Hello!

After a good few months of struggling, things are really starting to flow on the next book in the Unlocked series!
I'm not really someone who experiences writer's block, but hoo boy it's hard to make headway when I have to fight for every idea or sentence. But the muses returned in full force a few days ago, and while I might be behind on just about everything else in life right now as I ride that wave as hard as I can, the end is now in sight!
I'm delighted to announce that Book 4 in the Unlocked series is currently scheduled for a December 2024 release! Daniel and Angie have whole new worlds of challenges, discoveries, and growth to explore, and I'm finally truly delighted with the stories ready to help them do so. 

Now, you may have noticed that I mentioned a moth in the subject line...
Well, I am someone who loves watching for and finding little moments of connection and mysterious messages from whatever magic I'm believing in on any given day. I often feel like these delightful moments of serendipity or enchantment happen when I'm in the creative flow space, and sure enough, I got one today.
Just outside my front door, as if left for me as a gift, was a gorgeous Polyphemus moth.
I took some time to see if it was living and needed help (it was not, they apparently only live about a week in their final form; I'll put a picture of it at the very bottom of this email), then brought it in to put it in a place of honor and did some research on it. 

As I was doing so, it really got me thinking about the fleeting nature of the thing I'm pouring my heart and soul into this week. For a majority of human history, stories existed only in the minds and souls of those who heard and told them in turn. Even in the last century, so many stories have been lost forever for so many reasons.
And even for me now, my understanding of the story I'm trying to get out and onto paper often feels as fragile and tenuous as a moth. My inspiration and ability to hold the precious, ephemeral shape of the thing in my mind long enough to bring it to life may only last as long as the life in those wings. And, once the story of finished, once I set it out into the world, the only life it will ever know again is when someone reads it. Thinks about it. Talks about it. In all other moments, the wings of its pages will be just as dead. 

Anyway. If you've made it this far, thank you for listening to my ramblings, and I hope I've managed to share with you a small spark of the light I am frantically flying towards in my writing, life, and this wild world we live in right now. 

Best wishes,

Rebecca