Focus? What’s that?

<deep breath>

HOLY CRAP! HE WON! HE WON! HE WON! HE WON!!!!

<deep breath>
<resume composure>

So… how was your weekend? Mine was fantastic but unfocused. There were exactly 369 words written on Saturday. The rest of the day was devoted to the polar opposite of doomscrolling — joyscrolling.

Spider Robinson wrote that shared pain is lessened, and shared joy is increased. There was an amazing amount of shared joy on Saturday! And tears. There were tears.

And now, I’m trying very hard to focus and get back to work. I’m behind on my Nano word count, but only by about 900 words. I can pick that up this week, no problem.

I’m starting to feeling that Wings of Air is wrapping up. I’m through the big reveal, and on the downhill slide to the end and starting Heir to the Firstborn. I’m not sure how many more chapters there will be in Wings — I need to see what loose ends need to be tied off here, and which can get woven in to the next book.

And John Zebedee Meets the Witch Queen of Elfland (I might shorten that to John Zebedee Meets the Witch Queen) has gotten off to a good start. Had to make some changes in Monstrous Town because of reasons, but they weren’t major changes.  And, as usual, I keep having to stop and looking up details about the area. Did you know that Texas has records of all their land-grants going back to the 1800s? And you can pull them up and read them online? It’s very cool.

In other news, my last convention for the year cancelled this morning. Not surprising, since KeiserSupercon was a smaller event that would have been held in-person. It’s been a strange year, and I’m really glad we can see the end of it from here.

Now, I’ve been promising a cover reveal, haven’t I? The Hidden Things cover went out in the newsletter last Friday, so now it’s time to share it here.

In 773 AD, Roland, a young man of King Charles’ court, was gifted with the sword Durendal. That sword was one of four swords of rare power, three of which were held by Wardens, mages charged with protecting the sacred bloodline of the Merovingian kings. The last sword was held by their mentor, the mage known to history as Turpin. That same year, a Saxon priest seeking retribution against Charles enlists the aid of a mage who seeks the swords for his own purpose, setting into motion events that lead to the battle at the Pass of Roncevaux, and to Roland’s death.

A thousand years later, a research group doing excavations in part of Aachen Cathedral uncovers a collection of books and scrolls, a ring, and a sword. As they uncover the sword, they are attacked. Summoned to the site by the power of the magical attack, Yael Mystere and his apprentice, Warden-in-training Doctor Douglas Keith discover the sole survivor – Margaret Prentice, the daughter of the man leading the excavation. A second attempt on her life fails, sending Yael, Douglas and Margaret on a quest for the power behind the attacks ─ a power that has been waiting a thousand years to win the swords at all costs.

Hidden Things (Swords of Charlemagne, Book 1). Coming in 2021. Preorders going up soon.