Okay, I've been amiss about blogging again. But things around the farm have been busy, and downright muddy. I was stationed in the UK for 6 years and I've never seen it rain more than in Kentucky. The commonwealth needs to be renamed "Mudtucky" due to the 500% of our annual rainfall having dumped on us before the year is out. Yikes! Some of our fields are half way up my calf in water. I'm glad I had on my wellies for my walk today. It's even making it difficult to move into our new house- not currently having a truck, we've been using our little John Deere Gator to move some of the smaller furniture. Yes, now you can say you've heard it all- a Gator being used as a moving van!
Well, another part of being busy has been publishing. I'm happy (and finally relieved to announce) that the third book in the Dragonslayers Saga is out. "Battle Rhythm" brings you hard hitting action on the battlefield, but it also brings the battle to the home front as the characters interact more with their families and significant others, which in many cases, brings out the worst in them. Captain Westmoreland finds it difficult to communicate with his parents (his mother particularly) because she just assumes he's her little boy that's come home from the war and everything will be just fine. Lieutenant Jake Collins is madly in love with Monica, but can she handle his PTSD and aggressive nature? Only time will tell if that relationship can survive. And Captain Tige St. Ivor is tasked to do the unthinkable: he must hunt down and kill one of his best friends who has gone rouge from the SASR and is now killing innocent people.
On to lighter things: I've been busy working on Space Crazy- the first book in Dar's adventures in space. You'll meet the lonely, downtrodden alien as he's finishing "high school" on Erotis 3. Being a half breed, he's picked on and beaten regularly. It seems the only thing that makes sense in his life are the stars- they are calling to him, and he wants to be among them. So his mother apprentices him to a freighter captain, where he's able to sail the stars. Dar learns valuable lessons along the way, and grows into a fine adult. He may not always have the nicest personality, but his heart is in the right place. And when a lucky hand of cards drops the unexpected in his lap, Dar discovers what he's really made of. This will be published as a FREE ebook on Smashwords to start, and on Amazon.com for .99 (since you can't put books up for free there, but if I get enough feedback stating the book is free on another site, Amazon will drop the price). There will be a paperback version (sorry, not free) for any of you who love the feel of paper. It will be on Amazon as well. I plan to have the ebook released about Christmas. The finishing touches have just been put on it, and now I can start formatting. The print version will be along later. The second book, Space Junk is complete, getting my round of edits and then probably off to Joyce for her edits. It won't be a free book, but if you get addicted to Dar, then you'll have to get this one and see what happens to him.
Funny to think that I've been retired almost 2 whole months now. Do I miss the military? Hell no! But I do miss the friends I've made during the 20 years I was in. I don't miss the politics and the ass kissing that went on, and I don't miss many of the people who were over me. Much of what is going on is the reason the military is as screwed up as it is. Everyone is in it for themselves, not for the good of the country. OK, off the soap box now.
I hope the sun will shine soon, can't take much more rain. The horses are going bonkers in their stalls, but I hardly think they're ready to swim in their paddocks. One upside is I've been getting lots of writing done. Maybe one day it really will help pay the bills. For right now, I write and I farm.
Until next time my creatively obsessed friends,
Kathy
