A Writer's Desert

and a publishing update

Photo by Ryan Cheng on Unsplash

Hi friends! Dropping into my sorely disused Substack to share a brief and unpolished update on my books.

Unfortunately, my dream of doing major revisions on two books in two months was…uh…let’s go with “moderately insane.”

I’m glad I tried, but it turns out that staying up late to write, stressing about writing deadlines, turning down social events to prioritize writing, etc. for two months straight will, in fact, cause writer burnout. Because there’s also those pesky little things like work, marriage, friendships, and let’s not forget physical and mental health. (God bless my wonderful husband, who has been incredibly supportive and encouraging throughout this whole process.)

The short version: neither Love in the Floating City or The Sapphire Crown will be releasing in 2026. Once I finish the rewrites, which are still a ways away, my editorial team will figure out what works best for the production schedule at WhiteFire.

Typically, first round edits wouldn’t be quite this brutal, but the easiest solution to a number of plot and character issues with LFC was to significantly rework the subplot and essentially rewrite most of the book. I got halfway through the rewrite and realized I’m still not satisfied with Oscar’s character arc, so I need to go back and figure that out.

The thing is, I could have (maybe) kept pushing through and turned out a version of this book that I didn’t hate. But it wouldn’t have been a good one. Maybe it would have been enough to satisfy you, my readers, and even my editors, but what I have right now still doesn’t feel like the book it’s supposed to be.

That, I’m nearly certain, is because I haven’t been letting the Holy Spirit do His work. I’ve been focusing on my wants and my needs, rather than His will. Back in February, I had the choice to try and keep the intense 2026 schedule or throw in the towel and ask for more time. I had a little voice in the back of my head that said these books weren’t meant to come out this year.

I ignored it.

I’m good at ignoring things.

And, here we are. Relearning, for the millionth time, that my worth is not in my productivity; that God is in charge, not me; and that just because I want to do a thing doesn’t mean I can do that thing. Also learning a new things: to grieve the delay of dreams without hating myself for falling short.

I still am so excited to get Oscar and Rianna’s story into the world, not to mention Gabriel and Sira who you haven’t even met yet! I have a few ideas in mind to make this delay a little less excruciating.

One is to do a reading group on the Fable app! I need to read Love in the Eternal City again anyway, and it would be such fun to do with my readers. I have the idea of lining it up with Elena’s arrival in Rome, so mid-August. :)

Another is to finish building out the locations in LEC into Squirl, a location-based book discovery app that seems like it has a lot of potential.

And, of course, there’s that deleted scene I keep promising you and myself, which is about half-written and in need of its second half. :) I have other ideas, but those are the priorities for right now. Along with trying not to be discouraged that I don’t have releases to prepare for (and that I still have to fix so many story problems!)

I’m terribly sorry to disappoint everyone who was also hoping for Love in the Floating City to come out this year. But thank you for sticking with me! Thank you for all the good reviews, the sweet notes, and the likes-and-subscribes. They make my day every time.

Love,

R