Warrior Wisewoman Links

Here's the link to the final version of the full cover for Warrior Wisewoman 3.

We also have a link to the page it's on at Norilana Books. Any of your local book retailers should easily be able to order it for you, as they can get it directly through Ingram. Last I checked, Barnes and Noble.com has a functional order page for it, and it should be showing up soon at Amazon.

Countdown

Five days left until Warrior Wisewoman 3 is released. I've seen the final proof that was to go to the printer, and I have to say that actually seeing my name in print is a bit surreal after all the years I've been waiting for this.

I still have a handful of other short stories that need homes, and I've just picked out the next venue for submission for one of them. The online magazine in question really liked one of my other stories and indicated that they had seriously considered buying it, so there's a very good chance they'll like this one and go for it. The next submission window opens in August, so I have to wait a little. In the meantime, I'm going into the mode of finishing up things that have been "almost done" for a while now.

In the meantime, I'm looking out the window at a very strange day. It can't seem to decide whether to rain or be hot and sunny, so it seems to be trying to split the difference. Every once in a while, thunder rolls out, alternating with a quick rain shower or the sun coming out from behind the clouds. The sky is an odd mix of blue and grey. Crows fly by periodically, cawing, pulling my attention back outside, back to the way the day just seems to be sitting there, waiting like the weather for a decisive move one way or the other.

I, too, need a decisive move. Time to get to work.

Harpist by Necessity

The bad news is that tires and brakes are expensive, but we already knew that. The good news is that there are two new tires on my car, so now only one out of the four is not new and it still has a decent amount of tread left. So half of the necessary maintenance has now been done on my car. It still needs a rear brake job, though, as soon as possible.

The nonfiction book project has spun off another nonfiction project--a serenity meditation CD. I'll have to do the background music myself; I can't afford to buy permissions or pay royalties to anyone for their music. I'll probably use my harp, Saiorse, as the main instrument, and add in soprano recorder and maybe even bass recorder and synthesizer where needed. After sampling all the possible sounds my synth has to offer, I have the following observation: the sound of a synthesized harp and the sound of a real wire-strung Celtic harp have no resemblance to each other whatsoever. If I can come up with some decent background melodies and we can use my real harp's voice, we might manage to put together a pretty nice meditation CD.

Lest it sound like I've gone all Zen and given up on my fiction, I promise that's not the case. Fiction is happening, too, and I'll keep at it. I'm just having to think more and more outside the box, these days.

Things Move

The link to the Publishers Weekly review in my previous post won't work anymore, because of course, that review is no longer on that page. Another week, another set of reviews. But for those who missed seeing it, it was a very nice review that basically stated that the series had "hit its stride" and that there were "a few standouts" and "no obvious clunkers." Always good to know....

It won't be long now; less than a month away from publication. In the meantime, I'm working on the novella, the nonfiction, and still sending out other stories. I have no idea why it seems like this summer is flying past me at full tilt, but it does seem that way. I turn around, blink twice, and another month has gone by. Life in the fast lane, I guess.