What NOT to Say to Your Readers

During an interview in The Hollywood Reporter, George R. R. Martin was asked about finishing The Winds of Winter, the next book in his A Song of Ice and Fire series. Unfortunately, a quoted snippet has been taken woefully out of context by many other media outlets.

"...I'm not in the mood for that."

And ran with it they did. Esquire laments about Martin messing with his fans by not finishing the series.

I find myself a little irritated with George. As a reader, it's been fourteen years since A Dance with Dragons came out. I hate it when an author doesn't finish a series. So yes, I totally get that anger and disappointment from the fans.

On the other hand, I understand as a writer sometimes life gets in the way. It certainly did over the last six years of my life. The COVID-19 pandemic, the deaths of parents, breast cancer still being treated, the Genius Kid getting deployed and Grandpuppy moving in with us, assisting a cousin with estate planning, and the list goes on.

Not once did I not feel like writing! Even during the two-plus-year gap between A Hint of Thief and A Cup of Conflict, I was writing. Just not very fast. Frankly, I was doing good some days to get a sentence or two written before I dropped in my bed, totally exhausted. And yes, there were some days I worked on a light and fluffy story because my days were depressing enough that I couldn't work on anything deep and juicy without crying.

As a I told a reader who asked when "Coming Soon" will be for A Barrel of Vintner, I told her I always mean it when I'm working on a book, but I don't know what or when the Great God Murphy will drop another life roll on my head.

For example, GK is getting promoted to sergeant soon, and DH and I want to attend, but it's a day-long drive one-way to another state. A close relative contacted me about staying with her for a major surgery that's coming up. And I promised my cousin I'd drive her around to visit assisted living places later this summer.

That's while editing the one book that's completed and writing nine other novels before December 31st.

So I'm pleading to you Murphy, GIVE ME ONE DAMN BREAK!

As for A Song of Ice and Fire, fourteen years is an awfully long time to wait for the next book. And part of the problem I believe is George is overthinking his story. It doesn't help that the show-runners for Game of Thrones didn't stick the landing of the finale in the fans' view. So, George is probably putting so much pressure on himself to stick that landing that he ran head-first into the balance beam of his own ego.

So I do get why he's working on other projects. There's not so much pressure internally and from the fans to perform. But, George, if you're listening, maybe you need to just let the project go. Sure, you'll get some blowback, but honesty to your readers is much better than saying, "I'm not in the mood for that."

A Sad Time

Per an e-mail I received from the trustee, the Marion Zimmer Bradley Literary Works Trust is officially shutting down on December 31, 2025. By shutting down, I mean the trustee is pulling every single copy, both electronic and paper from all retailers.

The Trust lasted for twenty-six years, but the folks working for the Trust have reached their own twilight years. I don't blame them one bit for wanting to spend their last years working on their own projects.

What does this means in regards to me? My first trad publishing contract was with the Trust for a short story called "Justice" in Sword and Sorceress 28. I sold three more stories to editor Elisabeth Waters that appeared in Volumes 30, 31, and 32. I'm proud of those stories. Back in 2013, I wasn't prepared for the popularity of the main characters of "Justice". Life's funny though, and I just released the tenth novel in the Justice series, A Cup of Conflict.

If you'd like paperback copies of Sword and Sorceress Volumes 27 through 34, or e-books of the currently available volumes, please get your copies before 2026 rolls around.

Release Day!

[Edit to Add: The Google Play link is now live!]

Finally! A Cup of Conflict is live on every ebook retailer except Google Play! (It shouldn't take too much longer if you prefer that store.) It took nearly two years to write this tome, but I guess it needed to cook a little longer in the back of my mind.

And no, I haven't forgotten those of you who prefer print. The trade paperback should be available in two-three weeks.

But it's done, it's here, and I hope you enjoy it as much as my alpha reader!

BLURB
Chief Justice Anthea chose her party carefully when Queen Teodora charged her with escorting Crown Prince Quan Po home. However, more betrayals await her in the ancient capital of Jing as she dances between diplomatic niceties and saving the human race from extinction.

But her most dangerous opponent plots from within the city to destroy the last scion of the imperial family. An enemy who blames both her and the prince for everything he’s lost. Someone who would feed the entire World to the demons in order to win.

Magic and mayhem have never been devious. Or this shocking.

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How Embarrassing!

Since I left corporate world, I've been able to make my own schedule. If one of the dogs needs a trip to the vet's, I don't have bosses or clients getting bitchy about me taking an hour or two to make sure the pup is treated for whatever needs to be dealt with.

On the other hand, I don't really pay enough attention to the calendar since I'm not counting days until a break in my schedule.

This is my long-winded way of saying, I forget yesterday was Labor Day until DH said something about sleeping in.

WHOOPS!

It also meant my support contractors had plans for the holiday.

DOUBLE WHOOPS!

So, I needed to  to move the release date for the ebook back three days to September 8th.

*FACEPALM*

The paperback may be a couple of days later. I want to make sure my cover artist has fully covered from another round of COVID-19 before I harass her.

And yes, folks. No matter what the government is trying to pretend, COVID-19 is still an issue. Infection rates from two new variants, Stratus and Nimbus, are climbing.

Stay safe out there! And next Monday, you can curl up with a hot beverage, a furry pet on your lap, and plow through A Cup of Conflict.

When Things Go Weird and an Update

It's the last week of August, and it's normally hotter than heck.

Instead, it's been cool and rather rainy. I'd hoped to use the dog days of summer to dry out the last of the flooded paperwork so I could shred it. But alas, Mother Nature had other ideas.

Not that I'm complaining! We really needed a good soaking rain if the cracks in our yard's soil were any indication.

This morning was so chilly I broke down and made a cup of coffee for my morning caffeine fix instead of my usual summer ice tea or Pepsi Zero. But this cool respite won't last. It's supposed to be back up in the 80's next week.

In the meantime, I finished putting together all my files necessary for A Cup of Conflict Monday and sent them to my formatter. Tuesday and Wednesday, Google was acting a little wonky so I didn't trust it to post any updates. I focused on getting back into writing Death Goddess Fighting. Today's the first time I've been able to post to the blog without it doing weird stuff. However, I'll get back DGF this afternoon after some other administrative minutiae are dealt with. The writing is going smoothly for now, but then, this series has been simmering in my head for over fifteen years.

In the evenings, I've been putting together the pieces for the Kickstarter for The Books of Apep series. I think this will be a fun and entertaining campaign. At least, I'm having fun doing it! Plus, you'll get the series for a little bit of a discount.

But if you prefer to buy the new series via your favorite retailer, The Books of Apep will be released through to the general public starting in January.

Editing Through Annoyance Trials

It never fails. As soon as I put in my earbuds to edit, someone in the house needs something. *sigh*

Despite the DH and the puppies' neediness plus having GK home, I managed to make some progress on A Cup of Conflict edits. Just not as much as I would have liked because it's a fucking huge novel. Not to mention wrapping up a ton of loose threads along the way.

In the meantime, the son's visit was a rather pleasant affair. No bitching about Mom's cooking this time. (I think having to eat MREs during the twelve-day prick-waving contest between Israel and Iran had something to do about the lack of complaints.) No dude-bro attitude. I managed not to ask him what he needed because that's maternal interference in his male autonomy according to him.

In particular, I didn't say a damn thing about getting him a AAA card, making sure his debit card was reactivated by the current bank, or getting him some cash for just in case on his drive to the next base.

Anyway, GK left for his new duty station in the early morning hours. This is the first time he's less than a two days' drive from us, so he's already said he'll be home of Thanksgiving and Christmas.

At eight a.m., DH got a call from GK just before DH jumped into the shower. (I was awakened by Darling Husband's voice. He does not know how fucking loud he is when he's on the phone.) From his tone, I knew he was talking to GK and something bad had happened. My first thought was "Shit! He's been in an accident!"

Well, he sort of was. He hit a pothole an hour outside of Knoxville, Tennessee and got a flat tire. He managed to make it to the Pilot at the next exit. He didn't have a AAA card with him. No cash. And the computers at the Pilot refused to recognize his VISA card. That's when he panicked and called DH.

There's not a whole lot we could do since we're 300 miles away.

Somehow, GK limped his car to a tire retail place. Except when they got it on the lift, it wasn't the tire. The rim had bent when he hit the pothole. The very sweet guys at the tire center managed to find a rim for the wide-body version of GK's car, and managed to make it work. The kid's on his way to his fort, and all's semi-well with the universe.

But I was wound for sound because it annoys me that our relationship is still at the stage where I know nothing because I'm a parent and a woman. And DH was expecting me to wave a magic wand and miraculously fix everything.

Which, even if I could, I'm not coherent after four hours of sleep. *sigh*

So after another five hours of sleep, I fled to Starbucks to get some words in of Death Goddess Fighting because the Subconscious is good at relaxing me when she can go play.

It helped. It helped a lot. So, now I can spend the rest of the week editing. 

Hump Day Already?

This week is going too fast. There's a list of things to do that I've been chipping away at as well as splitting my time between editing A Cup of Conflict and writing Death Goddess Fighting.

 The dogs have been bathed. The Princess Pup is easy, but the Grandpuppy needs an extra pair of hands since I can no longer lift fifty-five pounds, much less in the form of a wriggling black mixed breed who detests baths with a passion.

All bedding has been changed and washed since the puppies are clean. I started cleaning bathrooms, but only got as far as the toilets yesterday.

I'm down to the last box of paperwork that drowned in the basement flood in May. The rest have been dried, shredded, and disposed of.

I still need to repack GK's kitchenware in the plastic tub I bought. Thankfully, he doesn't need that stuff right away since he'll be in the barracks at his next duty station.

Ironically, I've been cooking a lot. GK is tired of DEFAC food and MREs. However, he doesn't seem to understand that I am not a DEFAC, nor do I open at five p.m. But having a healthy, physically active, twenty-something male means cooking greater amounts than usual and no leftovers.

And he'll have to wait for cheeseburgers until after DH and I get home from yoga class tonight. LOL

I hope y'all are enjoying the last vestiges of summer!

Just a Quick Note

Two major things are happening today.

First, Genius Kid (aka GK) will be home in approximately twenty minutes from the second I wrote the title of this post. He's been deployed overseas for the last year, and his parents and his dog (aka The Grandpuppy) miss him terribly.

Second, I will be writing the final chapter of A Cup of Conflict later this evening. GK will go to bed early due to the seven-hour time difference, and DH has soccer tonight (he runs the time clock for the high school teams and their season started last night). The book is currently at 115+K words. With one more chapter to write and editing, it will come out at 120K.

I knew it was going to be a long book, but DAMN! There were a ton of loose threads I needed to wind up in this trilogy. In case any readers haven't noticed, the Justice series is four trilogies with a stand alone story in the middle.

I'll let A Cup of Conflict rest over the weekend and get some words in on A Barrel of Vintner while I'm still in Anthea's head.

So what does this all mean? Since GK is home, and my contractors have last minute summer plans, I'll need a couple of weeks for edits and formatting. I'll set up the pre-orders on the retail sites later tonight or tomorrow.

The official release date will be August 29, 2025!

I'm so happy this book is essentially done! But to certain readers (you know who you are!), please don't ask me when the next Justice book will be out. I'm still recovering from this one.

Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale!

To celebrate ALMOST completing A Cup of Conflict, the tenth novel in the Justice series, the previous nine novels are half-price at the Smashwords Summer/Winter sale. Just remember to apply the code (on the book page) at checkout!

If you like epic fantasy, kickass heroines, and a lot of action and adventure, and you haven't checked these books out, go see what you're missing. SALE ENDS JULY 31st! 

In the meantime, I'll be editing and setting up pre-orders for the latest book!

A QUESTION OF BALANCE

A MODICUM  OF TRUTH

A MATTER OF DEATH

A TOUCH OF MOTHER

A TWIST OF LOVE

A VIRTUE OF CHILD

A HAND OF FATHER

A  MEASURE OF KNOWLEDGE

A HINT OF THIEF

 

Date Night

DH and I are trying to do date nights on Fridays again. Life got the better of us for the first six months of the year. We weren't really talking. Not that we had a fight or were holding a grudge or anything like that. He's been learning a new computer language. I've been battling words to finished A Cup of Conflict (over 300 pages as of yesterday). So we've making an effort to make time for each other.

I think that's where a lot of marriages fail. Some people don't want to put the effort into their relationship. or worse, they get caught up in their internal fairy tale ending. But a spouse is real person with real needs that are separate from yours.

Let me give you an example. DH grew up in a traditional middle-class family. Dad had an office job. Mom kept the house. DH was one of five kids. There was always something going on: school plays, music lessons, sports practice, etc. It was a loud, active household. At the beginning of our relationship, he'd turn on the TV for background noise as soon as he got home from work.

On the other hand, I am an extreme introvert. I grew up on a farm, so silence was the norm. Our nearest neighbors with kids our age was a mile away. I was perfectly fine traipsing through the fields by myself. We could only get one TV station, so I read a lot. I was uncomfortable in large groups of people.

With DH's need for noise and my need for silence, we literally drove each other crazy at first. But eventually, we found some compromises that don't make us want to kill the other person.

The compromise thing is hard, but it is worth it. I wish more people realized that fact.

Writing in the Rain

Random thunderstorms have been pummeling our little section of Ohio since dawn. The darkness and tippy-taps on the roof would have kept me asleep all afternoon if I hadn't set my alarm.

A Cup of Conflict is racing on its downhill slide to "The End". This is good because I want it done, edited, and formatted before Genius Kid comes home in August. Yes, all the government and military paperwork has been signed off, and he has his plane tickets. He gets a few days with us before he has to report to his next base, which is thankfully within a day's drive if we want to visit him.

Unfortunately, it looks like he'll be in the barracks, so he can't take the Grandpuppy with him. Grandpuppy will be so excited to see GK, and then he'll be terribly sad when GK leaves.

So the rest of August will be spent giving both dogs extra cuddles at another change in the household. I just hope they sleep while on the couch with me so I can get writing and edits on the Books of Apep done.

It's a Monday After All

This afternoon, I went to Starbucks after the Grandpuppy's annual doctor's appointment. (He's doing great other than putting on two and half pounds by being a spoiled rotten grandpuppy.) I get my lunch and tea from the counter and set up at a free table, all enthused because I broke 75K on A Cup of Conflict last night.

And I forgot my flash drive.

Of course, I heard Doctor Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) as I searched for a recent copy of a different WIP on my travel laptop.

Not Another Flood!

Darling Husband (AKA DH) woke up before dawn yesterday because he had to go to the bathroom. (The joys of being middle-aged, right?) He heard the sump pump alarm going off and went to the basement.

Despite all three sump pumps chugging away, one well was full, and the second one was filling rapidly. He ran upstairs and woke me. That was at 5:44 AM.

I threw on a t-shirt, sweats, and my slip-on Skechers. By the time I got down to the basement, the full wells were spilling across the basement floor. We started taking stuff upstairs, but we couldn't outrun the water.

DH was running back and forth in his bare feet. I ordered him to stay out of the water because Goddess only knew what was floating round  in that crap. He stayed above the middle of the stairs and I handed stuff to him.

By 6:04 AM, I gave up. The water was at my ankles. My shoes were full. My feet were itching terribly from whatever was in the flood water. I took off my shoes, left them on the top step, and went to wash the gunk off my feet.

Poor DH had a bunch of his deceased parents' memorabilia and his old toys he wanted to keep in the basement. Stuff that we didn't have room for anywhere else in the house. Plus, all of Genius Kid's (AKA GK) furniture and home stuff were stored down there while he's stationed overseas.

Luckily, it was a weekday, so we had companies there almost as soon as they opened. A HUGE shout-out to the peeps from  EverDry Waterproofing, Bowers Heating and Cooling, and Service Master for responding as fast as they did. We're still waiting for the insurance adjuster from State Farm to come by, which will probably be Monday or Tuesday.

Thankfully, the water didn't go past the second from bottom step this time. But a 1400 sq, ft, open space filled at the rate of one inch every three minutes before the sump pumps could catch up. That's a hell of a lot of water to remove.

Despite all the precautions and upgrades we did after the 2021 basement flood, the pond in the subdivision behind us overflowed. Again. Yes, we're looking into our legal remedies. That's all I can say at this point.

This was not how I wanted my week to end. I was on a good frickin' role with A Cup of Conflict before all the shit happened. Losing two days dealing with the mess was not on my to-do list for this week.

But that's life, right?

It didn't help to learn a good friend's mother is in hospice. It's a matter of days. Which mean another funeral soon. This one I won't resent because this friend has always been there for me.

And life goes on...

Life Transplanting

Both stories from The Enchanted Bakery series have been loaded and are ready to drop tomorrow. I just need to update the series pages with the retail links.

I also need to edit Death Goddess Walking and finish writing A Cup of Conflict. I'm at roughly the halfway point of ACoC. It'll be a downhill crazy rush to the finish as nobles and citizens collect in Chengzhou for Emperor Bao Quan Po's coronation with various opponents looking to assassinate whoever they can to destabilize Jing.

Except I need to fit in some work on the flower beds. This time, it's not just weeds.

The crazy squirrels and chipmunks have decided they don't like the current floral arrangements, and they've taken it upon themselves to change things.

A hyancinth bulb was moved the the succulents bed. Roses have been transplanted to all four sides of the house. (Which actually make sense, since they like sunshine, and the north side wasn't a good place to begin with.)

Strawberries were eaten from their planter, and their seeds scattered along the eastern beds for additional early summer treats. Dandelions were planted in the box on the northeast side of my office, replacing the inedible pink flowers that grew there.

So far, the rodentia haven't touched the daffodils and tulips, probably because the bulbs are too big for them to dig up and move. Instead, the critters are planting oaks in those beds, which will eventually wipe out my flowers if I don't dig up the saplings.

While I can appreciate the squirrels and chipmunks needs and wants, they don't mesh with the previous owners, or my, artistic visions.

So, the battle for the beds and boxes has begin!

Another Monday

The weekend was spent editing and making bookmarks while DH watched Vin Diesel movies which bled into the XXX series. There was a brief interlude where we went to see The Amateur. (The review for this flick will be Wednesday's post because I'm still thinking about it. Rami Malek is an excellent actor, and I'm reflecting on his performance.)

Anyway, I'm back to writing. It's sad that I have to go to Starbucks and turn off my phone to get any peace and quiet. Do you want to hear something funny? I'm finally not getting hit on by men. It took until the year I turn the big 6-0, but it's a relief.

Of course, it helps that most of the people also going to the neighborhood Starbucks are also women. Plus, the few men I've seen are either with females or keep to themselves. It's one of the few good things in this world today.

Anyway, I'm trying to wrap up an Enchanted Bakery story if you're reading this before 3PM. *fingers crossed* If I do, I start back on A Cup of Conflict later tonight. It's Anthea so I know where the tale is headed. It's a matter of writing it all down.

It's not all work. I've been rewatching Supernatural while I work on the beaded bookmarks. I need to rewake my urban fantasy chops in order to finish The Books of Apep series this summer. The next thing will be to set up the Kickstarter.

I'm getting things accomplished, just slower than I would like.

I Need A Time Machine

The reason there was no post yesterday was because the day got away me. After yoga and a few necessary phone calls, I settled down to work on the current wip, i.e. A Cup of Conflict. Last week, I had to re-read the nineteen chapters written so far in order to remember where I was going with the plot. I smoothed out a lot of transitions between scenes, added some details to paint the picture in readers' heads, and clarified some conversations.

But yesterday. . .

The Muse cut loose on the next steps in the puzzle Anthea must solve to protect Jing's soon-to-be-crowned emperor. Next thing I knew, the sun had set. And my back and fingers ached.

No matter how much effort I put into my posture and the typing positions for my hands, Subconscious literally wants to climb into the laptop screen and live the adventure.

So I went in my art room and worked on a Tarot card bags while I watched Ghosts, the US version of the series. It's one of the rare cases where I like the American version better than the UK version of a series. It may have something to do with the heroine who sees and speaks with the ghost is a blond reporter named Samantha. LOL

I missed the last few episodes of the second season because of my father-in-law's death. And about the time the third season debuted, my mom passed. Then, I became consumed with re-releasing the first three books of the Millersburg Magick Mysteries. Now that the fourth season began two weeks ago, I went back and started over from the pilot. I finished last night's bag as the second season cliffhanger ended. (I am so glad they finally solved Alberta's murder!)

It was seven p.m. when I finished that little project. Time for dinner and a little TV with DH before I went back to work on the novel. Took a break for the last quarter of the Steelers game and Stephen Colbert after which DH and the Grandppuppy went to bed. I wanted to finish a scene and...

Next thing I knew, it was two-thirty in the morning. I love it when a story takes over my brain!

Planes and Thunderstorms Do Not Mix

I was supposed to be driving to the Detroit International Airport this evening, As I was climbing into the car, I got a text from the airline that said my flight was extremely delayed. So delayed in fact, that I would miss my connecting flight in St. Louis, the last last flight of the day to San Antonio.

A massive series of thunderstorms have been moving through the Midwest today, so I wasn't very surprised. After the heat dome and no rain for the last two weeks, we badly needed the precipitation in our neck of the woods.

While checking into the first text, I was also rather happy I got a second text from Southwest, letting me know my flight was already rescheduled for tomorrow morning. I can't fault their customer service, especially when Mother Nature is far beyond their control.

I'm a little disappointed in that I'll need to sleep most of Thursday since I'll be up for 24 hours straight. I'd been looking forward to a day of solid writing while Genius Kid finishes up errands before he can officially go on leave, but like he said, if we need to stay an extra day, it's not going to hurt either of us. However, I've been on a roll writing A Cup of Conflict, and I hope losing two days doesn't break my mental streak. Alas, life likes to roll over us as we try to plan.

In the meantime, I hope you have a fantastic weekend!