Are you wanting a little snack?

There’s been a clear cold snap the last couple of days, bringing our daytime temps down to mid 70s and the night flirting with fifty. Fifty. In July. But I’m not complaining because it got rid of 90 percent of the mosquitos. I’m also not putting anything in my yard anymore that can’t take Canada winters, and the zone people just bumped my area into a warmer zone, saying I can plant stuff that grows in Kentucky. Ple-e-e-e-e-ese. Doesn’t anyone in that office actually, ya know, get out in the garden? Summers can be hotter, but the winters can be colder, and the storms are simply going to get more intense. You can’t push your CO2 levels back to the days of dinosaurs and not expect to get the weather they had then as well. Dinosaur weather. Yep, we got it.

But look at the little toad Tim found yesterday! Isn’t he sweet? I remember being inundated with them this time of year at my grandpa’s house, so thick you couldn’t walk without fear of stepping on one. He lived between a lake and a swamp, and I’m sure if I went back, it would be the same today.

Click to order

I’ve gotten a few “hurray!” posts from people who have gotten their tour Ts, but no pictures yet on FB. That they are going out is a great feeling. If you want one to wear to a signing, or just show your book pride on release day, here’s the link. We’re going through a local guy, so he’s able to give you lots more options than we ever did.

If you’re as anxious as I am to get those copies of THE DRAFTER into your hands, I’ve got some good news. I’ve been quiet this week because I was given the chance to write a short that might come out before THE DRAFTER, sort of a prequel that introduces some of the characters and the accelerated science that’s integral to the story. Some of the ideas in it I won’t be touching upon again until that last final book, but by giving you this snack-sized bite now, I hope that you will see the threads as they are put down, not just in hindsight as happened a lot in the Hollows. I’m excited about it not just for the story, but the craft behind it. Shorts are different animals than novels, and I miss working with the precise needs they have.

If I get my way, it will be called either BACK DRAFT or SIDE SWIPED, and it nearly drove me sick last week when I confused finding the “idea” with finding the “voice.” It was a miserable weekend where I went over and over THREE first chapters, two of them complete and final, knowing all of them were false and dead ends–until I found the voice. And then . . . it began and I could tell the story. It’s still a lot of work to meet my deadline, but it is a joy again. You should have it in about a month? (And that, my readers, is what an accelerated schedule looks like.)

Copies are available at:

                                    

Barnes and Noble has a small supply of signed copies ofThe Drafter.

Nicola’s, my local store, is offering signed/personalized copies of The Drafter as well as signed copies of most of the books.