotional activity even though I find it difficult.

So, I end with wishing you all a Happy 2026.

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Welcome to the first Tuesday Tales scene of 2026. Tuesday Tales is a weekly blog written by a small group of wonderful authors and I am honored and humbled to be one of them. Each week, we have a word prompt that we incorporate into the scen we present. Scenes are usually around 400 words long and come from our current works in progress. I am working on a cozy mystery entiltled The Case of the Missing Prince. Our word this week is NEW.

Hallie slapped the table. “Evie, I swear you can be the most exasperating person I know. For the love of God, give me some details. How does your new man compare with the hotties from this morning?”

I was enjoying this. “If those two are the gold standard, then Al is a ten carat diamond.”

Her eyes grew large. “Really? I never thought you would ever look at another man again.”

“Neither did I. When I first saw him, he wore a navy uniform with gold epaulettes, his costume as curator of the museum. In profile he reminded me of Pete. He’s tall, with dark hair that curled on his collar when I left him, although he may have gotten it cut by now. He has streaks of silver peppering his hair and his beard, not enough to age him, but enough to give him that touch of mystery and character.” I laughed. “Why is it that a woman with that hair color or white like me is considered over the hill, while guys like Al are dashing and experienced? It really isn’t fair.”

“That’s why you like him? Because he reminds you of Pete?” The lines furrowing her brow deepened. “Is it healthy?”

“It isn’t like that. Believe me, the superficial resemblance vanished once I got closer to him and we spoke. He’s taller, with broader shoulders, and there isn’t a millimeter of fat on him. His eyes are a different shade of blue than Pete’s, and while he’s also a diver with a penchant for motorcycles, that’s where the comparison ends. He’s got a wonderful sense of humor, loves to dance and sing along to the music, and is great with kids.” I licked my lips. “He makes me feel alive, Hallie, something I never expected to feel again, and when I’m with him, I feel as if I’m where I need to be.” I held up my hand to stop her from interrupting. “At first, I thought that I was imagining the way I felt, but now … I miss him, and this case may be just what I need to find out whether or not Al Binette is the man for me. If I’m going to search for the body of a man who may have been murdered, I need someone I can trust with me. I trust Al.”

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For many people around the world, 2025 hasn’t been a great year. Political upheaval, sexual exploitation, financial crises, housing shortages, food insecurity, and weather and climate disasters were just a few things that peppered the news. The war continued in Ukraine and Gaza as well as in other hot spots around the world. There were horrible mass shootings and hatred, misogyny, racism, and all of the other horrible isms in the world seemed to grow by leaps and bounds.

For me personally, it was a good year, one that saw the hip surgery give me back so much of what the pain of arthirtis had taken away. But, like everyone else, I can grieve the injustices that dominated the news. My hope for next year is for world peace, but I’m not naive enough to believe that it will happen any time soon. Instead, I will hope that we can come closer to reconciling all our differences and embrace our commonalities. May 2026 bring you health, happiness, and prosperity. Never look back. Never give up!

Welcome to the last post for 2025. I still can’t believe another year has ended, but I’m glad it has and hope 2026 will bring better and brighter days for everyone.

Welcome to this week’s Tuesday Tales. Our prompt is DISAPPOINTED. Many of us were disappointed last year. Let’s see how the authors have used the word. I’m continuing with The Case of the Missing Prince.

A knock at the door pulled me out of my head.

“Come in,” I called, knowing it was Hallie since she would’ve announced anyone else.

“Well? Is it a kidnapping? Are we going to work for the rich and famous? Tell me everything.” She dropped onto the loveseat on my left.

“Not sure of anything yet.” I relayed what I’d learned since she was very good at putting the pieces of a puzzle together. “If I do take the case, the two younger men have to come along. It’s a non-negotiable condition. One was the prince’s personal security guard who’s got a guilty conscience, and the other is a friend with mountain climbing experience, who happens to be the brother of the prince’s intended bride.”

“Wow. Not an easy decision, that’s for sure. I’ll bet the fact that you have to take those two men with you, even if they are gorgeous, is the sticking point, especially when you’d have to do it on your own. You could wait until Tony’s finished with the arson investigation, but on the off-chance that the man’s still alive … When will you make up your mind?”

“Tonight. I want to talk to Al. With everyone else busy, I’ll need someone to watch my back.”

“But I could—”

I cut her off. “I know, but I don’t trust those men, Hallie, not as far as I can throw them.” Disappointment clouded her eyes. “But I do trust Al. He’s already saved my life once. If Stanislav Drulivic has met with foul play, the guilty parties may not want him found. If he didn’t and vanished on his own, then he won’t be happy when I find him. Besides, I need your expertise right her. I want you to find out everything you can about the Bow Glacier Falls Rockslide, Petrov Bukowski, and Viktor Opole as well as who gets the throne if the prince isn’t found and the king dies.” I glanced at my watch. It was after twelve and I had yet to eat today. “But right now, it’s time for lunch. We can take an hour to gossip. The firm won’t suffer if the answering machine picks up calls for an hour.” After years of eating solitary meals, I was reluctant to return to the practice.

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Welcome back! Christmas is a little more than two weeks away! Are you ready? I’m getting there. This week the Tuesday Tales authors are writing to the word prompt SNOWY. I’m continuing with my Evie Chambers cozy mystery, The Case of the Missing Prince.

Petrov leaned forward in his seat, his gaze meeting mine, the sorrow and sincerity in his eyes at odds with my first impression of the man. It seemed he cared deeply for the prince.

“Stan is my best friend, Evie—if I may call you that.” He had a British accent. Most likely the young aristocrat had been educated at Cambridge or Oxford. “We are more like brothers than cousins. I was supposed to join him at the beginning of his Canadian trek, but my mother’s illness prevented it. I’d just arrived in Calgary to meet up with them in Banff when the accident happened. I spent a few weeks there, helping with recovery efforts and interviewing the people who survived the incident. One of the men claims that Stan went off on his own about five minutes before the landslide occurred. If someone or something lured him away, I want to know who or what it was.”

I narrowed my eyes. Was it possible that the prince had vanished of his own accord? It was something that I hadn’t considered until now. Of course, if he had, then he might be harder to find, especially if he were still in the area. Snowy conditions in the mountains might have forced him to move on, or they might add to his cover. But I was fantasizing.

“Maybe he just needed to relieve himself,” I speculated, well aware that my comment might sound simplistic. “It does happen.”

Vikto peeled himself away from the door and came over to the sitting area. He dropped down next to Petrov, all the starch seeming to leave his body.

“If that was the case, where did he go? Why wasn’t he looking for survivors like the rest of us?”

My ears perked up. Us? Had Viktor been there? If he had, then he knew damn well that every effort had been made to find all of those injured or killed. The cadaver dogs hadn’t found any trace of a human body in the rubble.

“Since I was with them from the onset of this trip, I can help you retrace our steps.”

“Whoa! All your steps?” I wasn’t backing down and giving in, but he’d piqued my curiosity. “And why would we need to retrace all of your steps?”

“Because I’m convinced that whatever happened to Stan didn’t happen out of nowhere. I failed in my duty to protect him.”

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Welcome to December, the last month of 2025. Each year seems to slip by faster than ever. This year was no exception and while it was a year filled with ups and downs, both physical and emotional, on the whole, it was a great one. Here is this month’s question.

December 3 question – As a writer, what was one of the coolest/best gifts you ever received?

The best gifts I have ever received as a writer have been intangible ones, such as compliments on my work and encouragement to continue, book reviews on Amazon that make me feel as if all my sweat and tears are worth it, emails from readers commenting on how a particular book touched them. Among those accolades are invitations to join other writers because it was a validation of my worth in their eyes. Praise from fellow authors is high praise indeed.

It began years ago when I was invited to join a small group of writers who post a snippet of their work in progress every Tuesday. I didn’t know any of them, but the offer intrigued me. From them, I’ve learned more about the craft than I knew before. Tuesday Tales has become a critical part of my writing process. I will be forever grateful to Jean for inviting me to be part of their group.

My second authot invitation came via my fellow writer and cover artist Melinda De Ross. She introduced me to Mimi Barbour and the Authors Billboard. While the ABB is no longer active, our two publishers, Dragonfly Publishing and Dangerous Desires continue to publish books, both new and previously published in affordable box sets. Most recently, Dani who runs DD has had our sets translated into Spanish. What an incredible opportunity that is for me to reach new readers! It has been an absolute pleasure to work with those fine independent authors and publishers, and once again, I have learned a great deal from them.

As for coolest gifts, that honor goes to Melinda De Ross who has sent me some small gifts from Romania where she resides. I have received handmade Christmas ornaments taht grace my tree each year, magnets, a Vlad Dracul pen and case for my glasses, and a tiny notebook into which I can write great thoughts.

And finally, what has to be the most unique gift I’ve ever gotten as a writer is being reconnected with one of my good friends from university when her husband saw my website online. Lee and I had not seen one another in almost fifty years. She sent me a message and we started corresponding. I had the pleasure of seeing her a few weeks ago. Do we look different? Yes, but 50 years vanished in a matter of minutes and it was as if those years had never separated us.

So, the best and coolest gifts I’ve received as an author are the connections, I’ve made.

Wishing you all a Happy Holiday Season. God willing, I’ll be back with all of you in 2026.

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