Daffodils are here. These are in the front of the house. More are starting to come in out back.

Manuscript is off to first readers. Right now I’m estimating I can have it out mid-May. I’ll post the cover and blurb at the beginning of next month.

I was hoping to have a real flower photo by today but not quite.

I have abandoned my loved ones and all my responsibilities to get Book 4 finished. It’s supposed to go to beta readers one week from today and as usual, I’m close but not as far along as I’d hoped.

Updates on both next week.

Yesterday I went to my second ever NCAA gymnastics meet at Oregon State. My husband is a prince about going down to Corvallis with me. He’s watched enough that he gets the basics. My favorite teams are generally the ones I can see with my cable package. It used to be limited.

In the past couple of years I went from being able to get 1 or maybe 2 meets a weekend to more like 4-5 meets a weekend which is more gymnastics than I can handle. I love all the Pac-12 and SEC teams since I see them the most.

But UCLA is among my very favorite teams so I was just like all the other kids at the meet, completely enraptured with every moment. There is so much fun stuff in person that you don’t get to see on TV.

Both teams were amazing. It was a super fun day. Back to work on Book 4. I think I’m still on track for my Spring 2019 release.

This beast is Oakie. He lives with my folks. He is not happy unless he is in my way and glares at me if I foil his plans.

I was fortunate to spend a long weekend down in Karuk Country in perfect weather with a huge family mob in town.

I brought home a ton of apples, pears, Asian pears, huckleberries, a couple of giant beets, and pet hair. Some of the pears were losing it so I just sliced them up and topped with butter, oats, brown sugar and cinnamon and baked and we’re eating right now. Normally I would have made that for dessert but I made an apple huckleberry pie last night so we already have dessert for tonight.

We will not be going hungry any time soon.

Guess what? STILL NO PAPERBACK. Amazon: you are killing me.

In case you haven’t heard me already complain a million times, they are merging the paperback making part of the operation with the ebooks and everyone has to migrate their books. Everything is slow and bungled up right now. Meanwhile, I discovered a teeny (hehe) editing error that causes a confusing continuity problem. I put off fixing it because I was afraid my book would go back to the end of the line. But I guess publishing it with a mistake isn’t so hot either so I’m mucking around and hoping it doesn’t compound the delays.

Everything is done and uploaded but I can’t control the part that happens after that and I have no purchase URLs.

It’s been a long frustrating day.

I will try to get it up as soon as I can. Thanks for your patience.

When I started this project, my intention was to have four more-or-less stand alone romances loosely connected by a background story about the Crooked Rock Urban Indian Center’s future.

It kind-of got away from me so I think at this point, with Book 3, I need to warn readers that this is not a standalone and new readers will be happier if they read at least one of the previous books first.

The ebook for Book 1 is only .99¢ right now.

Sorry I don’t have a more specific date for publication. I could pick one but generally the minute it’s ready, I like to click publish. I should get it back next week and then it takes another week or so for me to finalize and do last minute fiddling around and then transform into an ebook and upload around town. It takes at least another week for the paperback because I need to send off for a proof before I click publish on that.

So we’re looking at the last week of August for the ebook, first week of September for the paperback.

Here’s the blurb for Book 3 again:

Tommy Weaver wants to stay sober and that means steering clear of challenging situations, avoiding difficult people, and staying away from personal relationships. Unfortunately, he has a cousin unsuccessfully rehabbing in his spare room while Crooked Rock demands more than he can give, and in the midst of his growing troubles, the irresistible Elizabeth appears.

Elizabeth Lewis couldn’t wait to finish college and get back to the security of her home and family on the reservation. But when her granny, a well-known Indian activist, seeks to right a family wrong, Elizabeth finds herself back in the city and seeking assistance from Crooked Rock. She convinces Tommy to join her and as her mission grows more complicated, he never leaves her side.

Neither of them expected to fall this hard, so what happens when it’s time for Elizabeth to go back home?

Book 3 Sweetheart Braves is done and off to the editor. It will take me a couple of weeks to finalize and get into your hands. I’ll have more precise details soon.

I went out this evening and took a bunch of garden photos and my camera card died. Here’s a tomato and a couple of tomatillos, both from volunteers. More photos over the weekend.

Here’s your periodic update — I had to push back. I’ve had a family situation which resulted in a lot of distractions which turned into panic which is not the optimum state of mind to write books. If you’re waiting for Book #3 — sorry! Looking like beginning of October at this point. Sorry to keep you waiting. I’d write faster if I could.

This rosemary was about the size of my thumb when I planted it. Now it’s taken over and covers a bunch of bulbs. I whacked it back last fall but you can’t tell.

I love all the daffodils but these are my favorites.