Lost Mr. Fish. Gained Mr. Gimpy

It’s been a weird week, and I’ve intentionally been keeping it off the blog as who really needs to know about my headaches, but I lost Mr. Fish this week. His tank is already washed and tucked away under my back room sink for the next time I have a moment of weakness in the pet shop. He was a long-running thread through the entire Hollows series, and though there were actually three Mr. Fishes on my desk while I wrote The Hollows, the passing of this one feels significant.

But even as I write this, with the threat of snow bearing down on me again, and my hardy spring bulbs wilting under the continued onslaught, there is a robin in my yard. Not just any robin, but a big, bright male, with an injured wing. He’s been in my yard now for over a month, putting up with the crap weather we’ve been having, his wing drooping to trail on the ground as he eats the worms that have been as confused about the weather as I have.

I kept waiting for him to be caught by one of the local cats, or even the hawk that comes to bother my neighbor’s chickens. (And yes, I live in the city.) But perhaps the cold weather is keeping the house cats inside and the chickens in their coop. The robin is still in my yard, his wing still lame and drooping, but he is flying now, at least enough to get to the bird bath, his night roost, and to fight off the other robins that dare to come in my yard. Today, as he sat on the edge of my birdbath, insulted that it was frozen, I decided he needed a name–because he had become important to me. So he’s Mr. Gimpy. I’m not that imaginative when it comes to names, it seems.

The picture below may or may not have him in it. I’m having a devil of a time getting a picture of him. He’s surprisingly fast for a lame robin.

February Robins

The e-sales of “Waylaid” are still going well, so thank you again to everyone who is leaving a review on Amazon and B&N. It’s amazingly gratifying to see your thoughts, and it gives me hope that the release of the mass market of The Drafter, which is like, days away now, is going to have a good showing.

I usually don’t promote my mass markets this heavy, but I did a bunch of email interviews that should be showing soon, and I’ll let you know when each of them come to my attention. If you happen to see one, let me know so I can tell everyone else.  I also have some nifty wallpapers to share with you. I’ve only got the small version here, but click the image to go to the website for the higher resolution copies. I really need to get one made up for the smart phone screens . . .

Also, I’ve been in contact with Nicola’s, and for those of you who took advantage of the rare chance to get my earlier titles personalized and shipped to you, you’ll be happy to hear that I’ll be going in next week to, you know, sign them. (laugh) The two final titles in the Truth series are available this month, and I’m trying hard not to lose them in the glitter and glitz of The Drafter mass market coming out. Just click to go right to Nicola’s order page, and be sure to tell me who you want the book signed to. International is okay.

If you’ve never heard of the Truth books, these are the first four titles I broke into print with. (First Truth, Hidden Truth, Forgotten Truth, and Lost Truth.) They are traditional fantasy, but the language is comfortable and the attitude pure Kim Harrison. It’s funny, but I still miss Useless. I think he’s an earlier, nice version of Al. The both share that same broken feeling of lost power and the willingness to share it with a young woman before he leaves the earth.

Just click the image to go to Nicola’s.