No, not finished the revisions yet… Just about halfway through! Working on a second draft is always my favorite part of the process, and I keep thinking about how much I’m looking forward to sharing this final part of the trilogy with you all. Of course, then I remember that you haven’t even gotten to read book 2 yet, which is hard to comprehend. (This is the speed at which publishing happens, what can I say?) Though one lucky reader is going to get that early ARC of The Lives We Lost! I’ll be contacting the winner later today, so keep an eye on your inbox. 🙂

In the meantime, though, I wanted to share something with you that isn’t writing related, but which I am very excited about all the same. I recently became the owner of my very first kung fu sword! Is it not lovely?

(in the scabbard)

(out of the scabbard)

True story: The first day my then-boyfriend (now-husband) and I went to try out at class at our kung fu school, I watched one of the senior students practicing a sword form, and thought, I have got to learn that. I did join the school for other reasons as well — basically, everything about it is awesome — but I have been looking forward to swinging around a blade for quite some time. And it’s taken more than five years of training, but I am now learning my first sword form, so naturally I needed a sword!

I have to tell you, it is just as much fun as I thought it would be. (Though also hard work. My arm was aching for two days after the last class.) Plus this means all sword-fighting scenes in future books will be written with additional accuracy. Hurray!