Happy weekend, —

A couple days ago, I send out a sneak preview from my upcoming release, along with a story about my cats. I got sooo many email replies (if that wasn't you, please tell me about your cat!) and people saying they couldn't wait to read my cat-and-dog-centric book. But no new pre-orders.

Do you know why? I can't even believe this is real life... but it's because there was a drone strike in the Middle East that hit a data center, and all of Amazon went down for an undisclosed amount of time, and has been glitchy ever since. So this is my regular newsletter, which I usually send during the week, but I've been trying to skirt around our international problems.

Meanwhile, if you need a break from living in a sci-fi dystopia..... have I ever got the book for you!!

Actually, since my life philosophy involves a lot of recharging from real life in the pages of a book, I have a whole bunch of recommendations.

Adare is examining the choices critically, and will round up the best ones for you....

Escaping with dogs and cats

First of all, if you just want to read the whole book where Bob the Cat makes mischief (and maybe saves the day?), you can pre-order The Little White Cat and the Dog Who Wasn't from multiple retailers here....

The Little White Cat & the Dog Who Wasn't

I'm only four orders short of this being my biggest pre-order ever! There's no real logistical difference—sales after launch "count" just as much in the algorithms—but it's the sort of data I enjoy. Just for fun, if we can get over the top, I'll make my dogs a cake and share party pictures with you!

Escaping to a world with loyalty, books, and a warrior trying to use his strength for good

You can't get much farther from drone-and-data-center crisis than dropping back into ancient Ireland... you're surrounded by green hills, gentle rain, a village where everything is made by hand, and people tell stories around the fire every evening.

Frankly, sometimes waiting for a pre-order is too long, and I've got the book for you, too.

Rian is physically gifted. Nowadays, he'd be the star of the soccer field and recruited to join all the varsity teams. In 3rd-century Ireland, he's chosen for the king's warrior training program, and then he keeps getting promoted. He doesn't want to be a warrior, because he doesn't like to hurt people and he doesn't enjoy arguing.

The underlying arc of Rian's story is coming to terms with his role in the world...essentially, how to use the gifts of his strength and training to make the world a better place, instead of using his sword for chaos and pain. Besides which, he has a magical library, and an armlet that pulls him through time...

The Squire and His Magical Library

The Knight and His Magical Armlet



Escape to the magical Middle East, with an adorable dog in the city of cats

I love reading about the Middle East—the history, art, markets, and temples! Lynn Strong has created a wonderful, dynamic world with her cat-people and dog-folk in a fantasy version of the real world. (No drone strikes, we promise!) Her characters are tender, managing disability, colorful, and.....adorable. Of course.

Lynn has made this peek-inside preview of her new novel, Haroun and the Study of Mischief, JUST for the Sheltie Gazette. Because she knows the Shelties want to make friends with Haroun! You're the first ones to get this preview.

Here they go, sniffing noses.... testing where the other dog has been lately... You can "sniff" out an example of Lynn's playful, colorful writing...

"....perhaps a touch more aggressively than flowers were usually scattered. The falcon-acolytes of Mentu the Bloody were vigorously pelting the peacocks' barge with blood-red roses, and the peacock-acolytes were batting them into the river with fans made of absurdly glorious tail feathers."

Get my brand-new sample of Haroun's story

Escape to a coffee shop, complete with supervillain romance

One book isn't enough of an escape? I hear you. So here's an entire series of six books, centered around a coffee shop (mm, cozy), superheroes (mm, exciting), and romance (mm, sweet).

There's a new one coming out in April, which is perfect timing to catch up on the first few! When it comes to fun + escapist, Heidi Burke is hitting all the right buttons.

Supervillain Romance Fun

And if you're not a Kindle reader, Heidi also has books wide, including this fairy tale novella on Kobo and Kobo+.

Meanwhile, here is an escape with dogs in glasses and pretty sunsets

I was at a small writing retreat last week... I'll tell you about it soon, but here's some of the sunset over the lake, which I enjoyed— but only while desperately and ceaselessly typing away.

What's coming next?

Publication-date for The Little White Cat is on Tuesday (yay!) and the paperback will be available right after. So I'll be doing something a little different with this newsletter next week...

To celebrate, I'll be sending you a totally new, bonus intro story! You'll get a fresh mini-chapter of the story every day. Like I did before, I'm carefully designing this so there's no spoilers for the novel, and it can be enjoyed either before or after reading The Little White Cat & the Dog Who Wasn't. So be sure to check your email next week (or go back and save them) so you get your bonus story!

You're going to be hearing from Bob the Cat..... 😻

Enjoy your escape, and I'll see you in happy-reading land!

Christy & the Shelties

(Inish thought this photo-shoot was beneath his dignity, sorry)