We hope everyone has plans to take a break and celebrate with friends and family. At the Smek abode, we will be BBQing some hot dogs with my parents and playing poker with my kids. My dogs will be tasting colors when I load them full of Trazodone, and maybe I can keep them alive during the chaos. Hope you all have a wonderful and SAFE weekend.

AI is changing publishing fast, and we want to know how YOU actually feel about it. Troy and I have launched an Author AI Sentiment Survey specifically for authors, writers, and creatives so we can gather real community insight about AI’s impact on publishing, creativity, careers, audiobook narration, cover design, and the future of storytelling. This is NOT a pro-AI or anti-AI campaign. We genuinely want honest responses from: Authors who love AI Authors who hate AI Authors who feel conflicted or uncertain Authors still figuring it out Our goal is to collect meaningful data from the writing community and contribute to larger industry conversations with actual author perspectives instead of assumptions. 📝 TAKE THE SURVEY HERE: https://printtopro.com/author-a-i-sentiment-survey/ A few important notes:• Please share this with AUTHORS and creatives• We’re aiming for at least 1,000 responses• The survey will only be open for a limited time because AI sentiment is evolving rapidly• If requested, we may later create a separate reader-focused survey We truly appreciate your help with this project. The more responses we gather, the more accurate and useful the data becomes for everyone in the publishing space. — Stacey & TroyPrint to Pro

UPDATE 7/4/26: : The last three weeks have been eleven-hour days and managing sciatica (because of the eleven-hour days), not to mention my new obsession with Project Hail Mary (happy happy happy), so getting fired up again about writing was yesterday and part of today. My process includes spot revisions; if I change a detail, I change it everywhere in the manuscript. So I did that, and there were quite a few things in that category. I wrote a grand total of one scene and part of the next one after that--which is a 43rd scene. I don't feel so guilty because of all of the above, plus the holiday. My plan for this week is one hour in the chair right after dinner. We'll see what that produces at the next update! --------- Today I created an Excel doc with all the finished scenes [92] and scenes yet to be written [42]. This after having gutted a huge chunk of the novel and effecting some rewrites. Now I need to make good on the new storyline. The good news is, I've identified the next step--writing those scenes. The bad news is, it's a lot! Some scenes will be short, but I estimate 10-15 will be longish, at least. If it's all right with everyone, I'll update this post periodically with my progress. I need the accountability.

I just finished a a couple of key chapters in my historical cozy - it's winding to its conclusion. I can't believe how ecstactic I was, dancing around my office (all by myself), hollering and whooping and pumping my arm! Yes! Filled with the giddy, butterfly-y feeling and marveling at my characters and that they escaped!! I feel like I know them so well, and sometimes (often) they are more real to me than some people I have met!! Am I crazy?? I LOVE spending time with them (which is definitely not enough!), but then everyone thinks I'm either a hermit or such an introvert I simply can't stand to be around people (they do get exhausting after awhile, tho'...). I see the light at the end of this tunnel and am thrilled!

Hey there everyone, I just wanted to pass on a message from Ingramspark. Apparently, we have some scammers impersonating the company. Be hyper vigilant, my friends. "We have recently been made aware of bad actors fraudulently posing as our business through lookalike websites, emails, social media accounts, phone calls, and text messages. These individuals often request that the author pay them or provide sensitive banking information in exchange for publishing their book with IngramSpark. These impersonators are not affiliated with IngramSpark. Visit https://www.ingramspark.com/fraudalert for more information"