Status Update - October 2024

I finished the zero draft of Death Goddess Walking Sunday evening. Normally, I do a first editing pass before sending a novel to my alpha reader, but this time I didn't.

DGW was started nearly twenty years ago. I was roughly halfway through it when I made the mistake of showing it to someone. This person was a New York Times Best Selling author, back when it made a difference in a writer's reputation. This was before the new indie publishing started.

They said it sucked.

I was hurt and disappointed. I took their response to heart and put away the manuscript.

Until I was cleaning out some old files three years ago. I started reading the DGW manuscript and realized it wasn't as bad as my critic had said. I decided to finish it.

Unfortunately, I had other commitments, so I knew I wouldn't be able to finish the book until 2023 at the soonest. Then we had two parental deaths in 2022, which shoved my schedule back even farther, but the zero draft is done.

I even sent it to my alpha reader without making a first editing pass, which is why it isn't marked as completed on the public project list. Mainly, I sent it to get it out of my hands so I had a chance to focus on  A Cup of Conflict.

Therefore, my main focus for 2025 will be to finish the Justice series and The Books of Apep series. It will definitely be a busy year.

Story Drop - A Place at the Table

If you didn't get a copy of Halloween Harvest, an indivdual copy of "A Place at the Table" dropped today! Heck, I even managed a pink jack o' lantern for the cover. (Read the story and you'll understand why!)

A PLACE AT THE TABLE

Amara follows her family’s Earth traditions because they keep her and the other colonists alive during Darkfall on Onizuka. But when a group of foolish scholars from Earth refuse to heed the colonists’ warnings, can Amara save them and herself from the beasts that prowl in the Dark?

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October Is Breat Cancer Awareness Month

I normally just post this over at Wild, Wicked & Wacky, but enough people are reading this blog now that I want to make sure as many people as possible hear the message.

As a breast cancer survivor who discovered her cancer during a self-check, I believe in self-examinations. You know your own body better than anyone else. So don't be afraid to check your own breasts, and report anything unusual to your doctor. Early detection is the key to surviving almost any type of cancer. So I try to post this video every year.

And guys, don't think you're immune. Breast cancer can occur in men, too. It did in my family. Plus, Mike & Molly's 100th episode titled "Mike Check" deals sensitively with the concept when Mike's doctor finds something unusual in his chest.

A Place at the Table on Pre-Order

October's release is on pre-order! Happy Halloween!

BLURB
Amara follows her family’s Earth traditions because they keep her and the other colonists alive during Darkfall on Onizuka. But when a group of foolish scholars from Earth refuse to heed the colonists’ warnings, can Amara save them and herself from the beasts that prowl in the Dark?

Amazon
Apple
Barnes & Noble
Google Play
Kobo
Smashwords

Halloween Story on Preorder

I've started setting up the pre-orders for October's release, A Place at the Table. It's a short story originally published in WMG's 2021 Holiday Spectacular and reprinted in Halloween Harvest in 2022.

This tale is set in the Solar System Services, Inc., universe a few centuries after Alone is Not Lonely on the planet Onizuka. Because the planet's tilt is greater than that of Earth and has a slower rotation, it experiences longer days and nights depending on the season. Most colonists live in the equatorial band, but some hardier souls live north or south. Travel during Onizuka's winters are next to impossible.

As a result, the colonists have found some of Earth's historical stories and culture provides them with the means to survive an Onizukan night. Some whimsy remains though. The colonists won't waste edible pumpkins and turnips as Jack O' Lanterns, so they carve native pink-fleshed tubers for their Halloween tradition.

And if the name is familiar, I wrote a college paper about the cultural contributions of Japanese-Americans, including NASA Mission Specialist Ellison Onizuka prior to the Challenger disaster. He'll always have a place at my table.

A New Free Short Story Is Up!

I wasn't going to post "Cakes, Cookies and Conjuring" until Sunday, but I thought you folks could use a little pick-me-up as we head into the (American) holiday weekend.

In the tiny city of Willowbrook, Tabitha and Everleigh run The Enchanted Bakery. But trouble comes to town when a major, and very famous, corporation opens a coffee and tea cafe across the street from the ladies' shop. Can Tabitha and Everleigh's business survive on its own, or will they use magic and risk major karmic retaliation?

To read this free short story, Click Here!

Some Good News for the Rest of the Year

Today, I updated the Release Schedule on my website for the rest of the year. I tried to write a sequel short for a short story I did back in 2021, and this one wants to become a novel. So, I'm going to post the original to see what you folks think.

In October, a Halloween short story I wrote for an anthology will be published. November's release will be the next Justice novel, A Cup of Conflict. And December's release will be the Millersburg Magick Mystery Christmas tale I meant to have out last year before I had to have cataract surgery.

This is been a very weird year, but I'm looking forward to finish writing everything on my plate and getting those stories to you!