Why do authors have caves? Why can't I have a lair? A lair seems like it would be far more conducive to productivity; no wonder it's taking so long to get this book finished...whatwith being stuck in a cave and all...

But seriously: while I have not been stuck in a literal cave for the last two weeks, I have been stuck in the hobo house much more than usual while it rained for days on end.

Turns out, I'm not quite as far from escaping the effects of Tropical Storm Hilary as the weather people had initially assured me.

The upside was that the rain did not come with the lightning that the usual summer monsoons out here bring. The downside -- other than being stuck in 76 1/2 square feet of space for four days-- was that I got to experience exactly how far 2,000 watts of battery power can be stretched, as the solar panels weren't doing much good.

I-- and everything in the freezer-- survived and emerged to sunlight late yesterday afternoon feeling only slightly manic from the cabin fever.

I have no convincing excuses for why the next Moonshine Ridge book is not done. Give me a minute, I'm sure I can come up with something.

I also spaced last week's newsletter. Because time management is not one of my super powers. Oops.

But I have been spending some quality time with the Diaz family of Moonshine Ridge and the oldest of the five siblings, Vale, in particular.

I can tell you that Vale is an ex-Marine, but he doesn't like to talk about it much. He's a massive, dark and brooding mountain man who is 120% over the top obsessed with the new bartender down at Cedar McAllister's tavern. (Remember Cedar? He got his HEA with Chamomile back in Surrender to the Mountain Man.)

Sparrow is the young, curvy beauty who came up to the ridge at the suggestion of her childhood friend (Cami) in hopes of shaking a particularly nasty someone who's also obsessed with her -- and not in a sexy, fun way.

There are grumpy sparks flying all over their age gap, fake engagement, protector hero path to happily ever after and I'm having so much fun with them that I kinda spaced out on the part of this process where I check in every week to let you guys know what the characters are up to! Oops again.

I'm going to do my best to make it up to you with a cover reveal:

FYI: The covers for the Diaz family make me swoon. Now that I have all five of them finalized and in my grubby hands, I spend entirely too much time staring at them. Possibly the reason I spaced on the newsletter last week.

Expect to officially meet Vale and Sparrow in about two more weeks.

Meanwhile, back in the lair...

OK. The hobo house is not much of a lair-- it's more of a Bohemian she shed on wheels-- but it's where I cook up all my best plots to take over the world, so it totally counts, right?

Aside from weathering tropical storms and adding a portable gas generator to my growing list of things to ask Santa for this year, I also had a total bust on my meteor shower photography attempts.

The skies out here were just too cloudy. I did have one night with perfectly clear skies and I did sit outside for a couple of hours betwen midnight and 2 a.m.

I did take dozens of photos but I did not get a single shooting star on a frame!

I don't think I've ever done a night shoot and not gotten any falling stars! Let alone at the peak of the Perseids meteor shower!

So I guess it's a good thing I'm not a professional astrophotography photographer.

This weekend, I am heading back to the occasional homebase of South Lake Tahoe. I get to spend some time drinking wine with the BFF, fighting bears, and getting caught up with all the pesky maintenance that vehicles need-- especially when they spend their lives towing in reeeeaaaallly dusty environments. (The vehicle, not the bears.)

Bear in the Tahoe yard. BFF reports that he fell out of a tree the other day and is now walking with a limp.

I think that about covers 2 weeks worth of email from me, so I'm going to get back to the cave/lair/shed.

~Rocklyn

All caught up on Moonshine Ridge?

Have you read the Modern Match-Maker series yet?

No?!

You totally should!

Start at the Beginning