Back to the Land of the Living...

To all of my loveliest of lovelies,

A little birdy mentioned {a.k.a. has been harassing me} that I really needed to rouse myself from my slumber, emerge from my dark, secret hidey-hole, and come online to quell the rumors, quaff the speculation, and quiet the fears. To let you all know that I have not:

a) died a horrible death in any way, shape, or form

b) gone flying off the earth as a result of a hitherto unrecorded shift of axis on our beloved planet

c) locked myself in my bathroom and, unable to free myself or to gain the attention of my Call of Duty-playing son, taken up permanent residence

d) hitched a ride with a space alien

Or even:

e) ascended to a higher realm, leaving y'all {I'm in the South now, I should probably get used to this} selfishly behind

I am okay. Most of the time. I think.

I don't even know what to say by way of explanation. Life, illness, personal crises . . . they all take their toll, especially when you try to ignore the toll it is taking and push through it by gritting your teeth, over and over again, until there is just no more energy left for anything. Sometimes, you have to pull back, lick your wounds, and with any luck, allow yourself to heal. And that, my loves, is what I have been trying to do, desperately, all year.

I think I'm ready now.

It's time for me to get back in saddle and reclaim the life I love. The writing . . . it's there. It has not forsaken me. Maggie and Company have been whispering to me all along, assuring me all was okay, that they would be there when I was ready. And they are. I'm pushing to complete IN CHARM'S WAY {please, please don't groan, sigh, or stamp your feet with exasperation that it is so behind schedule -- I have put quite enough pressure on myself as it is, LOL}, and . . . I think it's good. Quite good, in fact. I know you were looking for a publication date of this fall, but obviously that didn't happen. The reason the book shows a 2025 release date is that it was removed from the schedule to remove the pressure from me. Just as soon as I turn it in, it will find its way back onto said publishing schedule, and all will be well.

Just a few asides:

If you have emailed me or messaged me, I'm very sorry but I have not {again, please don't smack me} read it. My online presence has been woefully, um, lacking {just restating the obvious, ahem}. Email, FB, blogging . . . I just didn't have the brain power or the energy to address any of it.

MadelynAlt.com has indeed been compromised. I'm working on that, too. It will be back, better than ever, soon, but for now I think I had better reserve myself for IN CHARM'S WAY, no?

Yes, I have moved. I'm now in the greater Charlotte, NC area. No, this does not mean Maggie will be moving away from Stony Mill. Yes, this was a good move.

So, thank you all for your kind posts here, your worrying, and for quite frankly noticing that I hadn't been around. I now know that should I ever fall in the bathtub and get eaten by my beloved pets, someone will notice. Yay! ;> I have said before that I have the best readers in the world, and I will keep saying that until I no longer have breath to say anything. You all are awesome, phenomenal, super-stupendous people, and I am proud to have the connection to you through my whimsical scribbles and imaginings. It's quite an amazing thing, when you think about it. To me, at least.

Much love to ALL,


Mad {madly!}