I’ve been sitting on this cover FOREVER. I actually found the cover twelve months ago on a pre-made site and just had to have it. I had no story idea for it, but it was so striking, I just had to have it.

Then, in my travels across the US, I had a spark of inspiration at, of all places, an airport. Lord knows I spent enough time in them across the country LOL. All I knew was these two characters met at an airport and one of them had car rental issues and the other offers him a lift.

That was all I had. I let the story ferment in my head for a while and the characters grew. I was given names, descriptions, traits… then came their occupations. Lawson was a lepidopterist (butterfly specialist).

And so Imago was born.

Maybe the cover I’d bought played in my subconscious. But whatever the reason, the story had to be written.

Jack and Lawson are simply the cutest couple ever!  Imago is 45K words long and I’ll be posting more on them in coming weeks, so stay tuned. But for now, the cover and blurb!

Isn’t it GORGEOUS???  Now you can see why I just HAD to have it.  Made by Harper By Design.

Now for the blurb:

Nerdy, introverted genius lepidopterist, Lawson Gale, is an expert on butterflies. He finds himself in a small town in Tasmania on a quest from an old professor to find an elusive species that may or may not even exist.

Local Parks and Wildlife officer, Jack Brighton, is an ordinary guy who loves his life in the sleepy town of Scottsdale. Along with his Border collie dog, Rosemary, his job, and good friends, he has enough to keep from being lonely.

But then he meets Lawson, and he knows he’s met someone special. There’s more to catching butterflies, Jack realises. Sometimes the most elusive creatures wear bowties, and sometimes they can’t be caught at all.

Lawson soon learns there are butterflies he can’t learn about it in books. They exist only in a touch, in a kiss, in a smile. He just has to let go first, so these butterflies can fly.

Imago is the story of finding love, bowties, and butterflies.

<3

Imago will be live on February 21st. There will be no presale links, unless I change my mind…

But there is a sequel. I’ve just started it (literally 1.8k words into it) and I’m hoping it will be out in April. At this point in time, I envisage only two books. That, however, is subject to change, depending on what the characters tell me. Lawson’s kind of stubborn, so anything is possible… 😉

In other news, The Weight Of It All has been voted THE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR on Love Bytes!!!

*falls down dead*

I just cannot believe it. I’m so very thankful and honoured and humbled by all the readers who not only read and reviewed the book, but for those who nominated and voted. And of course, a huge thank you to Love Bytes for their tireless work and efforts in helping authors reach readers.

I receive a lot of emails and messages about my books. Anywhere from 2 to 10 a week. But Henry and Reed’s story far surpasses all other books people contact me about. People share with me their stories of courage and hope, in taking back control of their lives. Henry has touched more people than I ever could have imagined. When I wrote Henry’s story, I had no clue at the profound effect he would have on readers.

Just yesterday, when I posted that TWOIA had won Best Book of the Year, the wonderful Kat Juellyn posted this:

Oh my goodness gracious! I am so excited that “The Weight of it All” by N.r. Walker won Book of the Year at Love Bytes Same Sex Reviews!!! I can’t tell you how thrilled I am that this phenomenal book won. It was up against so many amazing books but this book is the one that affected me personally. It actually encouraged me that, even though I am mobility challenged and in need of several big surgeries more, I had to try and get some movement back in my life. I headed back to my home in Hawaii on the heels of reading and reviewing this book. And I did accomplish some of my goals. I landed there being dependent on an electric scooter. By the time I left I hadn’t touched it in weeks. Thank you N. R. AND Henry and Reed for your motivation. Do yourself a favor and give this fabulous book a chance, I can guarantee you will not be disappointed! Congratulations again N. R.! You totally deserve this honor.

(shared with Kat’s full permission)

But it’s this kind of response that makes me cry actual physical tears. There have been dozens like this post. Literally dozens. I can’t explain what it means to me. My heart is so full of warm and fuzzies. <3 It’s also the reason I still make myself go to CrossFit and be so sore I do my own walking Tin Man or T-Rex impersonations for days afterwards.

For anyone who hasn’t read TWOIA, it’s currently on sale at just 99c at Amazon.  But only for another day or two, so be quick!!

So, that’s it for this week. I’m aiming to pump out some more words on the sequel to Imago this week, so I’ll be busy and not on social media much. I’d love to add 10K or more if I can. Fingers crossed.

Until next week…

<3