Hi All!

Yes indeed, Halloween is just around the corner. It *almost* got cold last week, but now it’s warm again–for now. The incipient cold is turning into a bit of a problem, because at the moment I don’t have a good source of heat for my house.

I mean, I *have* heat. Multiple sources, in fact, But all of them spewed horrible toxins throughout the house when I turned them on. I had my furnace cleaned and run while I was out of the house, and it seems a bit better now. I also have a new wood stove and a new space heater, but they are still in the process of being outgassed and made tolerable. Hopefully one of these weeks I’ll be able to turn on *some* source of heat without immediately feeling like I’m going to pass out and/or throw up. Not only am I wildly sensitive to mold toxins at the moment, I’m wildly sensitive to lots of other kinds of toxins too, it turns out.

Just to show how much life likes to imitate art, I can’t help but be reminded of the scene in The Midnight Land I when some of the characters spend the night in a tent heated with a stove that makes them “fume-struck,” causing them to do crazy things. I’ve always been afraid of being “fume-struck,” and here I am…

Speaking of The Midnight Land, it’s featured along with lots of other first-books-in-series in the Start a Complete Series Sales Event! All the books are the first in complete series, and most of them are discounted and/or available on KU. You can also go straight to The Midnight Land here.

But that’s just a side note. What I really wanted to say is a HUGE thank you to everyone who participated in the launch for Half a Dream, which far exceeded my expectations! It even hit #1 in its category on the Amazon.com free store. Especial thanks to all of those who left reviews. If you picked up either The Shadowy Man, book 1 in the series, or Half a Dream, book 2 in the series, during the promo event, and feel moved to leave a review, it would be much appreciated! The universal Amazon link for The Shadowy Man is here and the universal Amazon link for Half a Dream is here.

And book 3 in the Giaco & Luca series, The City of Shadows, is already available as an ARC. I wanted to put it out into the world in the fall because not only is it set in autumn, but it’s also a scary, spooky read. Well, all the books in the series are, but The City of Shadows is especially scary (I think). I knew going into it that I wanted something to do with shadows (obviously). As I was writing it, I was dealing with some particularly unwelcome side effects of my attempts to treat Lyme disease and mold toxicity, including nasty anxiety and panic attacks. So I worked that into the story. On the surface, it’s not autobiographical at all, which I think allowed me to explore feeling-states with particular depth. And also have a good time looking up classical mythology and reworking it for my own purposes, not to mention Italian card games.

You can get a free ARC of The City of Shadows, plus many more spooky reads, in the Uncanny Kingdom Halloween Book Giveaway.

So there you have it! I hope you have a delightful Halloween, and get loads of Trick-or-Treaters, or, conversely, avoid getting any Trick-or-Treaters if that’s what  you prefer. Either way, I hope there will be candy involved.

This Week’s Selection of Giveaways:

Want some more Halloween-themed reading? Check out the Spooky Reads Giveaway.

And the Supernatural October Fantasy Books Bundle is still going strong!