So there’s this thing happening with the Bird. It was SUPPOSED to be free today and tomorrow, as part of a promo with a really awesome group of folk. But Amazon’s a total pain in the ass, especially when you’re trying to set a book free, I totally muffed it, and so the organizer and I scrambled and put the book on sale for 99c. Except Kobo didn’t let me change it. And I forgot to change it up in my newsletter because yikes, I’m distracted.

But in other news, I found it! My missing mojo! It’s back!

We’ll see for how long, as I’m super distracted. Focused on my kid coming home tomorrow, on my signing at Blythe Books on Sunday as a closing activity of the Great Pittsburgh Book Crawl, on getting my last print copy of King Trevor in the mail to a long-time fan. Plus I’m getting ready to move the same kid across the country in a few weeks…

Good thing I have editing to keep me busy! Let’s start there…

editing

I made TRACKS through my edit yesterday. And I have a client who has to deal with some life stuff and then is going to send their manuscript on… this is one of the many I’ve been waiting for, and it’s the second in a duology or trilogy. Bring it! This is one of my favorite clients, and one of the few who’s become a friend.

writing

Like I said, I found it. My writing mojo.

I also moved out onto the back deck, even though it was hot and when I opened the pergola’s louvers for some air, I got a bad eye full of sunshine. Later, as dusk approached, I turned the lights on — green this time. I found it lovely, although I did consider searching for a blue to match the sky.

But I got 1600 words done on Absolutely Alyssa and while that doesn’t make up for Wednesday’s nothing, it’s still above my average of 1200.

And I was able to add a couple hundred words to what I’m now calling Shattered (what is it with me and Sheep Farm books that start with the letter S?) before I ran out of time.

Grab your copy of Maybe the Bird Will Rise! Like I said, it’s 99c instead of free and I apologize for that and if it matters that much, holler and I’ll send you a link so you can have it for free.

Book of the Day

That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon, by Kimberly Lemming
(NOT an affiliate link; the affiliate link isn’t working for some reason and refused to play nice, so here’s one that does work instead.)

Thanks for the support, as always. Tell a friend, send an author to my editing self, come out and see me on Sunday at Blythe Books, and use my ko-fi to show your appreciation since I’m not paywalling any of this information.

And let’s keep celebrating. I found it. My writing mojo took a day off and now it’s back. Hopefully it’ll stick around.

A friend posted a picture of her copy of Populated. She was reading it last night while her power was out.

It wasn’t a dark and stormy night here so much as a storm ripped through, complete with a derecho in the city that left most of my friends without power. I was spared the worst of it, but it did move my porch furniture around and rip the siding off my neighbors’ house. To be fair, I’ve been watching the one piece flapping for about a year now. I kinda knew to look. (Yes, I did text them about it. I’m not THAT cold.)

Despite all the stormy weather, it was a good night for:

writing

I’m still working on Tales from the Sheep Farm 7, Authentically Alyssa (we’ll see if the title changes, but right now I like it). I have been stuck on these two chapters for a few days now, and had the breakthrough I needed last night, so those are getting reshaped and crafted into a better book.

Today’s the last day I remind you that Safe House is still on sale across all retailers!

editing

I started a new project yesterday. I’ve been working with this client for well over a decade now, and their books always challenge me as an editor and are a lot of fun to work on. But yes, I’m still waiting on manuscripts from six others. Five really, since one of those is this same author.

Still, if you need me, reach out. I’m here, enjoying the stormy weather. And as you see, I work on Send When Ready, so I’m able to be nimble and fit new people in, sometimes at the last minute.

Book of the Day

The Last Boyfriends Rules for Revenge by Matthew Hubbard
(affiliate link)

That’s it! Stay safe. I’m hoping your weather’s not stormy, but if it is, it’s the good kind of stormy, where you can luxuriate in a good thunderstorm.
I love it when you say thanks for my daily hard work here by filling my ko-fi. Any money you send in lieu of subscription fees goes toward operational costs here at West of Mars.

It’s just after eight in the morning and my house is 63 degrees right now. I left select windows and the skylights open all night, so all that nice cold air could flood in. It’s called cold trapping, and it’s exactly what it sounds like. The windows and skylights are closed and the house’s improved insulation should retain the cool, easing demand on my AC.

The next door neighbors really ought to learn this trick. I swear, they keep their house at 63, if not colder, all summer.

Their AC unit is right outside my bedroom window. So I get to listen to it all night long.

writing

I worked outside yesterday afternoon again. More on Absolutely Alyssa, Book Seven in the Tales from the Sheep Farm series. Better use that link in the header and catch up! I’m on Book Seven and you’re on book… Which one again?
Speaking of catching up, I switched how my book is distributed to Kobo and get a report from the old distributor for Kobo Plus reads and… well, that was a year’s worth of reads. Thanks to everyone who’s been reading my books via Kobo Plus! That’s a nice chunk of change.

It’s a nice way to warm up after this cold trapping! 63 is a bit chilly!

Safe House is, yes, still on sale! Only seven more days, so you’re running out of time to take advantage of the sale price. As (almost) always, there’s a discount at my direct store!

Since the end of the month is in sight, it’s time to remind you to max out your loans at Libby and/or Hoopla. I know a number of indie writers who’d love for you to borrow their books from the library. I’m one of them.
But it’s a win-win-win. You get to try a new author for free, although I’m not a new author to you.
The author gets paid for the borrow. (Not every author!)
The library gets to brag about their circulation numbers. With libraries under fire by the government, it’s up to us to use them and protect them.

editing

Hey! One of those eight manuscripts arrived!

Now to finish up what I’m working on and start that one… it’s nice to see these manuscripts arriving.

Book of the Day

The Body in the Paddy Field by Nadishka Aloysius
(As always, this is an affiliate link)

Not cold trapping your house? Not one of those wonderful people reading my books via Kobo Plus? Maxed out your library loans? You can still support me by donating directly to my ko-fi. Easier than a monthly Patreon (or not, since you can’t set it and forget it), and all money goes to operational costs here at West of Mars. Lots of us small businesses are hurting right now, and I hate to say it, but I’m not immune.

Getting ready for the Indie Book Bash tomorrow in Ashtabula! If you’re in the area, come on out and join me and 49 other authors for an evening of books and food trucks and more. It’s being held at the VFW right on Main Street, so come on out!

It’s just a Thursday over here. I’m not a fan of Thursdays; they are always my hardest day of the week. And as we inch closer to the end of my renovations, an issue has cropped up, making me officially cranky.

writing

Didn’t get a lot of work done yesterday; it was one of those nights. Might be contributing to my construction crankiness, or it might be the other way around.
Safe House is still on sale! $1.99 across all retailers. For those of you who’ve picked it up, I’m excited to hear what you think. It’s the most different book in the series so far.

editing

I know the economics of the moment are catching up to a lot of us. I had a discussion yesterday with a long-time client, and if there was ever a moment for flexibility and grace, this is it, even though I’ve always tried to be flexible for my clients. I’m just needing to be extra bendy right now, but I think it’s the right thing to do. So I’m doing it.
Reach out if you need me.

Book of the Day

Sorcery and Small Magics by Maiga Doocy
(Affiliate link… you buy, I get a few pennies to put toward operational expenses.)

That’s it. Like I said, just a Thursday. Not very exciting.

Escape into a good book. We all need that!

Oh, sure. You met Vassily in Populated. And… he was more than a bit of an ass.

So I had to play with him and find out why. After all, so many of my early (and post-release) readers have told me how much they like Meter and that he’s their new book boyfriend, so what’s such an awesome, nerdy dude doing with a brother like Vass?

And then wow, did he steal the show. He must have, because again, early word from my readers is that this book, Saving Sima, is the best of the Tales from the Sheep Farm. So far, anyway.

And now, you can reserve your copy of Saving Sima. It’ll be released on June 18, and of course preorders are only 99c.

Here’s what the story’s actually about:

This fourth installment in the Tales from the Sheep Farm series continues the story of Delia Ford and Meter Shaikovsky. Sort of. You should probably read Populated before this one.

The six Shaikovsky kids made a pact when they were young: If any of them used the code words, the others would come to the rescue, no questions asked.

Vassily, the second eldest, has always felt invisible, the family jerk and foil to his responsible older brother Dimitry, his fiery sister Anna, and the adorable, mischievous triplets. But when Sima calls for a rescue, it’s Vassily who big brother Meter turns to for backup.

The two brothers make an all-night drive to rescue Sima and bring her home, but their problems are only beginning. Sima is a physical and emotional wreck and, inexplicably, chooses Vass, not Meter, as her safe person. And when Vassily loses his home, he and Sima move into Meter and Delia’s small condo as he tries to regroup and figure out what his next move is.

As the four of them navigate the tight quarters and the demands of their close-knit family, and as the housing situation begins to resolve itself, Vassily comes to realize that maybe there’s a better role for him in the family after all.

Sima’s traumas may be triggering to those who’ve been in situations of physical abuse. While most remains off the page, the emotional and mental wounds and scars remain. Readers, take care of yourself if this will be upsetting to you.

So yeah, there’s a lot of Delia, Meter, and Sima in this book, too, but it’s all about Vassily. Don’t worry; Sima gets her own story later on, too.

Reserve your copy now. If you’re looking to reserve a print copy, those aren’t quite up for preorder yet, but keep checking back. They’ll be up before June 18. Sorry, but I can only discount them if you buy them directly from me, and yes, I will have copies as soon as I can!

Reminder that authors these days live and die by reviews… or lack of them. If you’ve read any of my books, I’d love it if you’d leave an online review for them, and I’ve made it easy for you to get review copies. You can ask me directly for one, or join my campaign(s) at BookSprout.

While 4 and 5-star reviews make the algorithms happy, your opinion matters and I’m not going to ask you to lie, to withhold your thoughts, or otherwise compromise yourself. In other words, if you want to one-star it, go ahead. I value you and your opinion; remember that people are treasures too.

What? More about Populated??? AGAIN????

Well, first of all, this might be my favorite book of the three published so far. MIGHT BE. I’m not going to swear one way or the other. Maybe the Bird Will Rise and Safe House hold huge chunks of my heart, as well. Don’t miss either one.

Secondly, read on and you’ll see why it’s our feature picture of the day.

You see, when I decided to return to publishing, my thought wasn’t far off from what it had been when I started with the Trevolution books: I’d put them out and not think too much about it.

Except in the decade since I put the Trevolution books out, publishing got expensive, yo. And at the same time, it also got a hell of a lot more fun, although maybe that’s just because I’m in a better mental place.

It’s also allowed me to meet a lot of neat people, and to develop friendships. It’s been a gift (again, my life is a lot like Delia Ford’s, so grab Populated and you can see what I mean. Reach out directly if you want an autographed print copy.)

When I got an email from my friend Mary Walsh that she was going to be in town, turning the Other Shadyside Arts Festival into a book show with fine art, I told her I’d go hang with her for a few hours. Somehow, that turned into “Hey, meet me at seven and we’ll set up” and then that turned into “Hey, clear off a corner of the table and throw your books on it.”

Let me tell you, it was a ton of fun to learn about Mary’s books and handsell them to people we (usually me; I can extrovert pretty well, but it does take a toll) enticed to come under Mary’s tent. It was fun to people watch in a neighborhood I used to hang out in and drop a ton of money in, almost always on clothing. (Sigh. I miss those days, I say as I look down at my sweatshirt and joggers. Or maybe not; I’m comfy.)

Now, one thing among the authors on the book show circuit that I’ve noticed is that we tend to talk about the success of the day based on whether or not we earn out our table fees. And for this show, the fees were STEEP.

It took work. Not gonna lie.

But we did it! We earned back Mary’s table fee! And let me tell you, I’m a fan of her books, not just her, now. She’s got a unique vision and puts in the hard work to bring her fictional visions to life. I know a bunch of my friends would love her books.

So… what’s this got to do with Populated?

Well, see up above, where I say that on Sunday, Mary encouraged me to set up the three Sheep Farm books? Populated was the day’s hit and top seller. I shouldn’t have been surprised. People really respond to, “When someone breaks into the Woolslayer Gallery and steals ALL and ONLY the art by street photographer Delia Ford…” A lot of times, that’s all it takes.

I’m thrilled. I’m over the moon, really. As you know, I’m so proud of this project and these books. I believe in the message I’m putting out into the world with them — People are treasures too.

So grab some books.

And if you’re in the Pittsburgh area, keep an eye out for me. I’m hoping to pop up in odd places with an impromptu book show, with authors and books and books and books. You’re going to want to keep an eye out for me.

No, this isn’t a post about Populated. I mean, well, it is. But it’s not.

A couple of years ago, a group of ten women met at one of our houses, intending to start a cookbook club. We were masked, we were mostly strangers to each other. I was new enough to our parent organization to think this would be a good way to meet people. And food was involved. How could it go wrong?

Well, sometimes the recipes we cook go sideways.

And sometimes, life works out in a way that would make Delia Ford, whose story is told in Populated, proud.

A year ago, the woman who’d organized us and opened her house to us for that first meeting — and many times thereafter — found a cookbook author who was new to most of us. And so we did what we usually do: we each picked a recipe and made it.

But then, our fearless (and highly creative) leader discovered more in the cookbook that made it unique. And much fun was had. As we always do, we came together at a dining room table, over food.

And THEN, our leader said, “Why don’t we host the author for a weekend?”

Yesterday was the culmination of a year’s plans.

It was a lot of work for the seven of us, but when I was sitting with author Jennifer Abadi and handling the in-person cookbook sales for her, I asked her how it felt. I’d noticed her taking pictures of all the tables, but hadn’t thought too much about it.

“You brought my book to life!” she told me in a hushed, exultant, wondering voice that was so full of emotion that I didn’t just get it, I thought this is something Delia Ford would do.

And that made me even prouder. That wasn’t something we’d set out to do, per se. We’d wanted to showcase some of the recipes Jennifer has archived, from countries around the world. We’d wanted to make it fun, so we’d mined the interviews she’d included. And we’d wanted to have some fun.

But we gave Jennifer a gift, a greater gift than I think any of us had expected.

Like Delia in her book (although, series spoiler: we do see her again in future books), I woke up Sunday morning and realized many things about the women in my cookbook club — and many of the women not in the club but who I’ve gotten to know over the years.

Like Delia, my world has become strangely populated with people who value me, who respect me, who enjoy my presence, who I like to be around.

So here’s to Jennifer Abadi, who so graciously came to my city and cooked and ate and sold cookbooks and met me and my friends and hopefully loved the hospitality Pittsburgh is actually famous for. Here’s to my cookbook club, who wound up giving Jennifer a gift, bringing her book to life.

And here’s to my friends, who are helping bring my own book to life in such very very different way.

Two weeks to go.

I know I’m throwing books at you fast. That’s the idea: The faster I get ’em to you, the happier the people who like to see most, if not all of a series up for sale before they start reading. And it makes for better promotions when there’s a long backlist. Readers like those, and Populated will be my tenth release.

Now, if you picked up Maybe the Bird Will Rise (and over a thousand of you did! Thank you!), you may think you know what to expect.

If you’re expecting a tale set in the fictional city of Port Kenneth, TN, you’re right.

If you’re expecting something like Maybe the Bird Will Rise, which gets into heavy territory with Mack’s family history, well, think again.

Populated is the story of Delia Ford, street photographer and Port Kenneth social media darling, and what happens when someone breaks into the Woolslayer Gallery and steals all her art. And only her art.

We’re not kidding when we say all. Delia is suitably impressed.

Add in a slow-burn romance with a man early readers said is their new book boyfriend, an across-the-hall neighbor who is retired from the Bank of Port Kenneth, a family you love to hate (or hate to love), and oops, the ire of one of the less savory families in town, and you’ve got a story that expands the world of Port Kenneth into directions you may not have seen coming.

Grab your copy ASAP. I’m not doing any price drops until after the new year, so once the price goes back up after release day on the 21st, it’s going to stay there.

Are you ready?

I am.

And I am not.

But here we go!

Book One of Tales From the Sheep Farm, Maybe the Bird Will Rise, is up for preorder, with an on-sale date of September 26. That’s not very far away from right now!

To entice you toward the preorder, do I have a deal for you. It’s 99c through the end of September. And then it’ll go back up to its regular price of $5.99. That’s five bucks off!

That’s because I want you to read this book. I want you to love Mack and Tess and the fictional city of Port Kenneth as much as I do. I want you to find alligators. I want you to think about issues of racial justice and equality. (If you’re an author, I want you to enter my world and write a book set here. I want to hear YOUR voice, real and raw and powerful and often censored by other spots within this publishing ecosystem.)

I want this book, and this series, to challenge you. To make you think. To strive to do tikkun olam, the Jewish act of healing the world.

Ready for what Maybe the Bird Will Rise is about?

Tess Cartieri has called Port Kenneth, TN home for her entire life. An architect specializing in urban renewal, she’s long dreamed of renovating an old sports field at her alma mater, Kenilworth University. But without the funding, the field sits, forgotten—until the day she’s hired to take on this project at last.

The money is coming from, of all people, the man Tess set free after college, Emerson Mackenzie. He had shared this dream with Tess but had turned his back on her and Port Kenneth when the family business needed him.

But now Mack is back in Tess’ life, still reeling from the recent loss of his wife and hoping this project will help him heal. There’s something about Port Kenneth, though, something more than how normal and natural it feels to be with Tess again, that calls to him and he begins investigating what it would take to move his company to the city.

Old family secrets come out of hiding and as Mack and Tess face them together and discover the legacy of the Mackenzie Treasure, they cement their commitment to each other and begin to understand how the past will affect their futures.
Maybe the Bird Will Rise is a story of the search for answers, the hope that adventures brings, and a second chance at love.

See those last four words? This book isn’t a romance, for a bunch of reasons. But there’s romance here, or at least a rekindling of what was, as two people move forward to a future full of uncertainty and secrets.

Seriously. This is the place. This is the time.

Pick up your copy; here’s the universal link!

Need to know more about the entire Tales From the Sheep Farm project? Follow this link, and I’m glad to share. If you have questions, reach out! Don’t be shy. People are treasures too — and that includes you!

I wasn’t going to do this yet. I mean, I’ve been sitting on this for well over a year, and the plan was to wait until the website is live and launched.

Life happens when you make plans, huh?

My daughter is doing a study abroad this semester in Africa. Ghana, to be specific. It’s through the university and the group of 12 of them have a faculty member from home present with them; the whole thing has been seamless. They are there to take a deep dive into tropical ecology, as this specific program is designed for Biology majors. But they are also there to learn about their host country, of course. How can you not?

On Friday the 13th, she toured Elmina Castle.

I mean, you can’t talk about the west coast of Africa, the former Gold Coast, without talking about the atrocities committed there. Forced migration. Enslavement. Killing. Murder. Death. Rape. Starvation. Disease.

The Door of No Return.

But even before this, long before we knew for certain that my daughter was going on this adventure, I’d been thinking. Watching, really, as diverse author after diverse author (and even some editors!) got the shaft from the big publishing houses (and some small ones, too). I have spent years listening to some well-published LGBTQ+ authors bemoaning the lack of support they receive, the difficulties they’ve had getting respect from their own publishers. Authors who are searching for a literary agent, only to be told, “I really like your book but I already rep an author whose book features a Jewish main character.” And my favorite: “If you’re disabled, you should be writing about disabled people. That’s what’s hot right now. Not this very good book you’ve put in front of me.”

Yep. All true.

“Tell the whole story,” my rabbi said in a sermon in 2022. “Teach the suffering, teach the pain, and remember it, share it. Because the only way to move beyond it, the only way to return to a more healthful way of getting along with each other and interacting with each other is to tell the story, to remind ourselves of the low that we suffered together.”

Powerful words.

When I heard them, I knew what I had to do. I had this book, this story that has since become MAYBE THE BIRD WILL RISE, the first book in the Tales from the Sheep Farm series, and it begged me to do just this. To tell the whole story, pieces of which I cannot even begin to fathom because I am not the right person to tell it.

There’s only one option: To make this a Shared Worlds project, where I’ll invite others into my fictional world and let them tell stories — fictional of course, but fictionalized is super as well — so that we can, together, move beyond the pain we inflict on each other in the world.

“If we can figure out a way to make ourselves see the other more favorably, to view the other not with a sense of dread or fear, but to see in the other the same holiness that we want for ourselves, then we can tell this story [he was referring to the story of Passover] in a way that builds us all up and builds up our society and builds up our nation.

“So follow the path of the Torah. Tell the story. Look for ways to find goodness in the other. See our own holiness as we look into the eyes of another person.

“If we do that, if we can figure out a way to tell this story, we can figure out a way to use it to remind us to seek the good…”

Join me. If you’re an author with a story to tell and would like to be part of the world of Tales from the Sheep Farm, let’s talk. If you’re a reader who’d like to read more stories of and by diverse authors, stay tuned.

The website’s being built as we speak. I’ve been waiting a long time for it, but when you hire the best, you have to wait for the perfect site. It’s going to be worth it.

But today, as I’m thinking of history of Elmina Castle and my daughter, my heart, standing in those dungeons into which human beings were forced, as I think of her there, looking at the Door of No Return, I just can’t be quiet about what I’m up to.

Tell their stories…

And so I will strive to. Because as the tag line for this project states, People are treasures too.