I assure you, it’s not. This is Koko. She’s my heart cat, the one who sits with me while I write or read. The one who snuggles with me at night. She’s silly, has a big voice and even bigger opinions, and she’s quite literally scared of her own shadow, as I found out this week.
We had a bit of a traumatic week. Koko doesn’t go out. Not that I wouldn’t let her go out. She doesn’t want to. The sun scares her. The wind scares her. We have 40 acres of fields and forest that…yep, you guessed it, they scare her. So she spends her days inside. This screen grab was from a video that shows her trying to trap my hand while I type. That’s how we pass our days.
But (and this is a big BUT), Koko thinks she’s safe outside at night. She is one with the shadows, after all. I don’t let my cats out at night. We call it coyote time. Tobie, our other cat knows that after supper she needs to stay in. Koko tries to sneak out at night. So far, we’ve managed to catch her when she does this, but last week, she slipped out after dark to do her shadow thing, and I didn’t notice she was gone until the next morning.
What happened next was hours of me, family and friends hunting the field and forest for Koko. We searched, we called, we shook the treat box. Nothing. As the day wore on with no sign of her, my heart grew heavy. By supper time, I was convinced the coyotes had gotten her. After all, any time she went out before, she rushed back inside within minutes. I couldn’t imagine she’d willingly stay outside alone.
But I held out hope that maybe she was hiding, waiting out the terrible sun. And thankfully, I was right. As soon as the sun went down, I went out for another tour of the fields, calling her to come home. I heard a tiny meow, and turned to find her just standing in the middle of our driveway. I have no idea where she came from. Of course, that means that she was probably watching from her hiding spot all day as we called and paced, growing ever more worried.
She is such a cat. And I love her to bits.
She’s safely home now, and back at my side while I continue to write my draft for The Knack Series, Book 3. I still have no title for this one, which is unusual for me. At some point the title will jump out, but I’m still waiting for that moment of clarity. Other than that, I’m enjoying Noah’s story and the new characters he meets. There are some old favorites in there too. Dr. Banerjee makes an appearance, so we’ll learn more about his story arc.
Summers go by so fast here. I always say I’m going to work less and play more before winter makes us stay indoors again. This year, I decided that means less online marketing. I don’t want to give up my writing time, as that is precious to me, and I won’t get the next book out on time without it. So the only other option is to market less.
June and July are historically slow periods for book sales anyway. That might mean that I should spend more time trying to get my books in front of readers, not less. However, I just can’t bring myself to do it. I need outside time to recharge my batteries. This newsletter is currently my only outreach because I truly love connecting to readers. More and more, social media is not the place for real interactions. My social posts reach a fraction of a percent of my followers. And I just don’t have the spoons to scream into that void right now.
That doesn’t mean that I’ll be deleting my social media. If you’re part of my online groups, you’ll have noticed they are quiet right now. That will change. I’ll be back with more fun and games when the time is right.
Until then, I’d love to hear how your summer is going (or winter if you’re on the other side of the globe). Have you taken time to play? Feel free to respond right to this email or in the Substack comments.
And if you can spare an author some help, please remember to review or recommend my books to all your reader friends, virtual or otherwise. I will be forever grateful.
SPOTLIGHT BOOK
I missed a milestone for A Knack for Metal and Bone. It hit 1000 reviews recently. With a 4.8 star average, it’s the highest rated of all my books, and I am really proud of it. This story went through many incarnations before I settled on Rowan and Conall’s tale. The world building was bigger than anything I’d attempted before, and strangely thrilling. I’m still enjoying this aspect of the series as I craft book 3, which takes place in a new town, with new characters.
If you haven’t read this series yet, I invite you to take a look at some of the reviews. Many of them talk about aspects of the series that really please me. The Knack is epic fantasy, but it has a modern feel, not medieval like many epic fantasies. It’s steampunk, but not set in the traditional Victorian setting, with Victorian prejudices. It feels more like Urban Fantasy, but on a bigger scale. And the characters take center stage. These were all things that I tried to do with this book, and I’m thrilled that reviews reflect the effort.
Visit The Knack Page to read reviews and for series extras, like maps, playlists and Series FAQ.
BOOK FAIRS
The summer months might be the slow season for book marketing, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get some great deals. If you’re a Kindle Unlimited reader, there is a great curated list of books for you to read free. Free Adventures in Sci-fi and Fantasy, is for all readers, and a great way to sample new authors without spending a thing. And for me, summer means audiobooks. How else can you get through mowing the lawn? Check out the audiobook sale below. As always, feel free to share these book fairs.
