Another winter when it feels like the seasons have shifted somewhat. I got up this morning to an intense snow flurry. Now the sun is shining, hardly any clouds in the sky, and there's an inch and a half of snow on the ground that will probably melt off soon. And, of course, the forecast on the phone is out of sync. Sigh.

That's pretty much been the story of this February. We had a Covid scare at the beginning of the month when hubby was exposed by a friend during a recreational drive. Fortunately, masks and vaccinations seem to work. Neither of us got sick. And after reading one writer's account of trying to work under Covid fog, it makes me even more determined to duck this virus (that said, I may have had it back in February, 2020. No way to know for certain, however).

And it looks like an expensive vet bill lies ahead of me. The Desert Prince is showing aggressive and stud-like behavior, so he's going to the vet in a couple of weeks, not just for annual physical stuff and dentistry but to determine if he's either proud cut or has retained a testicle. Dealing with that isn't going to be cheap, but...not dealing with it has further problems, both in handling him and for his long-term health.

On the writing front, things are proceeding nicely, if slowed by dealing with horse problems and other concerns. I'm looking for beta readers for the first two books of The Cost of Power (and eventually book three), so if you're interested, answer this email. In return, you get your choice of either a free copy of the final series in ebook, or something else from my catalog. I'm also making good progress on the final book of the trilogy, Redemption, but, as usual with the Martinieres, they keep throwing curveballs at me. It's a good thing I'm not planning to release the trilogy until I finish Redemption because otherwise continuity would be a pain. However, I'm 20,000 words into the story and it's chugging along. I wrote the Family War Call scene this week and while it needs tweaking, I really like it. Especially since one of the supernaturals involved decided to make her appearance.

Can I say I really like quick release for a series, not releasing until the whole thing is done? The biggest drawback is that a lot of release stuff just doesn't happen until the whole series is ready to go. But when I remember just how much things shifted in my first two series, The Netwalk Sequence and Goddess's Honor, I like this methodology much, much better.

I'm still trying to decide what's best for newsletter exclusives--putting up a PDF of those snippets, or making a very basic ebook out of it. Whichever it is, I think it's going up on Book Funnel. I looked at some of those snippets and...yeah. I will try to get something put together for the April newsletter. Everything is too long to fit neatly into a newsletter, unfortunately.

One of the things that has kept me busy and away from writing work has been preparing for a hybrid retreat (Zoom and in-person) for a local philanthropic group. Since I head one of the committees that allocates money, I've needed to do a bit of research about past allocations. It wasn't difficult but it was a time suck. I'm hoping that March opens up some time for things like releasing snippets as newsletter exclusives.

Meanwhile! The Ko-fi shop is growing! I added the entire Netwalk Sequence series there, and will probably add the box set next month. I'm also planning to get Goddess's Honor up on Ko-fi this month. Check it out, and if you're so inclined, throw in a coin or two for your storyteller (and the Boi's vet bills).

Check out my Ko-fi here!

Here's to March, and hopes that things will NOT be quite as weird this month.

Take care, and stay safe.