Friday, November 18, 2011

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!}

10 comments:

Mish said...

Thank you for letting us know you are there. I hope all is well in your personal life. I can't wait for the new book!!

Unknown said...

So glad to hear that options a-e have not come to pass lol. Looking forward to In Charm's Way. Welcome back.

Ashley said...

I'm glad you're back to writing! Take your time, your fans will still be here. (:

And, welcome to the South!

Anonymous said...

Dear Madelyn,
Glad to have you back, we missed you!!
Hope you are doing good after such a crazy year. Don't hesitate to ask for help from your fans in Charlotte if you ever need it (there are a few of us here.)
Like they say in the South "Bless your heart!!" ;)

Marie

Hannah said...

I am glad you are taking your time. I think you deserve it, and honestly any good thing is worth waiting for! And this series is WAY better than good! Congratulations on your move! I hope you are settled in and taking some well deserved time for yourself.

Mem said...

I have only recently come across your wonderful Bewitching series. I love them all :) Thanks for writing something that keeps me wanting to read.

Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard said...

Delighted to hear you are back, but so sorry you've been having a tough year. Please know that we care about you, the person, not just you, the writer -- even if we don't know you. Virtual hugs and supportive thoughts!

Sherry said...

Glad to hear things are looking up and woohoo! - welcome to the Charlotte area! I'm in your neighborhood.

Looking forward to the next book and, aren't you just loving this Springtime??

Ally said...

I also came across your bewitching series relatively recently, and gobbled them all up in rapid succession! Looking forward to In Charm's Way! In the meantime, I may just have to re-read the others :-p

Janice said...

Welcome to North Carolina from all your local fans (who also consider themselves your friends). We're glad to welcome you to the South (even though Indiana still seems like home to some of us).

I hope you haven't melted in our extremely hot weather! I moved from Indiana to High Point, N.C., and after several years here, find it absolutely incredible that temperatures in Indiana are hotter than here in North Carolina this summer!

Like everyone else, I'm delighted that the next Bewitching Mystery is on its way. When it arrives in my eReader (Nook), I plan to shut myself up in the bedroom with my cat and read, read, read!