App Manager

It has been many long days since I have written a blog post, as I think blogs are going the way of the dinosaur. I mean, who has time to read them? (...you?) I certainly don't. We're all too busy playing Candy Crush Saga and computer solitaire, and that's okay. I'm not here to judge. And you have to admit, there is something beautiful about playing Candy Crush Saga. Not that I would necessarily know what it is since I've never played it, but I DO have a pretty serious addiction to playing Sudoku on my phone, and I'm scared to think about what will happen after I play the last game on level 5. I can't be held responsible for any of my actions after that. Probably I'll just start over again at level 1, but I'm getting off topic.

A few days ago, I noticed that Kam's tablet was running slow, so I went into the App Manager and started removing apps she didn't need (all of them?  heh heh). And as I was doing this, I was thinking about all the stuff in my own life I wished I could remove, all the extra stuff that is slowing me down. I could list a bunch of stuff, but it would be completely different from your list, and I guess that's the point: we all have a unique list of stuff we have to remove from our lives so the important stuff can run properly.

For the past few years, one of the apps that would absolutely stay in my life is my writing, specifically the Stripling Warrior series I've been working on. But for the past few months, it's been one of those apps I've got my finger hovering over, just about three seconds from tapping remove. There are so many other things in my head that need the storage space and processor speed. Not the least of which is my Sudoku habit, which is really just the manifestation of how I deal with my stress levels. Am I saying I'm completely stressed out? Yeah, I guess that's what I'm saying, but it's not really the point, because who isn't?

So. I bit off this huge bite of project for Book 6 in the Stripling Warrior series, which will essentially make the work for publishing one book into the work for publishing three books. Why did I think this was a good idea? Okay, I know why. I wanted to. That's right, I write for fun. Because I like it. Because it fulfills me. Because through writing I can connect with other human beings in a way I can't in real life. Real life is a scary place for me, and I'm not sure that after my thirty some odd years, the scary is ever going to go away. And that's okay. There's something beautiful about being scared and going on anyway. It's called courage, and it's what I love so much about the story of the stripling warriors in the Book of Mormon and what I love so much about the characters and storylines I have created around it.

So. Book 6, Brothers In Arms, is coming to you in three installments over the next few months. The original story switches narrators every other chapter. I've pulled each narrator's story out and written her her own story, but as you can imagine, it left some pretty big plot holes in both stories, plot holes I have to fill in. Which is what I wanted to do. But which is also the app that is about three seconds away from being removed. Consequently, I don't feel like this first release is my best work. I'm still not in love with Lamech, not even a little bit, and for me, that's what makes the experience of reading a romance, I don't know, worth it. You get to fall a little in love every time you read one, and I'm probably more addicted to falling in love than I am to playing Sudoku.

So. Here's the cover. Click it. Like it. Thanks for taking time to stop by my blog tonight. XOXO

 All Sarai wants to do is be there when her brothers rescue Gideon from the Lamanite prison. She thought talking Zeke into letting her go would be the hardest part, but no one expects the dangerous lie they will have to tell to keep her safe.

Lamech is used to protecting himself in enemy lands, but protecting his captain's pretty sister from a suspicious Lamanite spy is a complication he has no training for.

Brothers In Arms: A Stripling Warrior Novel, is now two stand-alone eBooks. In Part 1: Like the Tendrils of a Vine, Sarai embarks on a journey to save her friend. As she and Lamech travel deeper into the ancient land of their fathers, a land where the right path is not always clear, she will find that Gideon was not the only man she was sent to save.

Look for Salome's story in March 2015.

Salome watched Lamanite warriors capture her son, tie him to a chain of prisoners, and herd him south toward the Land of Nephi. She tracked them for days, but lost them in the jumble of prints at the Sidon River. Lost and alone in the wilderness, nearly out of food, and feeling hopeless, she wonders if she should continue on or go home in shame to tell her kinsmen what happened.

Bringing his brother's wife on a journey to rescue his brother was probably not Jashon's best idea. They could move so much faster without Keturah, and her beauty is more than a little distracting. But then Ket spots a woman hiding in the trees near the Sidon. She has information about Gid, so Jashon promises to save her son. While they wait for just the right moment to rescue the prirsoners, Jashon discovers that his brother is not the only man that needs to be saved.

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