My youngest turned 14 since the last newsletter. She invited her whole class over for pizza and general amuckness… amuckity? The parents who stayed had a blast brainstorming on a podcast proposal and chasing errant thoughts down Alice-in-wonderland-sized rabbit holes.

After keeping the neighborhood lively, the kids settled in for reasons we didn’t fully comprehend (though I’m imagining a light pole or street sign might be down somewhere… or a bundle of TP might be missing from the garage), and we managed a few pics.

Middle daughter got her driver’s license… 🚗 I might have mentioned that last time, but the paperwork wasn’t all done. Now it is. In theory, that might help us get everyone where they’re supposed to go, but I’m not sure it will in practice. We are more often constrained by lack of cars than lack of drivers lately. Still, glad to have that hurdle leaped. I have only one more to teach. 😮‍💨

What can I say… it’s release day! Last book, I made a celebration out of it. It was fun, but I spent more time this go around on automating pieces and understanding advertising and marketing. That doesn’t mean it will sell any better, but I think it will, and I’ll learn something whether it succeeds or fails. I have way more pre-orders than ever, so that’s a cool start. Book 1, Mother of Trees, popped into the top 100 of the Dragons and Mystical Creatures category. (Okay, #78, but still, it's there!) No specials were running, so it’s purely the result of my improved advertising. Let me show you what I’m up against… what I like to call, “dragon porn” (which I’ve got nothing against, just not sure I can compete).

That reminds me, I haven’t sent out an email to those tagged as writers in a while—I’ll do so soon (separate email list). I've found some reasonably priced tutorials that make way more sense to me than Cohen's stuff. In fact, it is pretty clear to me that Cohen's stuff is off-target.

Folks who signed up for the ARC will get an auto-email today about the release. I hadn’t through that through—I will offset the release date from my newsletter next time so that you're not bombarded. Whoops.

About 43,000 words in book 3, but (1) there’s a lot of garbage that needs to be cut and (2) I haven’t completed even one of the storyline branches, and I have three! Such a different set of problems from the last story. Fun. Here’s a bit that’s in a section not likely to survive cuts:

“Or we can leave,” Illiara said, scowling at the dragon, which struck me as odd—could a dragon even interpret a scowl? It spoke our language, so maybe yes?

“Or you can leave and end the world.” The dragon sounded a lot like Hughelas or Elliah at that moment, proclaiming with all of the angsty certainty of youth that they could have done better than their parents.

Hope you all have a great week. Wish me luck. And if you haven’t rated/reviewed my books, this would be an ideal week to do so.

All books by Steven J. Morris

Indie Author Showcase

Jingles: A Sweet Christmas Romance Short Story

by D.F. Jones & Dawn Jones

Unwrap the magic of Christmas with Jingles by USA Today bestselling author D.F. Jones—where love rekindles the spirit of the season!

In the quaint town of HollyHaven, Christmas magic runs deeper than anyone knows. Jingles, the beloved Christmas shop, is the heart of that magic, but this year, it’s fading—and with it, the very essence of the holiday season.

Jingles is a heartwarming, magical romance filled with love, laughter, and the wonder of the holiday season. It reminds us that the most incredible magic of all is believing.

Claire Beckett and the Transfer of Power

by Molly Chase

My new ability could get me killed.

I’m Claire Beckett, the newest detective in Crescent City. And I can see runes around dead bodies. Life would be perfect if I didn’t have to deal with the werewolf mayor and finding out that my mother lied to me about her ties to this place.

Bodies are dropping throughout the city, similar to a group of cold cases I’ve found. The killer’s ready to kill again and if history has anything to do with it, he’ll continue to hunt until he’s had his revenge.

But the more we keep digging, connections to both me and my partner amp up the need to find this killer and get him behind bars before the city begins to panic.