Hi friends,

Lots of craziness happening in our house. After 20+ years and homeschooling six kids in our home, we're moving! Somewhere close would be easy, but no, we're heading to the other side of the country, pretty much a 2-3 day drive or so.

Yes. I'm a bit grouchy about the process of moving, decluttering, cleaning, reserving moving trucks, repairing our home to prep for selling, looking for a new place where homes cost twice as much . . .

. . . no wonder I hide in my stories and pretend the deadline to get everything done isn't fast approaching. :)

For anyone who has done a move like this (including an electric car we need to tow or ship), feel free to give me your tips and advice!

But this isn't the only crazy thing happening this summer. I've finally taken a step with my writing I've been wanting to do for years . . .

. . . scroll down for all the details.

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First, a quick mention of my book of the week. I've got just under 30 chapters up of Shieldwall Academy Book 2, Emerging Rebel, available to read for free on Royal Road. Book 1 is also complete and ready for you to read there, too.

Awakening Horde: Shieldwall Academy Book 1

Pax has been ripped from the streets, conscripted to train at the empire's mage academy. There, he has to navigate conspiracies, uncover forgotten magic and battle monsters to gain enough strength to survive and protect his new friends.

(Please leave a nice rating if you have a minute - thanks!)

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Exciting news! My best author friend, Steph has a new series out:

I binge read it this week and loved it!

Meltdown by Stephanie Mylchreest

On Amazon and Free in KU!

A father far from home. A catastrophic disaster. A journey to save his family - at any cost.

So many excellent SFF eBooks!!

One King One Rule by Jay Toney

FREE eBook Prequel

Climate disaster and a foolish king imperils Nibiru.

So many exciting FREE SFF books!!

Cliff Hock: Right Place, Right Time by M. Rothmus

Free eBook!

You’ll love this quick, fun read.

If you like puzzles that keep you guessing until the end, this Cliff Hock adventure is for you.

So many FREE SFF eBooks!

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My exciting writing news?

I'm finally commissioning not one Audiobook, but two!

I know, I've been wanting to do an audiobook for quite a while, but haven't made the time to learn a whole skillset.

Not that I'm narrating or anything. But I had to learn the terms, how to track down decent narrators, figure out the costs, solicit auditions, etc.

I pretty much had it all fall into my lap in a way that I could no longer take refuge in my normal procrastination - lol.

Remember the new group of authors I've been writing with over Zoom in the mornings? One of them is also a professional narrator.

He answered my questions, guided me through getting auditions and after narrowing it down to two excellent narrators, everyone here liked his voice the best.

We're still working out details, but I'll keep you updated.

I have to say it's pretty awesome to hear my story being read by a professional narrator.

And the second book? Steph and I are planning to hire him to do our co-written Escaping the Virus trilogy, too. Stay tuned for it to come out this fall as a boxset with the full audio. We're both a bit giddy with excitement!

So, here's a question for you: Guess how much it costs to hire a decent narrator to voice my 180k word novel . . .

I'll keep you posted when we have the final calculation, but the current guess is around $6k. Eek!

So thanks to everyone who chipped in on Patreon, bought a book, or read in KU.

You're the best!

— Misty :)

p.s. See all my books on Amazon here: Misty Zaugg Amazon Page

p.p.s. For a web version of this newsletter and previous newsletters: https://sendfox.com/mistyzaugg/campaigns