Hey there, Word Lovers!

Lovely to pop into your inboxes as always. Per usual, I tend to be behind and only show up when I have something to say, like a big announcement. Today's no different. I'm hear to squeal about the countdown to One Must Die! This fun, fast, Steampunk/Murder Mystery of fantastical proportions is releasing in less than two weeks! That's right. On October 31st, the game is afoot! Early orders are already being delivered. You can get your copy way before me, since I have to wait at least until this summer to get mine.

For a chance to win an annotated copy including a signed bookplate from me and notes and signatures from three of the other authors, click here. In case you missed the news, this book was a collab project amongst six authors, all part of the Christian Mommy Writers Network. We had so much fun on zoom calls, each writing chapters from the perspective of our unique characters. I also went a little batty and decided to try my hand at character art. Below you can see how that all turned out...

I returned to the Czech Republic at the end of August, and it's been a bit of a whirlwind getting back to normal life and my daughter's return to Kindergarten. (How is my baby 5 already!) Nevertheless, we've had a chance to get out and about a bit. In September, we were able to attend an event commemorating the 80th anniversary of one of the largest air battles in history. It took place over a Czech mountain range, and there were more than 1000 US bombers involved. A large number of planes from both sides crashed during the battle, and debris from the wreckage has been gathered into a museum, along with bits and pieces contributed by families of the men involved. I took a bazillion pictures, but in case you're like the aforementioned five-year-old and would consider most of the artifacts more like a collection of trash, I'll just share this photo of me with one of the books from the B-17 Voice of the Air project that I edited/co-wrote.

I was able to find at least four or five of the men from our series represented in the museum, including pictures and artifacts sent by them or their families. It was really an incredible opportunity. I'm still hoping to get back some time when it isn't so crowded so I can meet with the curator who personally knew a number of the men from my books.

Since Bohemian Dragon Awakening takes part in the area of Bohemia where I live, I had some fun carting my book around and taking pictures of it on location. I'm planning to start organizing my newsletter a little better, and will include more fun pictures of my dragons and books visiting the sights in the Czech Republic. For those who have read the book, this spring colonnade is where Ravinna and Vatslavem sample the healing waters of Marianske Lazne.

October has been a personal editing season for me, in preparation for writing more in November. I no longer participate in NaNoWriMo for a number of reasons, but my writing group hosts a similar challenge, and I'm planning on writing 50K next month. I spent the first couple of weeks pouring over an in progress story that I hadn't worked on since 2020, only to realize it's not something I think I can market right now. So, I switched gears last week and I'm now trying to get my time transfer story in shape. I'll share more in a future newsletter, but here's my current moodboard/wallpaper for my computer. I can't wait to share more.

That's all for now. I hope you're all doing well, and I'm always happy to hear from you. I'd love to hear your guesses on where/when you think my new book is going to take place.

Thanks for reading and for being fantastic,

Sarah