We Made It! A Cross-Country Adventure with My Four-Legged Writing Partner

Our big move is finally complete - we've officially immigrated from Australia to the US! While the paperwork, cancelled flights, and visa dramas were challenging enough, the trickiest part was getting our 7-year-old pup (who'll always be a puppy to us) safely to her new home.

After months of planning, the final piece of our relocation puzzle was a solo road trip from Los Angeles to Texas with my constant writing companion. Summer heat made flying too dangerous for her, and third-party transport services were crazy expensive, so we hit the road together.

I documented our journey with a few photos - though I'll admit, without my wife's expert guidance, my photography skills left something to be desired! 

Between finishing renovations, coordinating international moves, and navigating immigration processes, writing took a backseat this month

 

Coming from Australia - land of funnel-web spiders, taipans, and death adders - she seemed to have a justified lack of concern about America's relatively tame creepy crawlies. Her expression practically says, "That's it? Where are the drop bears?"

Our first stop was Walmart for essentials - a bed for her, snacks for me, and other road trip necessities. That first night at the Motel 6, she was still unsure about her new surroundings, but by morning she was back to her energetic self.

The heat was a shock coming from Australian winter to California, Arizona, and Texas summer - it zapped her energy whenever we stopped for runs. She insisted on riding shotgun despite how cramped it looked, so I lowered the seat to give her more space.

After two nights, over 20 hours of driving, a glorious amount of American fast food, and one traffic stop where Zara barked her head off at the state trooper (who thankfully let me off with a warning for going 5 over), we made it. Just in time for Fourth of July weekend.

 

 

 

Writing Progress

With such a hectic month - including several brutal 16-hour days including one day that started at 6 AM and went to past 1 AM - writing has been almost nonexistent until today. But the long drive and plane rides gave me plenty of time to work on the story in my head, and I'm confident I can finish the polished draft of book 3, Fall From Grace, within a few months before sending it to beta readers.

After corrections and my editor's polished touch, it should be out by early next year. While that's longer than I'd hoped, I now have considerable time to write. My writing process is like a locomotive - slow to start but once it builds momentum, the words flow. So the final book in Ardan's journey should be out by the end of next year.

At the end of July, I'll be joining more collaborations to offer free books alongside other great series, giving you a solid reading stockpile as fall approaches.

Hopefully by then I'll also be close to finishing the first draft of book 3. Until then, happy July!