Good morning!
I have nine news and features stories to share with you this week. But I am working all the way to Wednesday, so more stories will post over the weekend. So be sure to check back on The Herald-News site: shawlocal.com/the-herald-news.
I cannot believe it's already mid-April. In addition to work and battling malady after another since January, I've also been involved with this event. If you live reasonably close to the Will County, Illinois, area, consider attending on one of the two nights.
We had a pizza party to celebrate a cast member's birthday and our last non-stage rehearsal last night. I must say, I am extremely proud of this group of writers. For although the foundation of this event is to share our work with an audience who might never know about it, it's also about learning to adapt our work for stage and to fit with the theme that emerged on its own, to accept that the person reading and performing your work might interpret it differently from you, and to work cohesively as a performance group when writing is such solitary work and we are not performers.
Here is an update on my BryonySeries book projects:
House on Top of the Hill: Third book in the BryonySeries Limbo trilogy. I now have a good working draft of the entire book and six chapters and a prologue that are ready for final edits. I scrapped most of chapter seven, restarted it a few times, and now finally have all but one scene ready for editing.. We are estimating a late 2024 release date for this book.
The Adventures of Cornell Dyer: Timothy said the next book will be slightly dark ("slightly" because it's for kids, too) and will involve an old toy store. We are also working on the last book in the series (but it's not the final book, if that makes sense). Timothy is actually writing that one. We had a tentative "Cornell breakfast" scheduled for last weekend, which didn't happen...and we have no opportunity for another for at least a couple more weeks. We've scheduled and broke several in 2023. Our last one was July 2022. So we are LONG overdue.
Brainy Ann: The fifth book in The Girls of the BryonySeries is outlined and ready for some serious writing in 2024. The first chapter is written, hurray! Jennifer Wainwright has already started working on the cover portrait. That one is called "Brainy Ann."
Jennifer designed the cover portraits for "Julie and the Too-Hard Homework," "Katie and the Big Fear," "Summer Sisters." and "Karla Joins In," as well as the frontispiece for Lycanthropic Summer.
A Year of Shadows and Moonlight, of Gathering Blooms in the Woods: A rather unusual, poetic novelette in the second person is completed and just needs final copyediting. Rebekah is still experimenting with cover art for this and made good progress this past weekend. We are estimating a mid-2024 release date.
Rebekah is also slowly updating the BryonySeries YouTube and Pinterest accounts. And she' catching up with Kindles for some of the BryonySeries books. So do watch for those.
Now back to The Herald-News stories stories. Simply click on the link of the story that looks interesting to you. Happy scrolling!
But before the stories, I have a list of additional resources and information. Please check them out, too.
Finally, if you'd like to find more kindness in your life, consider this book.
And have a great Friday!
RECIPE OF THE WEEK
Sue's Diner is a fictional restaurant in the fictional Munsonville that only exists in the BryonySeries.
Each Wednesday, we post a new recipe. The recipe is either featured in one of our cookbooks, will be featured in an upcoming cookbook, or is just an "extra" we want to share with you.
Check out the recipe here.
WRITERS
If you'd like to officially join WriteOn Joliet, we have two tiers of dues and two ways to attend meetings. We also have a marketing arm that's getting longer every year. Check us out at writeonjoliet.com.
Daily updates: I haven't posted anything on Twitter/X (except a daily Bible verse) since September I can no longer schedule posts in advance. I'm not sure yet how to manage the account without that option. But you're welcome to follow me at @Denise_Unland61.
BryonySeries stuff: I used to curated content relating to the BryonySeries on Twitter/X at @BryonySeries and still post assorted related content at facebook.com/BryonySeries, youtube.com/user/BryonySeries, and themes of each book in the BryonySeries at pinterest.com/bryonyseries.
Again, not sure yet about the direction of the BryonySeries Twitter/X account. Still mulling that over.
And of course, please follow the adventures of Bertrand the Mouse on Instagram at bertrand_bryonyseries.
BRYONYSERIES BOOKS
For books and more information about the series, visit bryonyseries.com.
BRYONYSERIES EVENTS
A full month of virtual events can be found at bryonyseries.com/calendar-of-events.
QUESTIONS
Email me at bryonyseries@gmail.com.Thank you for reading The Herald-News. And for reading this blog. And if you've read (or plan to read) any of my books. Your support is greatly appreciated.
FEATURES
Pets of the Week: April 8, 2024: Will County rescues have dogs and cats for adoption
The Local Scene: Joliet cafe hosts Artist Coffee Talk: Here are 5 things to do this weekend
Illustration by Matt Coundiff for "Visage"
