Jenn McKinlay's News #46
September 23, 2021
Happy September!
Book News: One for the Books, the mass market papberback edition will be released on Oct 19th! You've probably heard about it in the news but there is a lack of paper for printing, boxes for packing, and drivers for shipping, so release dates are becoming...flexible.
Killer Research will be released on Nov 2nd! Very exciting to see what happens to Ms. Cole in her bid for Mayor of Briar Creek! Pre-Order TODAY!
Other Book News: Wait For It is now at your local Target store and, if you're traveling, be sure to check your airport bookstores like Hudson News! You can't escape me! Bwa ha ha ha!
Strawberried Alive will be out on May 3, 2022. Someone is targeting the business owners in Old Town and it's up to Mel to figure out who and why before the cupcake bakery crew is next on the hit list. Feel free to pre-order!
Summer Reading, my next women's fiction romcom, will be out in spring/summer of 2023! A dyslexic heroine and a hot librarian guy - what's not to love?
There is other exciting news - more mysteries and a romcom novella series - but I'll wait until it's all official and stuff. Stay tuned!
What's On My Mind: "Do you remember the 21st night of September..." So, that classic has been playing in my head all month. Thanks, Allee Willis and Earth Wind & Fire. Written in 1978 and still catchy as all get out. I'm humming while I type, no lie!
But seriously, I have no idea where September went. One minute, I was buying back-to-school stuff for the Hooligans-- yes, they're away at college, no, they didn't want me to, of course, I did it anyway, because, school supplies!!!--and the next thing I knew Chritsmas decorations were up in local stores. Y'all we need to talk about that!
Christmas trees CAN NOT be up before Halloween. There are ghosts and vampires hanging out with the Elf on the Shelf -- nothing good can come of this! Or perhaps, we're learning more about the Elf than we need to know. I don't know, but if there is one thing I don't like it's being rushed. Quit rushing me, retailers! I will buy what I need to for Christmas and having that stuff in my face while it's still 104 degrees in Arizona is not going to motivate me to spend my money now. Capisce?
And for what it's worth, I don't care if this becomes a national trend, to mash-up all of these holidays, I am not ever going to put up a Christmas tree before Halloween. I repeat THIS IS NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN, unless I go completely mental, which let's face it, being a writer makes this a distinct possibility. What day is this? What year is this? Did I hit my deadline? But still, my point, and I have one, is...STOP.
How can we be present and live in the moment, enjoying this changing of the seasonal guard with cooler days, shorter nights, colorful leaves, and pumpkin spice -- yes, pumpkin spice! -- when the looming specter of a holiday three months away keeps slapping us in the face at every turn? STOP.
As the wise rando meme says: "Tomorrow is a mystery, yesterday is history, today is a gift, that's why it's called the present."--Unknown
Happy Fall, Y'all! Wishing you peace, joy, and fabulous reads!
XO, Jenn