Here's the rough draft cover of the first book of The Cost of Power.

Otherwise...yeah, I think T.S. Eliot is right. April is "the cruellist month..."

Or so it seems to be, at least over the past few years. It always seems like the good intentions of the year hit April and kafloowy! Things...twist. There's probably a story somewhere in that notion. Fun fact--when I went to confirm the quote's source, I encountered a number of analyses that said Eliot referred to the weirdness of the winter-spring transition. Which seems to be true for this part of the world in 2024. We had snow on May first, but that's not April, nor do Eliot's intentions refer to my uneasiness about April, much less my happiness when that month is DONE.

Weird medical stuff seems to happen in April. Weird derailing stuff seems to happen in April. You name it, and...yeah. This year we had a medical thing happening that seems to be moving its way through the system now, and maybe isn't going to have the drastic impact I originally feared it did--but it was a wake-up call.

April became the month where I started saying "no." Where I started soliciting backups for things I'm working on with others. Where I realized that hey, woman, you're hitting burnout.

I'm entering May with a somewhat better attitude. Oh, things are still fubared in odd little ways, but acknowledging the burnout and the causes helped. Finding help made things better. And during my recovery from the latest vax, I found the time to make the covers for the upcoming The Cost of Power release. I'm actually starting to think about promotion, even. Check them out below. No preorders yet. Not sure if I'm going to do them until an actual promo that's scheduled drops in August. We shall see.

The third book, Redemption, is now in the final section, and did I ever start throwing some interesting pieces into the work. The ol' subconscious has been quite busy. I didn't realize that I was laying the foundation for hauling The Song of Roland into The Cost of Power, but, um...yeah. The magic poniard now has a name (Durendal, of course) and sheesh, I find myself dragging The Matter of France into the story.

Not planned. Honestly. And this is one series where I am quietly grateful for the decision to wait to release until all three books are done. Revisions await me...soon.

But thanks to all the chaos of April, I haven't done quite the promo and fun stuff I was planning to do. However, I do have a couple of specials that last through the month of May.

Federation Cowboy is on sale for $2.99 in ebook. Here's the links for Amazon and Books2Read. Want to read a space opera incorporating drug smuggling, corporate shenanigans, a developing romance after a formal marriage contract, and...rodeo? With a spymaster rabbit, an unresolved feud between a sentient horse rodeo duelist and a human, and...more.

A Different Life: What If? is also on sale for $2.99 in ebook, but the Amazon price hasn't changed yet. But it's available at that price right now on Books2Read.

Well, that's it for now. Hanging on for the ride that's 2024.