It Comes In Threes

I have more than three chickens, but thank God they’re not as large-scale as these.

A little while back I had to work around a family emergency, and anyone who knows me knows my priorities. Well, in two new family emergencies in just as many weeks. Without divulging too much detail, let’s just say I have a whole new respect for full-time caregivers. At least those who actually care and aren’t just on the staff to collect a paycheck. Met a few of those recently, unfortunately, but there are plenty who are genuinely kind and compassionate people and I’d like to acknowledge them.

So this one is going to be short, too, since my second priority after my family is my writing (and revising, of course), and that’s taken the hit. I try to squeeze in some revision during the downtime, but it goes as fast as it goes. I didn’t want to forget letting you know that all is moving along, even if it isn’t as quickly as I’d

I did want to point out the new promos along the sidebar (or below, if you read this on mobile) and invite you to check out the freebies and deals there. Winter is a perfect time to find new authors to read, especially when the snow and temperatures start to fall. And don’t forget to check out my free story in the Eater of Dreams universe, Whispering Dusk, you can get just by signing up for my also-FREE newsletter. If you enjoy it, consider picking up a copy of Waking Dread, the first in the series.

That said, I probably won’t have time to clean up a story for the January Storytime Blog Hop, but you never know…

Happy Story Hunting!

Waking Dread!

AND… Here it is! Waking Dread, the first book of the Eater of Dreams series, is available for pre-order, now! The book will be ready to deliver on 31 OCT 2023. Yes–Happy Halloween!

WAKING DREAD on Kindle

The novel collects the Eater of Dreams chapters on Kindle Vella, and includes bonus material.

***[WAKING DREAD includes Chapters 1 through 49 from Eater of Dreams on Kindle Vella]***

Sundered into simmering kingdoms, the island continent of Sornem forgot the meaning of peace, cycling through battle after battle, from within and without.

Each conflict, each evil act feeds another power—one far greater than any man, any elf, any dwarf or gnome—lurking just beneath the surface, tainting and twisting the hearts of all mortalkind.

They call it the “Eater of Dreams”.

Busy Like A Bee

BEE-attitudes – Bee kind to one another.

This is me, busy like a bee… I’ve been going pretty much non-stop for the last few weeks that it’s nice enough to sit down and write a simple blogpost.

So what am I up to?

• Storytime Blog Hop resumes in October, and you’ll find a link to the latest 1000-word flash fiction installments when they’re ready. The date is slated to be 26 OCT 2023, but I’ll let you know for sure closer to go time.
• COVERS! If you joined my free newsletter then you know that voting is going on for the covers of Waking Dread (Book One of Eater of Dreams). After I’ve announced the winning cover there, it will show up here, along with a link to preorder. The date of the announcement here will be 17 OCT 2023. The book releases on 31 OCT 2023
• Books in progress: I’ve written quite a few novels, though I have published relatively few. Well, that’s changing as I put my rear in gear and revise. I’m in the middle of revision now of a “cyberpunk noir” and will provide more updates on progress in my newsletter. The story takes place in the same “universe” (worldbuilding-wise and literally, seeing that it’s science fiction) as Clones Are People Two. It’s on Kindle Unlimited, so you can read it for “free” if you take advantage of the program. The novel won’t be on KU, at least not right away.
• Speaking of which, there’s also a cover for that story too, which will be released closer to when it publishes.
• I also opened a survey to my newsletter readers on which of the stories they would like to see after I publish the cyberpunk noir, and the answer was overwhelmingly the sequel to Umbra: Shadows Over Hinge (originally published as Umbra: A Post-Apocalyptic Mystery). That revision commencing depends on the progress of the cyberpunk noir, which, barring any kind of emergency, should be done by the end of November, and a date of publication will be chosen before then.
• Totally unrelated to the books, I have to shore up my chickens’ coop before the weather gets too cold. It’s great that it’s more math/geometry/non-word hands-on, something to do when my brain gets rut-bound on parts of the revision. An hour or two with a saw and measuring tape and paintbrush can loosen up the old muse.

So that’s it for now (as if that is not enough).