Hephaestus Books

"Urban Terrorist" has brought to my attention that Hephaestus Books is offering work through Amazon, B&N, etc to which they have no rights. In fact, it seems that they accept money but send no books at all. See UT's article at http://madhatter.ca/2011/10/31/corporate-copyright-scofflaws-0011-hephaestus-books/ I'm only slightly involved in that they offer a book called Authors from Iowa that lists me as a contributor, which I'm not. Other authors are being ripped off much worse by this scam. Spread the word.

Meanwhile, I'm still stuck on the next novel. The Southern Host itself needs to be more of a character. I suggest that it's a lot more interested in Rathillien than anyone in the Riverland, but also that it's experiencing a resurgence of potentially lethal hazing. Things were really bad when Genjar was Commandant (cue flashback to Tori), but now cadets are dying or disappearing again. This seems to be limited to randon cadets. I'm not even sure what to call the regular Kendar troops. Maybe just that.

Had a good ride on Countess this morning, although I felt more than once as if I was about to be pitched head first out of the saddle. It's a flat, English saddle, but it cants forward. Next time we're going to try an Australian plantation saddle, which still doesn't have a horn but otherwise is much more substantial. Countess is a puzzle. Some times she doesn't want to go at all; others, I can't hold her back. Is that typical of thoroughbreds?