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A second review was posted for Traitor Devil , this one also positive. I think after at least three more, there will be some point to going back to using Amazon Ads. I tried the ads for months, and people were clicking through with reasonable frequency but never buying, so the ads were costing me money and getting me nothing. It is understandable: something looks interesting, but there are no reviews, so it's not worth the risk. I've gone through that logic myself.

Revised Seven Magpies in a Tree with the feedback I got from my writers' group. The overall response was positive, but I shifted things a bit, establishing the stakes just after the magpie escapes the initial encounter rather than leaving it until a later scene. I also cut down the meeting with the queen, since that was mostly about setting the stakes, which was now done earlier.

The first draft for To Drive the Cold Winter Away is now complete. It turned out to be 21,477 words, which seems to be the length my stories end up being. Guess it was premature to think it would be novel length. I'm now going to briefly work on something else for about a week to let it ferment. In the lazy old days I'd let it ferment six weeks, but I'm anxious to get the book out and the new series started. I'll probably commission the cover soon, so keep checking back to s

I took advantage of the winter storm (not nearly as bad as predicted where I am, but there's still ice everywhere and Texas drivers don't have a clue how to drive on it) to get some writing done. I've written 4068 words for next week, and that brings the total for To Drive the Cold Winter Away to 18481 words and we're in the home stretch plot-wise, so it's looking more like it's going to be the fourth story in the first book after all.

I've added another 4016 words to To Drive the Cold Winter Away . The current total is 14402, with ~40,000 words being minimum novel length. I'm almost at page 6 out of 10 of the outline, and editing will probably extend it a little more, so it looks like we may well end up with a standalone novel. But that makes it awkward to start with as a mystery series, since the central plot is about a duel our heroes are trying to stop. But then, a lot of the cozy mysteries I've read ar

4125 words for this week. I've been doing 3000/week for years, so I'll have to wait and see if I can keep this pace up. That puts To Drive the Cold Winter Away at ~10,000 words currently, and we're about halfway through the outline, so it's looking like more of a 20,000 word story. But I anticipate fleshing some things out in editing, so it might end up substantially longer. It may end up being a standalone novel yet. Plotwise, our heroes have reached Kent and started their

Now that the outline is complete for To Drive The Cold Winter Away , I've started on the actual writing. I've put in an extra six hours this week and gotten 4000 words in results. My average rate is about 500 words/hour, so it's going faster than expected. Based on how far into the outline the 4000 words have gotten, it's probably not going to end up at standalone novel length.

I've completed the outline for To Drive the Cold Winter Away , which came out to 7011 words, about the same length as the outline for Traitor Devil . So it does look like this will end up as a novel-length project. I'll have to see how the outline translates into text. If it ends up that long, To Drive the Cold Winter will be the first book in the Lady Seis series, and Seasons of Song and Mystery will be the second, once I come up with a replacement story for the season of

Well, that's interesting. The outline for To Drive the Cold Winter Away just keeps getting longer and longer (4072 words and counting). To a certain extent, this is a matter of the number of plot threads involved and keeping them all in balance. But I'm thinking it might end up being novel length: we'll have to see how long the outline ends up being and how the outline notes translate into text. And I'm not worried about bloating because it's all about the plot threads getti

Sorting through plot ideas and building characters for To Drive the Cold Winter Away . I've got time off work after Christmas, so I may get a long stretch of time to get a lot of writing done. Or maybe I'll go to zoos and museums. The first book of the Lady Seis historical fantasy cozy mysteries is tentatively scheduled for late January, with a preliminary title of Seasons of Song and Mystery: Adventures of the Lady Seis

Got some disapponting feedback on Seven Magpies in a Tree and The Right Street. I think I need to make the characters more distinctive and amusing.

I'm done editing The Right Street , the third of the four stories in the first book of the new Lady Seis series. Set in the reign of Elizabeth I of England, this story follows the fallout when Lady Seis is stabbed after discovering a fake guard in the royal garden. Incapacitated, she engages Guardsman Jerome Street to be her eyes and ears for the investigation. The next story will be To Drive the Cold Winter Away , the last story in the book. Two good men are hellbent on duel

My book sales were more than my ad expenses for November. Neither number was very large, but that will come.

The Right Street is going well. I need to make another pass and put in some more stage business and sensory details. I also need to make sure there are enough jokes.

Editing on The Right Street is progressing nicely , I may have it ready for the writers group in December. In the initial draft, I included some just-died or currently dying people, but most of them aren't necessary and clash with the lighthearted direction I've decided to take this series, so I'm getting rid of all but one, where his severe illness is a plot point.

The viral post doesn't seem to have translated into visits here or sales. I've got one new sale and two visits here, more than usual but less than I'd hope for a post that's headed toward a thousand likes.

I came back from the Thankgiving pot luck at work, and I sold one softcover there, and some people expressed interest but didn't have cash (need to figure out how to accept cards). So I posted to that effect on Bluesky. It's gotten 24 replies, 33 reposts, and 678 likes, and still counting! I think they thought I meant I sold a book to a publisher, which would be a much bigger deal. I wish I'd known it would get a big response, I'd have included the author page and Amazon link

I'll get the feedback on Seven Magpies in a Tree this evening, The Right Street will be fermented and ready for editing soon (don't have Outlook handy, don't know the exact date), cozy mystery book may be ready sooner rather than later.

Finished Seven Magpies in a Tree and posted it for the writers group. I'll reedit with their feedback and then it'll be ready to go.

I'm done editing Seven Magpies in a Tree and will upload it for NTFSW on Sunday. That leaves editing The Right Street and Plotting/Writing/Editing To Drive the Cold Winter Away before the first Lady Seis book is ready to publish.