Dear Humans,
The female has been playing a daily game. It’s fun. We call it “Allergies or Plague.”
Symptoms of allergies: Coughing, sore throat, sinus issues, aching, sometimes fever when they’re reaaaalllyyy bad, and so on.
Symptoms of plague: see above.
Not all people with all allergies express allergies in the same way. The female just happens to mimic someone with COVID very well. According to Apple’s new COVID-19 app, she probably has the plague, and she should go see a doctor.
Note: She used the app out of curiosity and amusement, fully aware she probably just has allergies and not COVID. Not that she could get a test even if she asked for one at this point in time. (Keep reading.)
In reality, taking two Benadryl makes the symptoms go 99% away, which is what is normal for her. It also induces a coma for a period of around 8 hours. In better news, it’s typically good sleep, too.
Look, you can’t be coughing, sneezing, etc when you’re unconscious. It works. Don’t knock it!
Except she hates getting up in the morning. Coffee becomes mandatory.
This year’s allergies are defeating two nasal sprays and eviction indoors. (It’s just that bad right now.)
So, in today’s game of Allergies or Plague, we have the morning coughing.
(Hint: her sinuses are mad. So mad. And allergy mucus, just like plague, likes to stick in places to make breathing difficult.)
In good news, she’s doing pretty okay at her allergy management; she hasn’t had to use her rescue inhaler yet. She is very proud of herself. However, she wants to knock herself out into another Benacoma rather than deal with today.
We don’t blame you, female.
On the book front, she has stirred the ire and unhappiness of the beta readers. She sent them 12/25 chapters of The Run Around. The proofing editor has the rest still, and she needs to read over the book after the proofing editor is done with it.
The female is amused.
The beta proofers are not.
Sorry, little beta proofers. Soon! (But we of the Furred & Frond Management are happy you’re enjoying yourselves.)
Still, be proud of the female! While in the lingering hold of Benacoma, she started the dishwasher. She cleaned something. She almost fed coffee to the cats and gave herself cat food. Fortunately, she figured out that was wrong before she dined on puree tuna and scallops.
All right. It’s time for the news. The Royal States series is getting a face lift. A major one. The female adores the new covers. On the 8th, Bonds has its chance to shine in the sun, as it will be featured as a Bookbub Featured Deal. The Bookbub editors were thrilled with the new cover, and they jumped a bunch of hoops helping the female get everything ready for its big day!
So, we’re going to showcase all of the new Royal States covers! By the end of the month, all books that are live will have their new covers. It also means the next few titles of the Royal States series can now be confirmed, along with some news about the upcoming Agents of the Royal States series.
Before we get into that, we’d like to take a moment to ask lovers of the series, if you haven’t already, to please take a few moments to pop onto the various vendors and leave reviews. Some will let you review as long as you have an account! With a Bookbub around a corner, this is a wonderful (and free) way for you to help the female out in a really meaningful way.
We’re even going to take a minute to help put you at ease about review content. (Reviews are hard, we know!)
Something like this is an absolutely wonderful review. So don’t be shy if you’re scared about making whatever minimum character counts the review site wants.
Title: This book was a fun read!
Review: I really liked this book. (Character) was interesting (because of something non-spoilery.) I thought the writing was (interesting, good, etc.)
That’s it. Really! That’s a perfectly good review. You can also go “I really like this book, I have read others by (author) and I always enjoy them. Worth the $whatever you paid if you feel like saying what you paid.)”
Don’t worry about feeling ‘stupid’ or ‘awkward.’ If you want to know about awkward, I lick my ass and make the humans watch. If you are worried about feeling stupid, well, the female almost ate cat food this morning.
Don’t sweat it.
In the Royal States of America, magic rules all, but life—and love—always finds a way.
Latent horse empath. Dishwasher. Closet chef.
Future king.
When food poisoning sweeps through Dallas, Patrick Laycal doesn’t expect a princess to show up at his door asking for his help.
Her one, simple request dumps him in the middle of a Royal mess—one that could cost him far more than just his life.
In bad news, as the covers are getting their facelifts, their prices are being matched to their lengths, just like the RJ Blain books. As such, Storm Called is now $5.99. (It is almost 100,000 words long.) In good news, we think the price tag is well worth it.
Storm Called can be purchased at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple, and Google Play. It can also be found (legally) on Scribd, Tolino, in the actual local public library systems, and official vendors including Walmart. If you see the book elsewhere, it’s either stolen or a virus meant to steal your shit.
We love the new cover for Storm Called so much. And we think this hunk is a pretty sweet representation of the bundle of chaos that is Pat. The female has aphantasia, okay? She can’t picture anything in her head… She views the world in weird ways, and she matches her characters by expressions and moods, and this guy very much ‘feels’ like Pat does to her.
Null & Void has also gotten a face lift, and this lovely model also does a wonderful job of capturing Mackenzie’s ‘you have got to be kidding me’ sort of mindset. Or that her demonic miniature human entity has gotten on her last nerve and she’s just done. In either case, she really likes this representation.
About Null and Void:
Born without magic, Mackenzie Little has few prospects. In a futile attempt to break her out of the null caste, her mother ropes her into participating in a charity auction, where anything can be bought with enough money.
She never expected her ex-boss would buy her company, but for one day, she lives a fairy tale.
Nine months later, despite their precautions, Mackenzie’s little miracle is born.
Armed with Texas pride and New York viciousness, Mackenzie must fight through hell or high water to protect her family of two from a society obsessed with the magic they lack.
Null and Void can be purchased at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, and Google Play.
And last but not least, Bonds is now on sale for $0.99.
It has a pretty new cover! Look how pretty!
By pretty, I’m pretty sure the female means Jack leaves panties trailing in his wake. Meow!
In the Royal States of America, magic rules all, but life—and love—always finds a way.
When a sinking oil tanker threatens to destroy the picturesque coastline of France, search and rescue diver Jack Alders and his waveweaving talent stand between France and a record-breaking oil spill.
But what Jack finds on board the dying ship will forever change the course of the Royal States and puts him in the sights of a royal tyrant out for blood.
Bonds can be purchased at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, and Google Play. If you haven’t gotten the book yet and use Bookbub, and you receive the newsletter for the Supernatural Suspense category, we’d appreciate it if you gave their link a click and acquired the book that way. (It tells them you all want what I write, and that lets the female get exposure to new readers! She loves Bookbub very much.)
Oh. Were you here looking for books to read that the female hasn’t written?
Today’s recommendation is The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley. This is a favorite. It has swords, a great heroine, a horse worth writing home about, and did we mention the horse?
There’s. A. Horse.
As always, check the sample before you buy. The Blue Sword is an older title, and you may not find it appeals to your interests. But the female likes it, which is why it is here.
Happy reading!
Follow-up comment: We totally forgot to mention more about the Agents of the Royal States series.
As this is a perfectly catty thing to do, we’ll save that for another day.
I really like the covers. I’m glad you mentioned aphantasia. I’ve NEVER been able to visualize anything and just thought I was strange. Now I know there is a reason for it! Thanks for that new bit of knowlege!
Love the new covers. Have read The Blue Sword several times. Any chance of a map of the Royal States in the future?
The covers are awesome! Pat is so sexy in the new version. Country western star! He could come and wrangle me anytime he wants.
PS I will always remember the first line in The Blue Sword – “Harry scowled at her orange juice.” Fantastic
Omg! Wish I could time travel forward a few years so I could read the WIP. But with time comes good things and my family would like to see my face without a book in front of it. So excited. Feeling the allergy blues too. The guessing game as to what it is, what will work and what will the rest of world tolerate on the sleep front is an unfun game many of us can relate to. Take care of fur and snarky babies. Maybe toss them a toy once in awhile. Would send some but …well you know mailing possible plague doesnt sound so good.
I love Robin McKinley’s books on Damar (The Blue Sword, The Hero and the Crown). In fact, all of her books are good. Deerskin is very difficult to read because of the dark themes from that fairy tale 🙁 but Ms. McKinley handles it extremely well.
New covers are great.