DECEMBER 2021
Winter Bits
As we come into the holiday season, I have much to be thankful for. This is not just a metaphor to spread cheer, but rather an example of real-life circumstances giving me the opportunity to feel the grateful spirit in truth.
Last summer was long and hot. I began to feel off-kilter in mid-to-late August, my focus all but disappearing and my energy level reaching an all-time low. I blamed my symptoms on the heat, which was inescapable. I lost all interest in writing, reading, and everything else in general. As time went on, I slept more and ate less, hardly a fit recipe for healthy living. My fingers and toes were always cold, turning purplish on occasion. It wasn't until November that I finally went to the doctor, who ordered a battery of blood tests to get to the bottom of my malaise.
Come to find out, my circulation was restricted as the result of blood clots in my leg and lungs. If I had perhaps waited a week longer, more or less, I might not be here relating my woes. The two clots in my lungs were small and not interrupting blood flow to my heart, but the diagnosis was scary nonetheless. I am now on a three-month regimen of blood thinners, which has already helped considerably, giving me a new energy and a slow return of my usual focus. I've also learned not to take one moment of time for granted, including loved ones. Tell them you love them every day.
As I said, I have much to be grateful for this holiday season and hopefully for many years to come.
~ In Progress ~
Needless to say, my writing suffered during the three-month span of aforementioned dicey health. I now find myself with a renewed energy and focus, which I welcome back with open arms. However, because of the lull, I've been forced to push back the release date of Blood & Soul and Limb of Iniquity, along with a few other projects.
- Blood & Soul (2022)
- Limb of Iniquity (2023-24)
BLOOD & SOUL
I did manage to put the finishing touches on a possible back cover for Blood & Soul, however.
The eerie, triple moon imagery is perfect for the storyline. The three women depicted in the Bloodline Trilogy - Noel, Kate and Emma - finally reach an acceptance about their unique gifts, and appreciate (but sometimes loathe) the people who have impacted them along the way. They leave the final storyline filled with hopeful inklings for the future.
I'm anxious to finish the novel as it completes the Bloodline Trilogy, once and for all. I began writing Book #1 Bloodfrost in 2012, although it wasn't published until 2019. There were large gaps in the process as I finished other projects.
Book #2 Bloodlust is the longest novel in the series (531 pages), taking me about three years to complete before it was published in early 2021. I think it will be fitting to see Book #3 Blood & Soul released in 2022, marking a decade since I envisioned and began writing the trilogy in the first place.
LIMB
OF INIQUITY
Limb of Iniquity will become book #9 of the Collective Obsessions Saga in due course. I've been mulling over the storyline for quite awhile. It will fit in quite nicely with the series, and perhaps bring about final closure to the characters and their extraordinary lives.
The Collective Obsessions Saga concludes with book nine, Limb of Iniquity. The novel, by Deborah O'Toole writing as Deidre Dalton, brings to light the deadly antics of Alexandra St. John, who made her debut in The Twilight, Book #7 in the series.
Alex was the illegitimate daughter of Scott Page, who was the longtime beloved husband of Shannon Larkin. Alex was abandoned as a child by her biological mother Andrea St. John, only to be adopted by Angela Page, Scott's oldest daughter.
Alex and Shannon have a difficult relationship. Shannon has little use for her late husband's bastard, barely civil to the child even as she grows into an adult. The hostility also creates tension between Shannon and Angela, a friction that endures for years and creates a breakdown of the mother-daughter bond.
Alex wreaks havoc on the Larkin estate, luring her young nephew Gabriel Page into a web of lust and deceit. The grisly death of a prominent member of the Larkin family seems to cement the St. John vow of revenge, and leads the local police chief to investigate Alex's background and the sudden reappearance of her birth mother.
Will Alex be the downfall of the Larkin family, once and for all?
Limb of Iniquity is the 9th and final book in the Collective Obsessions Saga. The novel is tentatively scheduled for release in 2023-24.
As per my usual notation, storylines, estimated release dates and book cover designs may be subject to change.
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Posted by Deidre Dalton on Tuesday, 21st December 2021
