Update:

For the pre-order of Father’s Day (2/12/24). Note: This was previously published as Low Places. While the cover and title have changed and the front and back matter revised, the story has had inconsequential changes.

Amazon (Kindle, etc.)      Books2Read       Paperback (Amazon)

For the pre-order of The Prophecy (2/19/24):

Amazon (Kindle, etc.)      Books2Read       Paperback (Amazon)

What else happened this week?

Monday, 2/5

First, Nursing Girls went live on Tuesday the fifth. Because it’s a revision, Amazon doesn’t allow delayed release, so the ebook is live. The print version isn’t yet approved.

Father’s Day is now live to pre-order, going live on Monday, February 11. Again, the print version is on its own schedule.

For D2D, who handle the distribution of epub3 books (Nook, Kobo, Books on your Mac), I’ve launched a question to discover what the best practice is for retiring a listed book and replacing it. We’ll see. [Answer 2/8: Since the story hasn't changed perceptibly, edit the books as they are currently listed.]

Friday, 2/10

Going forward.

 

Brief update and Plans

It has been a long while since I visited here.
Added: even longer now!

With everything going on, I spent more time writing than communicating as directly as I do here To the good, I have three Rebecca Jamse stories (two long and one novella) ready to put up at various retailers. The Dragons Run My Life series has five books in the continuing series.

I came to a stopping point with Dragons, and I still am unsure where the story needs to go from this point.
I’ve been working on my web site; that has been a learning experience!

My wonderful first reader has moved along in her life, which has left me trying to follow Dean Wesley Smith’s advice to not have anyone read your work except to proofread. And I use ProWriting Aid for that, mostly. If there are any volunteers to be a first reader, send an email, please.

Over the next week, beginning Feb 12, ’24, I plan to release the following books:

On Monday, a new edition of Father’s Day (formerly Low Places), wide. A new cover and reworked front and back matter, the story has had only a few inconsequential edits.
Also on Monday, a similar new edition of the novella, Nursing Girls will appear, Amazon willing. As with Father’s Day, the new Nursing Girls sports a new cover, revised front and back matter, and inconsequential edits to the story.

 

Father’s Day

Beckie and Ian accept a standard “cost plus half-spoils” contract to prevent a Mexican prosecutor from receiving a Father’s Day present he doesn’t want: his daughter’s head, gift-wrapped.
Both the girl and the drug cartel - the one the prosecutor’s working to eliminate - provide lots of opportunities to save her life. One of those ‘opportunities’ may allow the “half-spoils” clause to go into effect while exposing a blackmail operation that has few qualms about under-age prostitutes.
Sonora state in Mexico provides a beautiful setting for action that hardly stops for the life of this contract.
Father’s Day, the seventh book in the Rebecca Jamse Thriller series, is a thriller set in an approximation to the real world. While it stands alone, readers unfamiliar with previous books may find the history preceding Father’s Day of interest. Real language is used; it is recommended for 15+.

 

Nursing Girls

Consensual sex: fun, but comes with consequences. Hardly unexpected but infelicitous none the less.
Angel, unmarried, and her friend Tammy, married, both pregnant, faced poverty even without the babies.

Rebecca Jamse, widowed, must travel to Pakistan to support her team. Not a suitable environment for two month-old Ralf, her son.
Shalin deVeel knows the Imam of Tammy’s mosque strives to assist girls like these; she mentions Beckie’s need for a wet nurse. Since he has just assisted Angel and Tammy finding a Women’s Shelter, their availability is clear.

Nursing Girls solves Beckie’s problem and introduces Angel and Tammy and their families. The key action runs parallel to Discoveries.

Back to plans

Next following those two are two more, one from the Rebecca Jamse Thrillers and the second from Dragons Run My Life, the epic fantasy following three red-haired sisters as they attempt to save the world as they know it. Or keep the rate of change acceptable.

The plan, then, is for the long-delayed Book Six of the Rebecca Jamse Thrillers, Blood Moon, to appear on Tuesday, when Friday the thirteenth comes this February, followed by The Prophecy. You knew the prophecy from Forbidden Islands wouldn’t just fade away, didn’t you?

 

Blood Moon

South of Maidstone, England, Wendel Tate’s mum dies. Wendell’s reaction is disbelief; she wasn’t sick! Months railing against the Establishment has little effect, so he plans a more direct protest. The upcoming lunar eclipse suits him perfectly.
Before she disappears, Cecilia Stone’s friends interfere with Wendel’s plans.

Amy Rose Ardan wants a tractable assignment from Beckie and Ian to help her decide her future with Dylan. Beckie believes looking for Cissy Stone suits.
But Cissy unintentionally leads Amy to strange events that send her on a day trip to Pakistan and enlighten her about her past. A little, at least.
A kidnapping followed by finding, then losing, what she didn’t know she had galvanize her search for an answer to Dylan’s question… and hers.

Blood Moon is a romantic political thriller dealing with lies, self-delusion and growing up in an approximation to the real world. It is intended for 15 up; it includes real language.

 

The Prophecy

End of the world prophecies: so prosaic. Unless it’s your prophecy.

Three red-headed sisters worry it’s theirs.

◦ Princess Tanial returns from the Forbidden Islands with a dire prophecy: unless she and her sisters prevent it, war will bring the death of all the residents of their lands.
◦ Queen Miriajona wrestles with her doom: to rule until her mate rejoins her.
◦ King Jenoele cannot abide the thought that her continued rule may require giving up control.

They believe a threat to Miri and Jenoele from the religious cult calling itself Ny Regole has been quashed. Tanial then makes her first foray toward Maman’s home in Slot Minear, the largest city in the Lindebalgh on the western slopes of the mountains dividing Jenoele’s kingdom.
Maman awaits there with her own mysteries. So, too, do the Ny Regole.

The prophecy reminds Tanial that she misses Maman and her wisdom. Her advice, not so much; she is young.
Even in a land where travel and communications are limited to the speed of walking or at best, horseback, calamities rise with fearsome speed.
The Prophecy is Book Six of the Dragons Run My Life series.

Going on

I plan to post weekly. We’ll see how that goes.