poking badgers with spoons

Jan

2025

Show Season Starts in 3…2…1…

I didn’t realize that February starts this Saturday until I sat down to plan our Highland Games afterparty and went… wait, what do you mean February starts this week? Which means that show season starts in 3…2…1…

I have at least one in-person show planned a month from February until June, with a couple of others unconfirmed but in the works.

I’ve ordered copies of books I’m low or out of, and I have swag coming in for the first event on my list (below, and on my Appearances page.) I just have to bring everything down from my office to the first floor (or have Darling Editor do it for me.)

I’m seeing people online pointing out that owning your physical media is more important now than it ever has been before. You don’t actually own your electronic media. Did you know that? You license it from Amazon, or Apple, or Barnes and Noble. Which means that those licenses can be revoked and that media removed from your reader or your game or your streaming platform with no warning. Think about how movies have been removed from streaming services and all copies destroyed — (*cough*DISNEY*cough*). Electronic media is great for accessibility and portability, but possibly not so much for longevity.

This is very much at the forefront of the romance writer’s mind these days, especially if you write spicy. If you want to support your favorite spicy writer? Buy print books. And if you want to make sure that you get them? By them DIRECTLY from the author, if you can.

And remember that reading is a radical act, too. Especially when it’s a book they don’t want you to read. To quote LeVar Burton, “Read the books they don’t want you to. That’s where the good stuff is.”

Work in Progress

Tales from the Arena: King of Swords
(Tales from the Arena, book 4)

11676 / 90000 (12.97%)

The Coral Throne
(The Sea Prince, book 2)

5773 / 90000 (6.41%)

Promotions

The last days of Bookmas are here! Check out today’s offerings here! Did you miss a day? You can still get access to all the offerings by getting an Instant Access Pass.

And you might want to pay attention to TOMORROW’S book… (hint, hint…)

Coming next week! FaRoBub– 200 free fantasy romance and paranormal romance books. One day only, on February 3rd! The link will be LIVE in my blog next week, so keep an eye out for it!

Appearances

6th Annual Love is in the Air
February 8th, 2025
Lakeside Community Center
Port Orange, FL

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Enchanted Knights: Myths and Legends
March 8th, 2025
Oviedo Mall
Oviedo, FL

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ICFA
March 19 – 22nd, 2025
Orlando, FL

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3rd Annual Spring is in the Air
April 13th, 2025
Venetian Center,
Leesburg, FL

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6th Annual Mother’s Day Bazaar
May 10th, 2025
Ormond Beach Elks Lodge
Ormond Beach, FL

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3rd Annual Summer Artisan Market
June 29th, 2025
Brannon Center
New Smyrna Beach, FL

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Smut Lovers: The Conference
September 17th – 21st, 2025
Orlando, FL

Jan

2025

Tik… Tok…

The clock is ticking down. Tik…tok…tik…tok.

Now, I’ll admit that I don’t post as much as I used to on Tiktok. Part of that is that when your thing is “Carline Talk,” you have a limited lifespan — once your kid no longer has carline? You’re kind of done. The other part is that the moderation team is… something. I’m not sure what, but they are something (I got a community strike for saying that Ursula was Disney’s contract lawyer — make it make sense!)

But Tiktok is where the book people are, so I stayed. I had some lovely interactions with other writers through Booktok, learned about new books and tools and indie bookstores. Promoted my books and helped promote others. And I learned things — about politics, about uprisings and unrest. I followed people who knew more than I did, and I watched people my son’s age grow and become active in their communities, and push back against the powers that be.

And that’s the problem, isn’t it? The powers that be could not control the narrative on Tiktok. So it had to go.

I’m still hoping for a last minute miracle. But I’m not holding my breath.

Where will I be? Here, of course. Always have a social media avenue you control. ALWAYS. So I have my blog, and I have my newsletter. I’m on Bluesky and Mastodon and Tumblr. I have the whole Meta suite — Facebook, Instagram, and Threads — but those are becoming increasingly more toxic, and I am probably going to focus my marketing efforts on Bluesky and Mastodon. Heck, I even fired up my Fetlife account! (That was mostly to find out what the heck was going on with some nasty local doings — I can’t say I’ve ever sold a book via Fetlife, but I have met a lot of wanna-be doms who lack reading comprehension.)

I’m keeping an eye on Neptune (and am on the beta testing team), so we’ll see where that goes, and I got an email this morning about a crowdsourcing campaign for a social media network aimed at adult content creators. And in the meantime, I’m working on not one, but TWO novels where our hero has to step up and fight back against a corrupt system oppressing his people. If I had a nickle, right?

The first week back was getting into the groove of writing after being off for a few weeks. I didn’t make the wordcount that I wanted on either manuscript, but I did get started on both. Baby steps. This week will be more. Maybe. It’s Highland Games week, so I won’t be writing at all this weekend unless it’s on paper (and they’re calling for rain, so I might not even be doing that. We will see.) If you head out to the games, I’ll be over in Bairn Care, near the clan tents. Come and say hi!