The subject line was taken from the next paragraph of our collaborative story. I'll get to that in a bit.

This week I was smitten with the plague--the flu, most likely. That's why this letter is a day late. I was not in a condition to write it yesterday. Yesterday was terrible. I did go to the office to finish a brief about whether an individual had been in custody and had invoked his right to counsel, but my condition continued to deteriorate and I came home to try to get the sleep that had eluded me the night before.

On the writing front I'm working on a short story to submit to Raconteur Press for the Pinup Noir 2 issue. I'm having fun with it and revisiting the setting of my novel Smoke.

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“That’s the thing with dames…they often want you to know that they have something on their mind; but that’s all they want you to know. They don’t want you to know what it is; they don’t want to talk about it…except, of course, for when they do want to talk about it.”

― Stanley Wheeler, Smoke.

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I'm about to finish reading Brad Torgerson's Star Wheeled Sky, and Tony Hillerman's The Wailing Wind.

In traveling, I returned a week or so ago from a trip to Nauvoo, Illinois. If you're interested in the trip and the fine dining to be had betwixt Idaho and Illinois, you can read about it here.

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As for our collaborative short story:

Here's the link to the story as it stands so far.

Our third paragraph comes from Budd T. He took us in a different direction than I had anticipated, and I made minor edits and did chop off the end of the lengthy proposal, but I was intrigued by the gunman and his deceased love--if that's in fact what she was.

Sitting by his lamp, the old gunman sipped his coffee--strong, bitter and black as death. His weathered face showed the track of miles on horseback, worn but with eyes as sharp as blue sapphires. Strong hands with long fingers, like a pianist--hands that played symphonies of death. Razor sharp knives, a Sharps .44 rifle and a well oiled Colt 45, rested on a table with a small silver locket. He picked up the locket and gazed upon the face of a native woman. She was lovely, with an enigmatic smile and large expressive eyes. His face softened briefly and then, closing the locket, grew grim. "You died too young and I wasn't there for you." Rising, he donned his gun belt and grasped his Colt. He checked the cylinder and slipped it smoothly into his holster. He sheathed the knives into his boots and under his arms. Grasping the buffalo rifle with its sling of cartridges, he blew out the light and walked through the back door.

Budd has put a new face on our story and given us a character to develop. I invite your continued proposals for a 4th paragraph. I enjoy reading the submissions. Choosing only one each time has been difficult--but I'm up to the task.

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If you're interested in princesses, duty, and dragons, you'll want to check out Blood and Loyalty by Luna Fox.

Here are the September SciFi and Fantasy giveaways.

Here are the Coming of Age Fantasy giveaways.

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Honor Roll with special thanks to these subscribers:

Lois for her stunning review and heroic defense of The Shrinking Zone.

JBudd for reviews of Threading the Rude Eye, In Death Bedrenched, Power to Hurt, The Shrinking Zone, Clamorous Harbingers, Promise of Carnage and Flame, and Truth in Flames

Colleen for leaving ratings for several of my books on Amazon

Rob for leaving a review of Threading the Rude Eye

Michael for leaving reviews of Threading the Rude Eye, and The Shrinking Zone

Mayra for a review of Threading the Rude Eye

Gloria for a review of Threading the Rude Eye

ShannonC for a review of In Death Bedrenched

Jan for reviews of Threading the Rude Eye, Power to Hurt, Clamorous Harbingers, Promise of Carnage and Flame, In Death Bedrenched, The Shrinking Zone, Truth in Flames, Justice in Season, and Justice Resurgent.

Bonnie for a review of In Death Bedrenched.

PAR for a review of Threading the Rude Eye

-There are many other reviews of my books, of course, but I don't know whether those reviewers are also subscribers to this newsletter.