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Kim McDougall

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It's been a bitter-sweet month so far. Winter settled on us early. I've already had the snowshoes out. And while I enjoy the forest in winter, I can't help feeling this is going to be a long one.   And then we had a Booker emergency. If you've been following this newsletter for a while, you'll re...

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I have a surprise for you.  Okay, deep breath. For the past year, in between writing Valkyrie Bestiary books, I've been building a new world for a new series. That's right. I have a whole new series in the works. My first one in over 5 years. Yikes! It's very scary stuff for me. More details be...

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With every new release, this readers' group gets a big influx of new members. In fact, there have been over 300 new subscribers since Unicorns Don't Cry launched last month. So I thought this would be a good time to do a little recap for new readers, those who might have missed some newsletters a...

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Unicorns Don't Cry, (Valkyrie Bestiary Book 8) brought a whole new menagerie of critters for Kyra. There's the conies, feisty little rabbits; Ludger the Puckwudgie, who is more than he seems; Chug, the abused unicorn who wants to feel pretty again; and the little whatsis sunflower. Which one ...

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First reviews are in!

Unicorns Don't Cry released last week and the first reviews are very positive! This one made me chuckle:     Who knew that getting your soul crushed could be so much fun? And I love this one too.    It was a hard book. Hard to write too. I wanted the depth of Kyra’s emotion to come across on t...

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That's right, Valkyrie Bestiary Book 8 is finally here! If you pre-ordered an eBook, it should be in your Kindle library. If you've been waiting to grab it with Kindle Unlimited, you can do that now! Paperbacks and hardcovers are also available. I know you're eager to get right into reading, ...

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Meet the new critters

The results are in from last newsletter's poll. The overwhelming majority want to see more farmyard tales, despite the liquids that were spewed after reading about Booker's teeth and sheath day. If you missed that story, you can still catch it on last week's Blog.    There's a lot of news thi...

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Teeth & Sheath Day

Here’s an amusing horsey story for you. It’s not for the faint of heart, so read on with caution. Seriously, if you don’t want to know about the grittier parts of animals husbandry, this post is not for you.   Still with me? Ok. Here goes. A couple of years ago, we bought a hobby farm and mov...

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A scene 8 books in the making

Whew It's done. Today I sent Unicorns Don't Cry off to my wonderful editor, Elaine Jackson for a final proofread. This one took a lot out of me but in a good ways and sad ways. The final scene in this book is one that I envisioned way back in 2018 when I first started sketching out a story arc...

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For the next few months I'll be organizing a just-for-fun tournament between Valkyrie Bestiary creatures and characters. Who is the toughest of the lot? You get to decide.    I have 16 first round contenders lined-up. Winners from those bouts will go onto round to. Eventually, we'll pick one winn...

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I took a bit of a break from newsletters and social media in July to finish the manuscript for Valkyrie Bestiary Book 8. And, of course, July flew by but not without some important updates. The cover is finally here!   Unicorns Don't Cry ebook is now available for pre-order. Be sure to snap it...

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My experiment of working in my little forest office has been a success! If you missed the newsletter where I talk about that, you can see it HERE. The calm and distraction-free forest has let me nearly double my daily word count, and I should have a rough draft of Valkyrie Bestiary Book 8 complet...

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Never stop learning

Since a lot of my stories come from my own experiences, I like to top up my well once in a while by learning new things. Experiences are fiction fodder or brain food, and they just make life interesting. In the past 2 weeks, I took a foraging class, visited a composting facility, and spent the da...

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Today, I have some fun and some not-so-fun pictures to share.   As I write this, an area of forest the size of Belgium is burning only a few hours north of me. Please don’t worry about me. We are all safe. There have been a few local fires, but they were put out quickly. Our only suffering is in ...

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It's been almost 2 weeks since the release of Devil's Don't Lie. I want to thank everyone who purchased it or downloaded it. And thank you for the reviews! There were 162 reviews by last count. That's fabulous! And they are all favorable. I'm so glad that readers are enjoying this book. It was em...

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  Today is the day! If you pre-ordered Devils Don't Lie, it should be in your Kindle library now. Isn't that fun, waking up to a new book?    Also now available is the free eBook, Tales from the Inbetween. This book contains 6 outtakes from the Valkyrie Bestiary world, plus one original short s...

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  There's so much going on this month! I'm just going to get right to it. May 13: I will be at the street fair in Shawville, Quebec from 10am to 2pm May 16: Launch day for Devil's Don't Lie. Paperbacks are already available at Amazon. Other stores will follow soon. Pre-orders at a reduced p...

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Launch day is coming soon for Devils Don't Lie! It drops on May 16th. That's a Tuesday and not my usual newsletter day, but I'll be sending a special note that day because I have a gift for all members of the Reader's Group to celebrate!  Tales from the Inbetween contains 6 deleted scenes and...

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Spring is finally here! Woohoo! I don't think I've ever been happier to see grass. It was a long haul winter this year. Last week we had a terrible ice storm. That's right, the second week of April it was raining slush from the sky. By the afternoon on Wednesday, everything--sheds, deck, trees, p...

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It's done. I just finished the final edits on Valkyrie Bestiary Book 7 – Devils Don't Lie.  Whew! That was a month-long marathon of edits. Next it goes to my amazing editor, Elaine Jackson, then back to me for a final proofread before it goes live on May 16, 2023! But you can pre-order it right ...

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20 blog posts