Hi, everyone!!

I really hope you’re all having a happy, safe summer so far. 🙂 I can’t believe it’s mid-July already! YIKES!!

I have sooo much going on that it’s insane.

#1

I signed with my DREAM agent!! I’m now represented by the amazing Josh Getzler. I met Josh at the Oklahoma Writer’s Conference in 2010 and we hit it off there. Since then, Josh and his partners formed their own agency and I sent him a query and told him I was in need of an agent. Agent Josh and I talked on the phone and he offered to represent me. I am still squeeing with happiness. He’s the BEST and I’m so, so lucky. 🙂 I’m very happy and I know we’ve got a long, wonderful partnership ahead of us.

#2

I’m working on a YA right now that’s in the LGBTQ category. It’s different than anything I’ve ever done and I love it. I’m working on pages and hope to have enough for a proposal for Agent Josh to submit to editors soon.

#3

I had to take 2 weeks off work due to mental health reasons. It’s all VERY VERY good, though, and I hope I can share soon. Just know that I had to take a break in the short term to be able to be healthy in the LONG term.

#4

Jason, my brother, is moving into an apartment on Vanderbilt Hospital’s complex in a few days. He has to have someone with him to care for him so my mom is moving there too. They will be there for about 100 days while Jason undergoes a Bone Marrow Transplant. The doctors did not want to wait for a match from the registry because they are afraid that Jason’s very aggressive and very stubborn stage IV Hodgkin’s Lymphoma will come back, so they are using my mom as the donor. I could have done it in her place, but my psychiatrist and family agreed that my mental health is not in a place where I could go through the procedure and/or deal with the after effects if something, god forbid, went wrong. I feel super guilty that I am not the donor–I want to do this for my brother, but the doctors don’t want me to cause more damage to my mental health. Still, I wish I could do something. 😦

#5

If all goes according to plan, Jason’s transplant will happen on August 6. He and my mom, however, are moving into the apartment next Tuesday because he will be doing preliminary tests as will my mom. It’s advised that a lot of people don’t come in and out of the apartment so only my dad and I will be visiting, so I’ll be splitting my time between the Nashville apartment and here at home in Clarksville.

#6

This procedure is really effing scary. Jason will undergo a massive amount of chemo to kill ANY remaining cancer cells and then he’ll have the transplant. The chemo and the transplant will completely wipe any immune system he has so he will be susceptible to colds, viruses, etc. A common cold could kill him. No exaggeration. He’s going to get extremely sick before he gets better. It’s going to be an incredibly stressful and scary time for all of us. Tensions are already running high as we get closer.

#7

I had a major, major breakthrough with my own mental health and hope to share that with you all soon. It’s one of the top 3 best things to have ever happened in my life. 🙂

#8

I think that’s it . . . if you want to hit me up, you know where to find me! I’m always on Twitter, Instagram and you can find me on Snapchat at jessburkhart.

What are YOU guys up to? Tell me in the comments or on other social media!

Much love,

J