It's been a busy time in my world these days! Boy horse got moved into a pen, which means I'm filling up nibble nets for his hay because Marker is a slob. He dumps his hay all over his pen, and then makes a mess out of it, which gets into his hooves and creates the not-so-lovely stink and problem of thrush. So it's back to the world of making hay nets until November or so, with perhaps a few weeks out when he's on pasture. As you can tell from the picture, he's a chonky boi so we have to be careful about how much grass he eats so that he doesn't develop metabolic problems, or grass founder, or...a lot of other equine issues related to too much rich feed. And with drought conditions, not wasting hay is an important issue this summer.

But he's making significant progress. We did a Western Dressage clinic where he was the steady influence on a couple of other green horses. When one horse blew up and dumped his rider, I just had to turn Marker to face the excitement and say "whoa." He stood there calmly and didn't contribute to the drama. What a good boy!

We've also been working on painting a house and that sucked up a lot of March. But that's just about done.

On the writing front, I've been busy busy busy with writing business stuff. Technically, April is Indie April, so I've been busy with building up special promotions to celebrate the month--more on that below. But I also became aware that once again, the Barnes and Noble links are not reliably showing up in the Books2Read universal feed, so...this is why I'm linking to my book landing pages on my website, so that I can put the Barnes and Noble links in directly. Which leads to more work, because besides adding in Barnes and Noble links, I've started adding in IngramSpark Share and Sell links for my books in paperback and--tada!--hardback. Those links are almost as good as buying the hard copies directly from me, because I get the best royalty from Ingram sales as a result. Those links don't show up on the Books2Read link, same for the Itch links.

I am also moving my books slowly into case laminate hardback. It's a slow process because I need to buy new ISBNs for those editions and, well, ISBNs aren't cheap. So I have to plan my budget around this sort of thing.

In any case, my website has the most up-to-date links available. Check the books out at https://joycereynolds-ward.com/books​

The current books with sale pricing are at the top, and with the exception of The Cost of Power Omnibus Edition, are available in hard copy as well. I have two books on sale that are still waiting for hardback approval, but their paperback editions are ready.

I also have a special local appearance coming up! I will be the keynote speaker at my local Soroptimist District Meeting, talking about my self-publishing journey and the business of self-publishing, on Saturday, April 11th. As a result I'm hustling around making promotional materials, including some of the Western Elements Samplers to hand out.

The painting stuff means I've not had a lot of brain for writing work. I've been wrestling with lower back pain and while stretching, a foam roller, and regular acupuncture treatments help, the final cure will be rest and...well, that starts on Wednesday. Except for the District Meeting prep, of course. And promoting the books on sale. And doing a promised beta read that I'm...somewhat late on getting done.

Well, aging ain't for sissies, that's for sure.

So. The sales.

First up is a very time-limited sale--https://joycereynolds-ward.com/books/broken-angel-the-lost-years-of-gabriel-martiniere-the-people-of-the-martiniere-legacy-joyce-reynolds-ward/B09256Q4FW

Broken Angel is on sale until April 7th at all ebook vendors. It's a different sort of redemption narrative, so I thought it would fit nicely around an Easter theme.

I am also part of The Awesome Short Story Spotlight bundle on Itch, with the Fabulist and Fantastical Worlds short story collection. 30 items for $20, and since one of them at least (mine) is book-length, that's such a deal. Check it out here: https://itch.io/b/3623/the-awesome-short-story-spotlight​

I also have my own Resistance and Romance! bundle, featuring A Different Life: What If?, A Different Life: Now. Always. Forever., Beating the Apocalypse, Federation Cowboy, Justine Fixes Everything: Reflections on Mortality, and Netwalk. These stories all have relationships that deal with resistance to different sorts of challenges. Six items for $20, or you can buy an individual work for 50% off. Check it out here: https://itch.io/s/183124/resistance-and-romance​

And, finally, both Vision of Alliance and The Cost of Power: Omnibus Edition are on sale for $3.99 this month in ebook editions. Check them out here:

Vision of Alliance: https://joycereynolds-ward.com/books/vision-of-alliance/ef7ac7a1-fb6b-4a6b-8c5a-203b9915fda6​

The Cost of Power: Omnibus Edition: https://joycereynolds-ward.com/books/the-cost-of-power-omnibus-edition-contains-return-crucible-redemption-joyce-reynolds-ward/B0DLZ4TDJQ​

That's it for this month! Looking forward to telling you about progress on the Vortex Worlds book next month. Have a good April and stay safe.