Status Updates:

A little progress is better than none. I've had to change up my process in order to deal with the Cat and I have high hopes.

What's Next:

The Wizard's Cat​
I've been working on paper with a pen. It's a bit of a throw back and completely at odds with what I've done in the past. What matters is that it's working. I've made considerable progress in the last month and started stringing words together in the word processor. Fingers crossed.

The SC Marva Collins (no change):​
Book 1: School Days - Published in ebook, paper, and audio. ​
Book 2: Working Class - Published in ebook, paper, and audio. Some problems exist in chapter 4's encoding. Podium knows and is looking into it.​
Book 3: Hard Knocks - Published in ebook and paper. Audible has the pre-order listed for an April 30 release.

What I'm Reading:

I've been reading a lot of stuff over the last month. A lot of fantasy but for the last week or so I've been chewing through a pulpy space opera series.

Scott Baron crossed my streams back in 2023 but I stumbled on his Dragon Mage series early last month and got hooked. I'm up to book 8 now, which tells you only that I'm having fun reading it.

The basic set up is that our hero Charlie gets sucked into an inadvertent wormhole that deposits his ship and crew on a sandy plain on a distant planet. It's some time before he discovers just how distant and the unfolding universe keeps him on his toes.

Charlie is my kind of character and the people he finds and who find him just keep stirring the stew pot of a story. Magic. Dragons. Time travel. Skullduggery. Mayhem. Even a sweet love story or two threaded through the worm holes.

But, as always, don't take my word for it. Maybe grab a sample of book 1, Bad Luck Charlie and see what you think.

This month's honorable mention goes to Becky Black's Vacant Possession. A story about how Earth almost gets snatched away from humanity by some legal shenanigans in a galaxy far, far away but all too familiar.

Looking Ahead:

I'm still playing games and telling myself stories. The notebooks and pens keep me on my toes as I work through the various pieces of story that will - eventually - be fitted together in the eldritch environs of Shackleford House.

My goal for the few weeks: Keep pushing it forward. I've got all these cool pens and a good excuse to use them. I intend to keep doing that.

It's difficult to have my entire work process yanked out from under me. Whether it's a function of cancer and the attendant treatments, a feature of my age, or perhaps just one of those things that happens when what always used to work doesn't any more. I'm being pushed back into "How do I do this?" after years of "Oh, this goes here. That goes there."

Keeping what I've learned so far as a foundation, all I need to do is rebuild the house from the loose sticks and ashes. It sounds terrible but it's rather exciting.

Anyway, until next month, safe voyage.

-NL

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Remember ​
I update the blog every month on the first so if you're wondering what's happening, you can check there to get an interim report until the next one shows up in your inbox.

Beta Readers:

Every so often, I put out a call for beta readers. These are people who are willing to read the work in progress in a short period of time with only the briefest of notices.

I'm going to be fine tuning this process going forward but if you'd like to be considered for future works, then click this link.
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​It puts a tag on your address in the email list. You don't have to check anything. The ConvertKit people (who store the addresses) will handle it and then take you to a page to tell you that your preferences have been set. By clicking that link you're done.

And thanks.

Fine Tuning:

Would you prefer to get ONLY new release notices? YES, PLEASE​

Note: Newsletter people will get New Release notices, too, but
I've had several people say they preferred to only hear from me when I
release a new book so I'm trying to accommodate them.
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