Secrets. Ask Alissa. I’m not great at keeping them, but I’ve managed to keep one from most of you – maybe.

Okay, maybe it’s not so much a secret as it is something I’ve not figured out when the timing was right to say it out loud. So, here goes:

I finished a novel. It’s called Restitution, and I’ve spent the better part of the last three weeks cutting, fixing, and prepping it for the BookLife contest.

Now I’m ready to talk about it.

A short synopsis:

Natalie Jensen knows first hand what a recovery center like Linden House can do for a family — it saved hers. When she uncovers discrepancies in the nonprofit’s opioid-settlement funding, she has every reason to believe there’s an explanation. Until there isn’t and her boss makes it clear she should stop looking.

That’s all I’m going to say for now. The rest of it — why this book, why now, what it cost the characters to get to the end — is for another post, another time.

In the meantime, I’ll share real updates as the book makes its way toward publication. Contest results, milestones, the occasional look behind the curtain at how it came together. Nothing frequent, no spam or junk email. Just the truth of where things stand. When I’ve got something worth saying about it, you can be first to know.

Follow Restitution’s story here →

Thanks, as always, for showing up, and paying attention. It means more than you know.

— Joe III