And I'm not ready.

I'm still trying to get rid of sewing machines, but the downstairs is under much better control, but it looks like mid-June until it is done. Just trying to get the timing of things is sometimes a challenge. But at least it isn't hanging over my head anymore, which is a good thing because CONNNNN! (and really if you didn't do that in your head with James T Kirk yelling it.... you're probably way younger that me. Sigh)

The cons are starting and I'm excited and already exhausted. I'm pretty much an introvert but I have to be on at cons. Which means from the moment that hotel door close behind me and I'm in the hall until I'm back on the other side, I'm smiling and being friendly and making sure to interact. Now I'm not in anyway saying I'm not those things, but normally I'm much more sedate. But I push myself to make first moves and respond at a higher energy level. Which means by the end of con I'm exhausted mentally and emotionally - not to mention my feet usually hate me. But still, it is fun and I'm looking forward to it.

My next con is ConCarolinas - so if your coming, please stop by and say hi! I'll have books. PS - I'm really interested in doing an overseas con - Scandinavia or Europe? I'm willing to consider Australia, it just takes more planning. So if you know of a convention I could apply to drop me a note.

Unbalanced Luck launches Friday, so if you want it waiting for you pre-order now! And this is the last day to enter the give away - you have a chance to win an author proof of the book that I will mail tomorrow, so a good chance you might get it before Friday. I can't control the post office, sorry. Launch Give Away.

And just to let you know, I set up a pre-order for Balanced Luck because Unbalanced Luck kinda ends on a cliffhanger. I'm at 51k on Balanced Luck - so you know it is coming fast.

Book Recommendations!

This week it is Wedding of the Torn Rose and I have to admit one chapter in the blurb grabbed my attention:

Plunged into a world of magical intrigue, unrest, and political maneuvering, each new event leaves Kaine feeling out of place and, worse, dangerously exposed to a growing threat. The Darian Kingdom stands at the crossroads. Lydia’s upcoming wedding to the prince of the Throatian Kingdom will soon become the defining moment in Kaine’s life.

I love the idea that she isn't the love interest. I mean she might be but at least it isn't starting out that way. Don't get me wrong I love the commoner to royalty trope, but it's nice to see something else. This free, so check it out.

Weekly Micro Story

And Do What?

Soi-Ha knelt in the circle surround the crystal altar, the metal door sliding closed behind her. A skull of the first ones sat on the shiny metal top, judging her with its empty sockets. She touched her head to the base of the altar, chanting her prayer quietly. 

"Teach me the wisdom of the ancients. Show me the secrets of the stars. Take me from the life of a wife and mother." Soi-Ha didn't care if the first one struck her down. Anything would be better than the marriage her parents had arranged for her. 

She repeated her prayer over and over in the special chamber. It was her last chance the night of prayer before her wedding. This wasn't required but could be requested by either partner if they were of the mind to ask the ancients for guidance. The last person Soi-Ha had ever heard of doing it had been her grandmother's sister. They never spoke of her, Soi-Ha didn't even know her name. She fled the night of the wedding and was stricken from the meticulous family records. 

"And do what?"

Soi-Ha almost screamed as a voice she'd never heard before filled the room. She jerked up and looked around terrified. But the chamber of the ancients was unchanged. The shiny lighted square behind the altar, the smooth metal floor they couldn't duplicate, and the colored buttons on the smooth walls that did nothing, it was as it always was. 

"And do what?" The voice asked again. 

She'd asked the first ones to help, if she ran… 

Soi-Ha resumed her kneeling position and sat up straight looking at the skull. "Anything. I want to learn, to do things, explore, be valuable. I don't want to bear children and tend crops. I want something different." Saying the words were tantamount to rebellion, but here in this room, she took the risk.

"You would have to leave everything and never come back. You would disappear from their lives, remaining only as a memory." The voice had no emotion, no sorrow, no rage, simply the words. 

Soi-Ha sat there locked in a whirl of emotions and thoughts. Leave Memy? Pepy? Her siblings, her friends. Her mouth started to open and the image of Patel, her intended, bounced in her mind. His cruel smile, his fat belly, the way he treated his friends and others. She knew how she would end up, a mouse hiding from the dog. 

"Yes." The words slipped out like a soap bubble away from your hands, fragile and hopeful.

The altar rotated and stairs descended under it. "Then go. Follow the path your great-aunt took. Maybe you find your path."

Shaking with fear and hope, Soi-Ha stood and started down the stairs, not allowing her self to look back.

~*~

Yeah a lot of possibilities in this one. Part Wool, part Pern. Just what could I do with this?

Mel

Schedule 2023: (so far)

ConCarolinas: June 2-4 (Charlotte, NC)

Parents Interment: June 15-19 (Sarasota, FL)

LibertyCon: June 22-26 (Chattanooga, TN)

Greece (OMG!): July 17- August 1

Dragoncon: August 30 - Sep 4 (Atlanta, GA)

20BooksVegas: Nov 6-10 (Las Vegas, NV)

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