Hey there!

The cold has arrived! Alright, technically it's been cold for awhile now, but we've taken the turn into the coldest couple weeks of the year. It happens every year, and somehow I never feel prepared for it. At the end of January through the beginning of February, in this little part of Idaho, it's negative temperatures. Which means with wind (which seems to always be present here) it feels even colder. So doing chores every morning means I get to look like this:

It also means random things like bringing in animals waterers overnight or they will freeze through (yes, even with ones that we plug in to 'keep warm' and not freeze, it still gets too cold for those). The cow pies freeze within minutes, sometimes sticking to the ground so hard even I can't pry them off. We also have the kids stay in, just for safety reasons. Eggs? They freeze in their boxes and break, so gathering eggs once a day turns into three times a day just to save those eggs. (Though, seeing one frozen is pretty crazy. They just split right down the middle with the expanding innards). All this means is I just have to account for a little more chore time every day. It's alright, I can't complain about more time listening to audio books. Who doesn't love that?!

I think the most amazing thing about it is that the kids are sad they aren't coming out. They love working with the animals and having chores to do in the morning. Every time they wake up they eagerly ask if it's warm enough for them to come out. No worries, friends, it will be soon.

My Progress This Week

Fairy Blooded is now up to just under 74k with some healthy steady progress. It's a bit strange how I end up measuring time in my life by how long it takes a book to get written. It doesn't make any logical sense, but somehow I end up doing it. In any case, I'm charging toward writing 'The End' and stepping back to do some editing. There's a chance I'll start the editing sooner even before finishing this book just for some variety.

If you haven't noticed already, I'll just let you know here. I've stepped away from social media pretty much entirely for the time being. It's been about a month since I even opened Instagram or Tiktok (which the latter might be gone soon anyway, so it is what it is). I found it was eating too much of my time and causing unnecessary duress in my process, so I just slipped away. Will I come back? Who knows. For now I'm trying something different. Ream is a platform I use to trickle out early access to chapters of books I'm writing (see below) but they also have a cool community option! So, I've decided to use that as my 'social media' and give you updates on writing, life and even pictures. All you have to do is follow my page (don't worry, following is FREE)! Just click here to join the community!

I've already posted a few updates and will do so probably two or three times a week. Looking forward to bringing you along my homesteading/authoring journey!

Also, just a note that in the same Ream Community, chatper eleven for Demon Blooded is now up if you are interested in getting early access to the story. If not, the book is set to be released March 24 of this year!

Some New Books to Check Out!

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warm regards,

Dan