I came close to missing the newsletter this time--just wrapped up in other stuff, and the date snuck up on me. In terms of life news, it looks like I'll be exiting retirement soon. I have an offer, but since I haven't accepted yet, I'll just hold off a bit on the details. The job would be a jump back into the semiconductor industry.

Family hike up Enchanted Rock over break

My youngest channeling her inner gymnast

My youngest doing a press on the edge of a rock. I wish I'd gotten lower so that her body was level with the horizon... woulda been cool.

I'm still working through my second pass on Secrets of Deara. It's fun that the pacing problems of this book are entirely different from the last book. Bones of Cenaedth was very linear, which is unusual for me, and I struggled getting the timing right in terms of the pulse of reading. The new book has several threads that need to diverge and then come back together, more than once. So it presents a different sort of pacing problem, one more like what I dealt with in The Guardian League series. Because I've learned, and gotten better at this craft, I'm more particular. That generally means it takes longer, but ends up with a better result (hopefully). Let me put it this way--when I wrote Guardians, I didn't think about pacing. Or sentence structure and how it relates to story pacing. How narrative versus exposition can be used to speed up or slow things down. Does being aware of it make me better at it? Ultimately, probably.

What else is going on? A couple of things. One is that we should start the cover for Secrets in Feb. I have another, but I'm going to wait until it solidifies a bit more before I bring it up. Next newsletter I think.

I wrote an update to my writer friends on my marketing efforts. That's just so others can learn from my mistakes. If you're new to my group and a writer, AND you're interested, let me know and I'll add you to that email group.

I already put the results of the last polls in my unscheduled newsletter, so nothing new to share there. That's all I can think of! I hope you all have a great couple of weeks.

All books by Steven J. Morris

Indie Author Showcase

Cora Blake: Arcane Agent

by D.C. Fergerson

An agent is missing.

Still in training, is Cora Blake ready to help save him? Called out of her arcane and combat training early, Cora is placed on assignment. Anti-meta separatists are holding a hacker hostage.

Together with her mentor and a shape-shifting Italian operative, Cora steps into the game. But does she know what she’s getting into?

Witness the first mission of NSA Arcane Agent Cora Blake in the prelude to The Dragon’s Dream Saga!

(this is a free download, ya'll... you can decide whether you want more)

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May you get lost this week in another world.