It’s Been A While

Hi, friends!

Wow, so I haven’t posted in quite a long time.  I’m sorry for that.  A lot has been going on.  In fact, I could probably devote an entire blog post to every single thing I’d like to tell you about, but since life is still rather hectic and I have like, a million and one things that I still need to be doing, I’m going to just give you the bullet points here.

• I visited New York for the first time!  Y’all, I loved it.  It was amazing, everything I’d ever imagined and so much more.  I got to visit Times Square and Broadway and Central Park.  I saw two shows.  I met JOSH GROBAN and gave him a signed copy of Boy Band.  I rode the subway and visited the 9/11 memorial.  I ate real New York pizza and rode in a cab.  I got scammed by a monk and growled at by a passerby.  It was a magical experience.
  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  
• I lost a friend to suicide. We hadn’t really spoken since college, something I now sorely regret, but he was a wonderful person, so incredibly intelligent, talented, and funny.  I often thought about messaging him just to ask how he was, but I always decided against it, certain that he didn’t ned to hear from me.  For some reason, it’s become “weird” to reach out, to let someone know you’re thinking about them and that you care about them.  I don’t know why that is.  I do know that the outpouring of love I saw after his death is something you rarely see for someone while they’re still alive.
• Now for something fun.  I began volunteering at the Dallas Zoo!  I love it so, so, so much!  I love all the animals, especially the elephants.  And I especially love my new friend and partner in elephant conservation efforts, Aida!  It’s funny how life brings people together, but I’m particularly thankful, because I know that we were supposed to be friends.  It honestly feel like I’ve known her forever.

• Now for something sad again.  My sweet little parakeet, Budgie, has cancer.  Apparently, it’s very common in parakeets, especially those who’ve been bred for their color.  Budgie is white and blue and gray, which does not occur naturally in the wild.  This breeding, it turns out, can cause a lot of health problems, including tumors.  For the past month and a half, I’ve been doing everything I can to treat him, but unfortunately, there really isn’t much that can be done.  Only some herbal remedies.  Even the vet said that there was nothing that she could do.  I understand.  Parakeets are tiny.  Surgery is risky.  The medicine really isn’t out there.  But Budgie is a little fighter! And I’m going to keep doing my best to treat him and to help him feel better until he decides he’s ready to stop fighting.
• Book news!  I have two new books coming out very soon!  I still don’t have official release dates YET (I’ve had to push them back because I’ve been so distracted taking care of Budgie) but I’m getting close.  Please don’t give up on me just yet.  I promise that they’re coming.  Stay tuned!

I know this hasn’t been much of an update, and I have a million other things that I could say and that I would like to say.  But I need to get going.  The life of an independent author is never boring!

Love to all.  And thank you.