We have about 10 acres of fenced land that was once a pasture. Now it’s mostly weeds. But weeds in June can be glorious. There are daisies and black eyed Susans. Bladder campion that begs to be popped and something called viper’s bugloss—how’s that for a name!—that stands tall and unabashedly purple.
It’s a myth that dusk drains the world of color. It only drains some colors. The reds, purples and mustard yellows stand out. It’s a bit surreal to walk through a field of these intense wildflowers against the drab gray background. It’s a dreamscape.
I love to walk along the edge of this old pasture. The trees have crept right up to the fence and in the dusky hours, the shadows between the trunks are terrifyingly black. Strangely though, they call to me. There could be coyotes or bears—or at least a million mosquitos—in those shadows. My head tells me to stay away, but my heart understands why Red Riding Hood took the long way to Grandma’s house.
Yesterday, I typed “The End” on the rough draft of Valkyrie Bestiary book 6. Whew. Kyra’s new adventures in the Inbetween (and beyond) owe a lot to my recent immersion in woodland lore. I hope you’ll feel this inspiration when you read it.
But of course, you’d rather I stop rambling about flowers and trees and give you the scoop about book 6. When is it coming? What’s it about? Title?
Well, here’s the thing: in the past, I’ve jumped the gun and put a book that wasn’t ready up for pre-order. Then life happened.
You might not know this, but Amazon takes a very dim view of authors who miss their pre-order deadlines. In order to not lose my pre-orders and pre-ordering privileges for a year, I had to really scramble to make that deadline. And it nearly killed me.
So, here are the tentative details for book 6. It is tentatively titled, Ghouls Don’t Scamper. That title won’t be definite until I get the cover done. My tentative release date will be sometime in October. Pre-orders will go up a few weeks before that. I like to do a pre-order at a reduced price to give, you my loyal readers a bit of a break. All this is tentative! (Have I mentioned that already?). I will know more once the draft is edited.
I can say that in draft form it is the longest Valkyrie Bestiary to date. And also, I have a surprise in the works for the holiday season. Nope, you won’t get more out of me than that. You’ll have to check back here for more details soon. Or better yet, sign up for the readers' group so you'll be the first to know about new releases and super secret special projects.
Your Voice Matters (a lot!)
I truly appreciate the support from this readers’ group. You have made the Valkyrie Bestiary a success with your online comments on my pages and recommendations and reviews on other sites. Your word of mouth mentions are a hundred times more valuable than any paid advertising I can do. So please, if you enjoyed the Valkyrie Bestiary series, recommend it to your friends and family.And until June 30th, Book 1, Dragons Don’t Eat Meat ebook is on sale for $1.99 (US & Canada only. Sorry, Amazon’s rules, not mine). You can find it HERE.