Happy June, everyone!

Gosh, where is the time going? Seems like 2019 just started, and here it is June already.

That means my medical leave is almost up, although classes don’t actually start until the end of August. I was hoping to be miraculously cured by now, but alas, that is not the case. The best I can say is that I am not quite as sick as I was a couple of months ago. And even on my bad days I can normally walk to the end of the block, which, given that six months ago I couldn’t walk across a room without holding onto something, is a miraculous recovery, I guess.

In any case, a HUGE thanks to everyone who participated in the launch of “The Shadowy Man,” whether by downloading, sharing, or leaving reviews.

Speaking of “The Shadowy Man,” you can get it and many other fantasy books on Kindle Unlimited in the Summer is Coming Free on KU event. Dozens of fantasy books, all free on KU!

I wrote the original version of “The Shadowy Man” in 2007, while preparing to head off to Finland for the first time. This turned out to be a much more stressful process than I had originally assumed, so I bled off some of that stress and fear into the story.

I went back to Finland in 2010, which was *also* a ridiculously stressful process. The problem was that both times I was traveling on a FLAS grant from the government, and they just had to make it as difficult as possible. Perhaps as a result of this, I developed a pretty nasty fear of flying, which is ironic given how much of it I’d done. Afterwards, I made my parents promise to stop me if I ever decided to apply for a FLAS again.

Anyway, once again the process proved inspiring for what has turned into a series of novellas about Giacomo and Luca, and I wrote “Half a Dream,” the sequel to “The Shadowy Man,” in 2010. I’m planning to release it later this year, so keep an eye out for it, but in the meantime, here’s a sneak peek of the cover:

I didn’t realize until I was working on these stories that I had a thing for cards, but apparently I do.

There’s so much I could say about “Half a Dream,” and no doubt I will, but I guess I’ll end now by saying that the whole series seems to revolve around the themes of fortune and fear, with multiple references to sports. “The Shadowy Man” has a character named Barbaro, after the 2006 Kentucky Derby winner who tragically died as a result of an injury in the Preakness, and both stories have little catch phrases from football (soccer), such as “It’s not a matter of life and death. It’s more important than that.” So while Giaco & Luca live in a kind of alternate Renaissance Florence, their experiences are informed by current events in this reality here.

Stay tuned for more updates, but in the meantime, here’s this weekend’s selection of giveaways!

The Write Stuff Giveaway, with books in all genres by female authors, is still going strong!

All kinds of ass-kicking female characters in the Kickbutt Ladies of Fantasy Giveaway!

The Summer is Coming Giveaway features books that are free on KU, so load up your Kindle!