Hey, amazing humans!

I'm not sure what I've accomplished this week, but it's sure gone by in a rush. When I search my mind for what I'm most excited about, all I can think of is: leveled dirt.

Confused? Allow me to enlighten--and probably bore--you. ;)

Over the past year, I haven't had access to an arena (for the uninitiated, a level, usually-dirt-surfaced area for riding horses) because our place wasn't built for horses, and we've been slowly adding the facilities, starting with pasture fencing and a barn. I've still ridden some, but 1) our property is essentially one rocky hillside, which doesn't really lend itself to the kind of riding I enjoy; and 2) the roads around are house aren't really suited for riding horses, having ungroomed ditches, a lot of old, frightening barbed-wire fences along the adjacent properties, and at least one neighbor who drives like a bat out of hell.

But finally, FINALLY, the arena construction is underway. I've spent a lot of time walking around the half-leveled site after the crew leaves, imagining what it will look like covered in freshly raked sand. While I pace, my gelding and mare watch me with wariness and enthusiasm, respectively, as though they too know the arena's purpose--which is to put them back to work after their year-long hiatus.

(As I've mentioned before, my gelding sees himself as my long-suffering beast of burden and my mare sees herself as my lucky sidekick.)

What I'm writing

I've taken a little bit of a writing break this week, as things picked up quite a bit with my day job. That's the way of things, I suppose. I've tried to think carefully about my plans for the rest of Undertow, as well as the short story I'm working on for an early summer anthology of new authors of m/m romance. Hopefully I'll find time to make some good progress over the weekend.

What I'm reading

I mentioned last week that I was eager to read The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting by KJ Charles--and I did read it this week and I was not disappointed. I then read Band Sinister, which has somehow lingered on my TBR (to-be-read) list for far longer than it should have, and it was a delight also.

Another great read was the new installment in Daniel May's Taste of Ink series, A Guilty Canvas. These short reads are kind of like episodes in one story, and I highly recommend them if you like kink, darker themes, and brilliant writing. Books one and two are currently on sale for ninety-nine cents.

You can find my review of books one through three on BookBub. (Do you follow me on BookBub?)

Store links for A Taste of Ink (book one)

Store links for A Guilty Canvas (book three)

Chapter Seventeen of Undertow

Chapter seventeen was the longest one yet! All the completed chapters are available on this not very well-hidden page of my website.

I'm tentatively seeking a cover artist for the book's eventual publication. Do you have any suggestions?