Half-Year Update 2026

It’s July? It’s July!

That means we’ve made it halfway through 2026 already. And, let me tell you, it has not been an easy year. So many people I know are struggling, and the world seems like it’s going to hell in a hand basket, in more ways than one. It feels as though we’re teetering on the brink; a reckoning of some sort seems to be due.

This is a challenging environment to work in for many creatives, myself included. And yet …

I’m having probably what amounts to one of my best years, in a lot of ways. So, let me update you on what’s been going on with me so far in 2026—and why even the “bad news” may actually be good news.

I Lost My Job!

Yep.

Now, I was probably always going to lose this job. It was just a contract position, but it had been renewed once, so I was … hopeful that I might get another contract renewal. It was a pretty sweet gig—probably one of the best jobs I’ve had in my nearly twenty years in publishing.

Unfortunately, that meant I wasn’t really expecting to be, uh, laid off a few months prior to the end of the contract. That left me scrambling a bit.

The good news is that I had my freelance business simmering in the background, so I was able to jump back in with some editorial projects fairly quickly. I’m now booking into the fall. I guess being in the game for nearly twenty years helps you make a name for yourself or something.

I don’t want to say losing my job was a good thing, because it really wasn’t. It was, I think, easier to swallow because it was a hundred percent not my fault; there was literally nothing I could have done to change this outcome. It was a real “one bad apple spoils the barrel” situation. Lots of people were harmed because of one person’s actions, including myself.

Being able to jump back into work also helped. And, of course, the fact that I had sort of been planning for the contract to end anyway also helped ease the blow. We’re now well into the period where I would have been back to the freelance life if no contract renewal had come through, so, you know.

I’m in the Middle of a Major Shift

In the past two years, some major life changes have happened around here. One, I had a baby, which kind of up-ended my entire world. Kids tend to do that. My husband also started a career transition, meaning he went back to school.

For the last decade or so, he’s been chasing what was ultimately his dream job. Now his race is run in that arena, so he’s moving to what looks to be steadier, more stable employment.

That means a huge role reversal in our household is coming in the next twelve months. For the first time in my adult life, I’m not going to need to be “the breadwinner.”

Unfortunately, losing the “sweet gig” job meant we kind of kicked the tail end of the transition phase into high gear sooner than we would have liked. The next twelve months are going to be a bit rocky as we patch through his final year of school and then finding employment. (The field he’s entering is fairly recession-proof, though, so that’s some good news.)

This shift is coming for a few other reasons: I ran my freelance business alongside having a full-time job in my twenties, before I switched to full-time freelance, building my business and often working up to eighty hours a week.

I’m also entering a new decade next year, so I really feel it’s time to rework and revise what I’m doing with my life and how I’m living it.

I’m Ready to Chase My Dream

My husband has always been a staunch supporter of my writing and my dream of being an author. At this juncture—with switching up who is primary earner, me entering my next decade—it feels like the right time to finally let myself chase that dream.
I’ve always wanted to be a writer. When I was eight, someone told me that wasn’t economically viable, so I needed a “back up” plan. I chose editor. And that was what I did: I went to school, I got my degree, I became an editor, and I’ve run a successful business for nearly two decades now. There were points I nearly destroyed myself doing it.

And now it’s time to let that go and see if I can’t prove that person who told eight-year-old me that I couldn’t be a writer wrong.
And sure, maybe full-time author isn’t in the cards for me. Don’t get me wrong; I still love editing. I don’t love the ups and downs of freelancing: “dry spells” between projects, delays with projects that mean all of your deadlines come crashing together and you end up pulling some truly insane hours to get things done “on time.”

So: I’m not giving up editing. I’m paring back. I’m making my editing work smaller, so I can make my author work bigger.
And who knows: maybe that doesn’t work and I have to give it up in the end. But it’s high time I give it a try.

I’ve Been Working Hard Behind the Scenes to Make This Happen

While I was working the other job, I was able to do a lot of writing. I’m pleased to say that I have all of my books for 2027 drafted. This month, I’m starting work on the first book for 2028. I have multiple books in multiple series drafted, and I have cover art either finished or in the works for several of these upcoming releases.

Beyond that, I also have serials in the works; the first one is in copy edit right now, and I’m hoping it will start seeing release later this year. I have another serial ready to follow that, and I’m working on a third now as well.

I’m also way more organized when it comes to reader outreach. I’m consistently posting on social media, I’m trying to be more present, and I also have blog posts and newsletter content ready for months.

In short, I’m sitting on the start line, raring to go.

I Finally Have My Ducks in a Row (I Think)

What’s more than all of that is that I think I’ve finally managed to find a fairly good balance between my household responsibilities (and responsibilities as a parent), my work as an editor, and my creative work as an author. (My hobbies and self-care still could use some work, and whew, trying to keep up a social life is challenging, but hey, I can’t have everything together, now can I?)

I’m really hopeful all of this means that I don’t have to take more hiatuses or delay books; instead, I can finally deliver what I have wanted to promise my readers for so, so, so very long: at least a certain number of good books that come out “on time.”

And I want to promise more to you than that: I want to promise that I’m actually part of this community, that I’m reading and listening and boosting too, and writing about topics that are important to us. That I’m engaging with readers like you—whether that’s through contests and giveaways, upcoming “irl” appearances at events, or just chatting on socials.

My Dad’s Passing Changed Everything

It’s been just over two years since my dad passed away now, and I have to say that really changed everything for me.

I think, in a lot of ways, my dad knew that he couldn’t really take care of his kids by walking through this life with us any longer. He had been ill for fifteen years, getting progressively worse. He died unexpectedly, from a ruptured aneurysm, rather than his illness.

But I think he also knew he wasn’t the man he’d been before, that he was never going to get better, and that was why he slipped away.

I still miss my dad, and I think I always will. But I look around and I see that, in a lot of ways, he is still taking care of me.

And losing my dad made me think about my own mortality. My dad lived to be sixty-six. What if that’s all I get? The running joke in the family is that I am very much my father.

I thought about this in the dark days after he passed, and I realized I needed to at least try. I owe it to myself; I owe it to him, I think. Because I think he believed in me, and I’d like to think that he hated to see the way the world was cutting me down—exactly the same way he had been. (He always wanted to be a musician; one singular guitar teacher managed to convince him to give up. What could have been if he’d been encouraged, given the chance …?)

So … I’m going to try. At least then I can say I did.

What Can YOU Expect?

That was heavy! The long and short of it is dead dad inspired me to chase my dreams, and circumstances shifted to allow it! Also, I’m probably a bit unhinged, so I’ve written over half a million words this year and have a lot of content coming down the barrel at you in the latter half of 2026 and into 2027.

So, what can you expect to see from Cherry Pickett? Here’s what I have on deck for the rest of 2026:

• the Coyote Creek m/m shifter mpreg series launches this month, with The Coyote’s Veterinarian Omega arriving July 28!
• the Flirting with the Zodiac series returns after a very, very, very long hiatus, with Book 7, Two Scorpions in a Bottle, launching on October 27!
• Book 2 in the Coyote Creek series arrives on November 27!
• A serial launching in Fall 2026.

I mentioned that I’ve locked and loaded my drafts for 2027, so without giving too much away, here are what the plans look like so far …

Winter 2027

• Book 1 in a new series launches

Spring 2027

• Flirting with the Zodiac Book 8
• Coyote Creek Book 3

Summer 2027

• Flirting with the Zodiac Book 9
• Book 2 in the new series

Fall 2027

• Coyote Creek Book 4
• Fall 2026 serial concludes its run
• New serial launching

This says nothing about anything else I have planned, like contests, giveaways, appearances, and more. And, as you know, I’m already starting to draft those 2028 books …

In short: it’s go time! I hope you’re ready, because I’m putting the pedal to the metal and rubber is going to meet the road!