The Ghost Story is coming!

Ghost Story Update

The feelings of satisfaction and accomplishment after signing another book contract never get old! That's right, the ghost story is under contract and in the hands of my editor. Past experience informs me that the novel will be released in six to nine months. I'm hopeful of landing a release date near the holidays…time will tell.

Curious to know what happen next to the ghost story? Allow me to provide some insight.

There's a blurb to write—it's always challenging, but it gets easier with practice.
Cover art to provide input on.
Round after round after round of editing with my editor. This is the most rewarding aspect of the process. It's always amazing to discover how much better a story can become.

UPDATE: The Allison Lee Chronicles Vol. 4

The Allison Lee Chronicles covers — Okay…Vol. 4 is coming in 2026!

While waiting to hear back about the ghost story, I turned my attention to Allison's fourth and final adventure. Back in September 2024, I estimated the word count at approximately 173,000. Well, now I have an official number…157K and some change. I'll round that up to 158,000 words. 158,000 words! Not as bad as 173K, but still, that means I'll need to cut a minimum of 58,000 words to slide in in under 100K.

The goal I set in January to finish the edit on Vol. 4 before the end of this year had never seemed more unattainable until I did a high-level pass through of the manuscript to decide what chapters to consolidate or cut entirely. The job is still daunting but no longer feels impossible.