The phrase comes from the ancient Romans who believed that the sun rising with the brightest (hottest) star Sirius in Canis Major caused the summer heat. Has nothing to do with lounging around panting in the shade – other than it’s a pretty good thing to do here in the northern hemisphere.

South of the equator, not so much.

Status

Salt – Book 1 of the Barbarians
This should drop this month. I’m the hold up and I’m not proud of it.

New Ishmael
There’s a lot of stuff there that I need to sort out. I’m liking what I’m seeing. I’m not looking forward to unraveling that monster but somebody has to.

The Wizard’s Cat
It’s on the word processing machine. It’s twitching a little.

Audio

Ravenwood is available as an audio book. You can get it almost anywhere you can buy audiobooks – like Audible. I have the other two books done and will be uploading them over the next few weeks. Veronica Giguere did a great job bringing Tanyth to life.

What Am I Reading?

I’m participating in a reading challenge with The Royal Manticoran Navy so I’m reading a lot. Twenty-seven books in the month of July. Not quite one a day. The challenge runs through mid September but I’m going to have to limit my reading time if I want to get anything written between now and then.

I’ve had some stand out titles, and some surprises. One of them was from a new author – Judith Moffitt – and her series The Coup.

This is old school space opera and it sizzles. Yes, there’s a war. Yes, there’s politics and romance and tragedy and – well – everything. The characters pulled me into this universe and wouldn’t let me out for about three days. I was sad when I got to the end.

Why not grab a sample and see what you think about book 1 – A Line in the Sand.

Looking Ahead

August needs to be a “work month” where the last couple have been more of a “refilling the well” period. The reading has invigorated me. I’m beginning to get more regular in my walking. I’m feeling good about the stories I have in the pipeline and the work that’s hovering just out of sight.

I’m looking forward to sharing it all with you as the wheel of the year cycles out of summer and into autumn and winter.

Safe voyage.

Progress is being made.

It’s not big progress. It’s not flashy – like fireworks – yet, but it’s being made

Status

Salt – Book 1 in the Barbarians.
We have a cover. We’re waiting on a content critique from a subject matter expert. It’s in the “coming soon” category, pending that feedback. Note: This is the book I wrote with my daughter. It’s set in the Tanyth Fairport universe, just not where Tanyth lives.

The New Ishmael
I wrapped that file at almost 350,000 words. It’s enough for three books. I think there are three books buried in that pile. I need to spend some Quality Time with it and start pulling out the parts.

The Wizard’s Cat
It’s in the word processor. It’s happening, people. It’s happening!

Audio
Dark Knight Station: Origins dropped on the 29th. Yes, it’s only on Audible. No, I don’t have any control over that.

What Am I Reading?

I finally came to the end of Jerry Boyd’s Bob and Nikki series, but I think it’s the only thing I’ve read since last month. Seventeen of them takes a while. I picked up the latest in Mackey Chandler’s Family Law series and noticed that I’m a little behind. I read the first two volumes some time ago and dove back into the series a few days ago. It’s just as good as I remember.

Family Law follows a young woman (Lee) and her alien friend (Gordan) in adventures in deep space. Along the way they have to deal with The Authorities on multiple planets and pull a family together from across the galaxy. There is some fighting. Some exploring. A lot of fun.

Maybe grab a sample of book 1, Family Law, and see what you think

Last Words

June was a vacation month. Finally coming to the end of the File That Never Ends left me completely drained. I got started on The Wizard’s Cat but put it down and lost myself in Mass Effect Legendary. I’d never played the game before and it took a lot of getting used to compared to my normal game fare. I’m still mostly in the clouds here.

I also haven’t managed to re-establish my walking habit, although I keep trying. The wall calendar has a lot of red on it, but also a lot of green. I’m certain there’s a balance there. Somewhere.

I just need to find it.

Safe voyage.

When I look back, last month was pretty much all writing. My walking didn’t happen except for a few scattered instances. That problem needs to be resolved this month.

I wrote every day last month except for the one day I took off last week.

Status

Salt is still hanging fire. Neither of us could get it together to finish the cover or the edits. It’s one of those tasks that just seemed to get put off day after day.

The New Ishmael
The bad news is that I still haven’t found the end. The good news is that I’ve found the story. Yes, this is definitely more than one book. At 250k words already, I’m relatively certain it’s going to be three before I’m done.

The Wizard’s Cat is on deck and mewing for attention.

Audio

The Wizard’s Butler dropped. I’ve swapped the covers to use the Podium artwork.

Dark Knight Station: Origins should release on 6/29. Look for the pre-order mid month. Podium shared their version of the cover and it’s pretty spiffy. I may adopt it the way I did for the last book.

What Am I Reading?

The stand out read of the last few days has been book three of James Beamon’s Pendulum Heroes series – The Pendulum War.

I’ve talked about this series before and the newest volume reminded me just how much I enjoyed the first two and Beamon’s ability to spin a tale. It continues the story of four guys caught in a game and learning that, sometimes, winning isn’t everything. The stand out feature in this volume has been the character growth for each member of the ensemble cast. James has woven a terrific tale.

I’ve linked the first book of the series Pendulum Heroes. Maybe grab a sample and see what you think.

[Transparency: James and I both serve on the board of directors for SFWA. I’m not getting anything for promoting this book beyond the knowledge that I’ve shared a good book with you.]

Last Words

April was as much of a struggle as March, but I’m feeling better about May. My ADHD is still kicking my butt, although I’ve made progress on rebuilding the cage around it. Ishmael’s adventure has some form now. I’ve redone the alarms on my phone to help me stay in the moment and focused on what’s really important instead of what’s shiny. I’m fully vaccinated and the rest of the household should be within the next couple of weeks.

In short, I’m doing better and looking forward to what may be a more productive month.

Safe Voyage.