How on earth can it already be December? It almost seems as if time has flown by this year. Which...all things considered, might be a good thing.

Weather has been back and forth here between snow and rain--we're now getting our share of the atmospheric river (as my aches and pains are telling me). Riding Marker in the field has varied from mud to hard frozen ground and back to mud again. He's been telling me that he thinks it's time for horses to get hay, but...that's not my decision and in any case, there's still plenty of grass in the field...and ever since he went back into the herd from a dry lot, he's gained weight. That back cinch tells the tale...in any case, boy is NOT in favor of winter, clearly.

Vision of Alliance is now finished, in rough draft. I'm going to give it a week or so, then print it out to do first draft revisions. I'm now tentatively looking at a late February release date for that book, a June release date for Vision of Chaos, and October for Vision of Order. I think (hope??) that the last two books of the trilogy will draft more quickly than Alliance, but that's because I've worked a lot of things out in the last part of Alliance, not just about the world but about where the next two books need to go.

I will be releasing a newsletter-exclusive Goddess's Vision short story via the newsletter on the Solstice. It happens six months after the end of Vision of Alliance--I just need to work on a few things so that Vision of Chaos doesn't immediately make it irrelevant.

In any case, I drafted around 65k words in two months. Good to know I can still do it.

I also have some things up on Itch.io now. Klone's Stronghold is part of the End-of-Year Indie Fantasy Mega Bundle--$45 for 64 books--such a deal! You can find it here. Other things up on Itch.io include the Netwalk Sequence series (which I may turn into a bundle), plus some of my standalone work. You can find them here. The thing about Itch is that I can set my own royalties and create bundles, so...I'm exploring the possibilities. I will have the first series in the Seven Crowned Gods, Goddess's Honor, up on Itch soon, once I make new covers (yet again, SIGH). It will definitely happen before Alliance gets released.

I will also be one of the readers at the 2025 Strong Women-Strange Voices Holiday Extravaganza on Saturday, December 13th. I plan to read a short segment set around Christmas, from The Cost of Power. It's free for all to attend, registration link via Eventbrite is here. But there's a lot more fun stuff going on...Mad Libs, Round Robin, and a swag package.

Otherwise, stay warm, stay safe, and curl up with a good book (one of mine, I hope?). That's somewhat my plan...except for braving the elements to give the Boi his grain, treats, and attention. I have a number of good books lined up in my Libby library ebook account, am working through my print to-be-read pile, and am visiting old friends. It's about time for my seasonal Terry Pratchett and Earthsea rereads, so...happy reading!