Finished!

I have just finished typing out the end of Redemption Book 6, beating my own prediction by 2 days!  Woohoo!

I am now in the clear to start my project for Camp NaNoWriMo July.  :)

Al

A stone's throw

I am only 5,000 words away from finishing my initial draft of Redemption Book 6.  I am debating now if my Camp NaNoWriMo July project will be book 7, or a new series of novellas I have been cooking up.

I got some bad news on the home front this week, in a wide range of areas, and affecting a lot of people.  It always seems to come in threes, and I won't go into it here.  But it has me hurting, and I think that has drawn out finishing my current project.

In brighter news, I went out and picked the first harvest of snow peas from my garden today.  I have an abundance of lettuce out there, and I picked up some tomatoes at the farmer's market today, so we're probably having a salad for dinner.  My little baby is a little boy now, and he's finally able to enjoy the outdoors as much as I do.  He played in the sprinklers for the first time yesterday and laughed the whole time.  :)

Happy reading,
Al

Late night, tooling around with covers

It's after bedtime, and the mood struck to do some casual cover design.  I've already been messing with new covers for Redemption for a while now (mostly just new lettering, though I think I could do better for the image on Book 1...), but here's what I was playing with as newer draft covers for Book 5 and Book 6.

The color palette for Book 5 is the same, but it has more mood and depth than my last draft.  I did a total palette change for Book 6, and I'm still trying to decide if I like it, or if it could use more adjustment.  I'm writing a lot of beach-y scenes right now, so it may just be my mood of the moment craving a beach on the cover.

Enjoy!
Al

Snakes under my porch

Usually I have rabbits living under there, but this year, the rabbits decided to make their burrows in the side yards.  The porch was abandoned property, so now I have a nest of garter snakes under there.

Every day around 8 a.m. they exit from under the porch en masse, and at last count, there were seven of them ranging in size from 12" to almost 30".  One of them is vary large, and I'm pretty sure it's a pregnant female--I saw her out by the fence today.

Sorry if that gives anyone the creeps.  I think they're neat.  :)

As a gardener, I'm actually very happy to have this variety of snakes in my yard, and given the size of my yard, I think the count is about right for the area they need to cover.  Garter snakes are great pest predators, and they keep the slugs off of my hostas and the mice out of my veggie patch.  They're skittish and run from confrontation, and they tend to move along whenever I get too close.  

A huge plus is that they're big enough to handle mice, but small enough that they don't bother the rabbits.  This morning a small baby rabbit sat by and ate grass two feet away while the snakes exited the den, and neither the snakes nor the bunny were bothered.  Now, the rabbits are a constant problem for my garden, because they eat my ice plant, hostas, blanket flower, tulips, lilies, crocus, and pretty much everything else.  They decimated my attempt at a strawberry patch.  I think the yarrow and the marigolds are the only thing they won't touch.  

It's good for them they're cute.  I enjoy watching them just enough that I'm willing to put up with the hassle and heartbreak of eaten plants.

Shattered Minotaur (Book 6 of the Redemption series) is still coming along, and I'm about 2/3rds done writing it.  If I finish it before the end of June, the plan is to bump up the release of Book 5, which is currently scheduled for release on July 26th.

Happy Reading (& Gardening).

Al

Thanks, stranger!

I love books, whatever form they happen to take.  I have read paperbacks and hardbacks, ebooks and online books, audio books, illustrated novels, and I would probably try any other format a book can come in.  I say this because I haven't been the best in the past about keeping print editions of my books available.  However, this month especially, I'm realizing that other prefer print to digital (or any other format).  Because someone out there has purchased copies of my print editions books.

The fact that I noticed should tell you exactly how many I sell.  A special thanks to the print lover out there--you are a rare and much appreciated gem, stranger.  :)

And because I noticed, I realized that even though I am currently writing book 6 in the Redemption series, I only have book 1 available in print.

So to anyone out there waiting for it, formatting the rest of Redemption for print editions has just been bumped up my priority list.  Stay tuned for further announcements on that front.

Happy Reading,
Al

Storyteller Alley & draft cover art

First, a big thanks to Storyteller Alley for accepting my book for a feature on their site, and for making Waldgrave a part of their daily giveaway!  If you're a person who signs up for book blogs or sites that offer free books (I'm a member of several), you may want to check them out.  Their email list is an automatic signup to win free books that they feature.

It's still raining at my house, but I'm hoping to take my kiddo and get out of the house tomorrow, and maybe head in to Denver.  I don't know--the laundry also beckons, and I have a few other indoor chores if the cabin fever doesn't take hold.  At least the garden is shaping up nicely this year.

Also, here is some new cover art I am working on for book 6 of the Redemption series (in no way final--I may still make changes).  I'm playing with the idea of moving up the release dates, but haven't made a final determination.  It all depends how fast I can finish the draft for Shattered Minotaur.

Happy reading,
Al

Cold and Wet

The covers for Waldgrave have been updated...everywhere but on this blog, seemingly, so I'm going to get on that today.  I am officially 1/3 the way through writing the 6th book in the Redemption series, and it won't stop raining outside.  I usually like to get out and take my kiddo to the zoo, or the gardens, or anywhere, but it's been too cold and wet lately.  To cold and wet to go out and pull weeds, in fact, so a nasty situation awaits me in the back when the mud finally lets up--all the rain has those things thriving.

 


I think I've lost an apple tree to fire blight because the symptoms were atypical and I didn't know what to do.  I'll be sterilizing all of my gardening equipment to be sure, and then picking out a new tree for the back yard.  I'm actually grieving it a little, because those apples were delicious, and the tree was here when we bought the house so I don't actually know what kind it was.

Al