Absent and Marked Tardy

Well, as I'm sure you noticed I have been absent from the blog.
A long time.
And while this isn't unusual for me, it was unusual for me to do so without any warning. So I apologize, my dear blog readers, for not taking the time to post anything.

Bodie is now home!

I also want to apologize for how disconnected I have been from a lot of my readers. I really enjoy reading your blog posts and stories and I know I haven't done any of that as of late. September/October/November have all been rather stressful, to say the least, what with my horse being in serious rehab and a couple of rather important decisions I had to make about my life. But I think things will settle down in the coming weeks and I would like to dedicate more time to blogging.
But, more importantly, I would like to dedicate more time to being communicative with all you fabulous blog readers.

I want to read your blog posts. I want to comment and be more active, to show I care. And I feel bad I haven't. Some of you don't realize I do scroll through your blogs and read through your posts, but don't comment unless I feel I have something worthwhile to say. And when I was feeling so down the last couple weeks/months, I didn't have much to say on anything.

But again, God is good and things are looking up! I have Bodie home, my work is going well, I'm getting better at scheduling and trying hard to rearrange my life to fit things a tad bit better. So I'd like to make a couple announcements that affect all you readers, and I hope you understand my reasoning for them.



1) Due to the tremendous cost of having to rehab Bodie, my horse, there will not be a Mornelly book coming out this year. :( A very sad story, I know, but I feel completely inadequate to release a book I have not done any marketing for. I want to make sure it is the best it can possibly be, and because of that, I also made the decision to cut the book in half. There will be only five featured stories in the first Mornelly book, I-6: Legend of the Mornellys. After some serious considerations and talks with my mentors, I decided the volume with all twelve stories was far too much to release at one time. This means the books will be staggered when I begin to release them, but also that I am far more prepared to get them out there when I do release the first book.

Bran looking fabulous in this new
character creator site I found, called:
www.rinmarugames.com
It's so much fun. XD

Also, and I'm just going to throw this out there, I would like to have fourteen beta readers for the new Mornelly book. But here's the catch: I'd like to select the readers based off of their ages simply because I want to test this on as many age groups as I can, and preferably, have seven boys and seven girls to get a feel for what both genders think of the book. If you'd be interested in beta reading the first volume of the Mornellys, here is a link with more information on the stories and an email you can contact me at:

I-6: The Mornellys

 emilybmcconnell@gmail.com 

If for some reason I don't select you, don't feel bad, I have a limited amount of openings for the beta version and want to get as much variety as possible.
So that's my sad Mornelly announcement. At this point I do not have a set release date for the book, and I don't want to give one in case of any further setbacks. However when I have a good feel for costs/scheduling, etc. I will announce the date for the book.
And one quick side note, I did finish editing the first volume and it is officially ready for formatting. So I am closer than before! Thank you for your patience. In the meantime, watch for a couple fan stories that will be released in December. :)

Image from the country my next post will be on.
Any guesses, anyone? 

2) I have another Our World post coming up, and I think you'll really like it. Three guesses as to what country is next. If for some reason I told you please do not tell everyone else in the comment section, I know I told a handful of you out there what it will be. ;) Let's just say that the majority of my readers will not want to miss this post.
*Crickets chirp*
Because it's about a country/land/people a lot of you adore. B-)

Guess which Mornelly this is?
He's not impressed with my lack
of progress.

3) Due to the fact Mornellys will not be released for quite a while, I'd like to offer up a compromise with you readers. You have the choice of choosing one of three chapter stories from the original volume I was planning on releasing, and I'll put up a vote for which one you'd like to read. Whichever story gets the most votes is the one I'll release for everyone to read, sort of as a "Emily is sorry she is super bad at editing and has publishing anxieties". XD I'll put up a post this weekend with a title and short description for each story. 

Jesseca looking lovely while we visit
my grandma. I was being a ninja and taking
these pictures. B-)

4) Would anyone be interested in hearing my take on having Jesseca here? You can read her story on her blog at these links: 
POST ONE 
POST TWO
She did a far better job than I ever could have done in describing our grand adventure, but if you'd like to hear my perspective I'd be happy to give it. *blushes*

We start cutting these next week! *Squeals*

5) And finally, I'd like to ask all you readers for prayer for this upcoming November/December. I have a lot on my plate. There's been a lot going on with some very close friends of mine that I'm concerned about. And finally, thanks to the great blessings from the Lord, I got a lot more hours at work this year than I have ever had, but I'm also a bit tired and worn out. So please pray for ability to not procrastinate on writing, chores, my horse and family time, but also to be able to not completely focus on everything I have to get done and forget that sometimes you just need a little break. :)



So I think that's it, readers. Thank you for checking this post out and may you have a wonderful and blessed week! I pray for all of you to have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Eat some apple pie for me. B-)

Take care!

Jesseca snapped this photo of me being a very bad example.
Hey, I live next to the tracks, I know how to tell when trains are coming. Just
don't follow my example! XD