#1
The point of this update is that I suck at this. At updating you. But I do have reasons for why I crawled into a hidey-hole and only came out now. I’ll get into those below. The point is, I’m going to be better about updating you on my stories, writing them, and my life. I plan on sending out bi-weekly emails (sign up for my newsletter here). If you just want to know when I release new books, you can follow me on Amazon and Bookbub to get those updates as soon as they happen.
Click HERE to follow me on Amazon. Click HERE to follow me on Bookbub.
So if you’re still reading, you might have seen on Facebook and Instagram during the release of Dead Man’s Stitch that I’ve recently gone through a divorce. Finalized on Valentine’s Day of all days. Now if that isn’t the start of a contemporary romance, I don’t know what is. I’m still waiting for my hot neighbor or hot contractor or hot … hell, I wouldn’t even care what he did at this point. He could be a hot couch potato and I’d be down just as long as he showed up to turn this story around.
But it’s cool. I’m a strong, independent woman and I don’t need a man to help me start my weed eater.
That’s a lie. I do. I really do. This weed eater is the devil’s machine, and I flood the damn thing every time.
Other than that, the single life has been an experience. One I wasn’t exactly prepared for. Look, I knew it would be hard. I don’t do well alone. I’m an introvert. I don’t have many friends. I work from home. Most days, the only people I talk to are my dogs. Yes, they’re people too. So it’s been lonely. And I’ve realized a huge a lesson through all this:
I’m 28 years old and I don’t know how to take care of myself.
I don’t mean that in the sense of basic life functions. I mean it in a deeper sense. Like when I hit a low point, I don’t know how to build myself back up. All my life, I’ve let other people be the ones to build me back up during a bad day or bad week or bad month. So now, when I’m alone, I have no freaking clue how to take care of myself.
But I am working on it. Day by day, moment by moment, I’m trying to be the person who knows how to build myself back up best. I’m figuring out what makes me happy. I’m figuring out how to be alone. I’m figuring out that life isn’t this small box of comfort and complacency that’s hemmed in by fear. Life is meant to be chaos. It’s never meant to be perfectly balanced. Life is the act of striving for balance.
I’m finding more things in life that fulfill me and make me happy. One part of that is coaching rowing at a local high school. Another is actually getting back in my boat and racing. I’ve been training for months now, and I have my biggest race Friday the 13th. Around 2:30 EST that day, y’all send some powerful good vibes my way.
Training to compete at a high level has taken up a lot of my time. But it’s also helped me find some confidence in myself again. And confidence in my body and my strength. For the first time in years, I’m happy (most days) just being in my skin. I’m proud of my muscles and tan lines and blisters. Finding this peace with my body has been one of the best things to come from the chaos of divorced life.
As for writing, I’ve been doing it. I swear! I just forget sometimes in this void of trying to figure myself out that I need to uphold the bargain I’ve made with you. We entered this world of story-telling together. It was my end of the deal to provide you with a world to escape to where you could fall in love with a stranger or fight monsters or run through dark woods with a killer chasing you. And I’ve failed that deal. I’ve left you hanging.
But I’m back. I’m not 100% the Meg Collett you knew because I don’t think that Meg exists anymore. I can promise you that this new me I’m building will be far better, far stronger. She’s going to write kick ass stories and she’s going to hold up that bargain like the mothertrucking lady boss she is.
That’s a promise.
At this point, you might be wondering what I am working on. I can tell you it releases in late October and it’s probably going to be my favorite book I’ve ever written. I’ve taken all the things I love and I’ve combined it into one new series called The Righteous. It’s a twisted Southern supernatural mystery series, and it’s going to make your heart pound and your skin prickle. There will be action, sexy strangers, southern accents, comedy, darkness, grit, and best friends riding to the rescue.
If you loved Fear University, you’re going to love The Righteous.
I’ll be waiting until closer to October for the title and cover reveal. But right now I can say that I will be looking for a few very select beta readers who are willing to read the book in early draft status, and then I will also be looking for TWENTY early ARC readers. I’ll most likely post a call for these readers in my Facebook group, so make sure you’re a member over there (link here).
If you listen to Spotify, you can check out the EPIC playlist for the series. This is what I have playing every time I sit down to write. I LOVE it. The mood is so perfect for this series. Check it out HERE.
Okay, I’ll stop rambling now. If you’ve read to this point, email me back with the code word CHICKEN NUGGETS and I’ll personally lick your face.
🙂
Meg