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Happy October, aletsen!

First things first: thank you, all of you, for the various birthday wishes and gifts, and for the reviews you left on various sites (particularly on my shop!) and for the day on Discord you spent talking about how you first found my work. I feel the love! I felt it again when so many of you asked if the Jaguar Family was all right after Hurricane Milton, which hit us directly. We were fortunate to only lose a tree and some shingles, though the winds were the worst I've ever lived through as a native of hurricane country. Watching the windows flex and bow inward was... unnerving, we'll say. Especially since that part lasted for nearly three hours.

But the winds did end, and I caught this lovely reminder of hope a few days later, over all the detritus.

We needed to do the roof anyway, so here's a coupon for the store! NEWSHINGLES will get you 10% off your purchase, and if you already have every book, there is now an art and merchandise section, with shirts! I really like the shirts.I should do more shirts.🧡

One of the things I underappreciated about direct sales until this moment is that I receive that money immediately. Amazon and other retailers don't release my royalties for several months after your purchase. I'm going to have to note that in my next 'benefits of buying direct' post.😅

Anyway, onto the less dire stuff:

My next short story is out now in Raconteur Press's Wyrd West 3: Cursed Canyon! This is particularly exciting to me because I've never written a western, and I really loved writing this story. Some of you will recognize the fantasy critter from my pantheon of aliens, so don't worry if you're not into westerns... it's definitely a chimerically-flavored take on the genre. Go check out "Black Hat" in this anthology, out today!

Did you miss my other RC Press shorts? Here are the other volumes I'm in:

• Space Marines, "Veterans" (new story)
• Space Marines 2, "Game On" (new story)
• Moggies Back in Space, "Constellations" (reprint)
• Goblin Market, "Sister Prissa's Philters" (new story)
• Alien Family Values, "Brass Candy Girl" (reprint)

Some quick updates and reminders before we get to the all-important cat photo:

• The Kickstarter is 97% shipped! I am way ahead of schedule on this one, which I didn't expect to be done by November. I might have time this year for another sticker campaign... stay tuned!
• Surela 2 is coming along quickly. I expect to be done in early November. First readers, be forewarned! You'll be up soon!
• The read-along on Discord continues, and I believe is wrapping up Princes' Game now with Major Pieces. They're supposedly going to vote on what they're reading next, so if you want a say, pop on in!
• Finally, I went to (and enjoyed) NecronomiCon prior to Milton! You can read my con report here.

And now, of course, the necessary author pet photo. Cat was not impressed with me making notes on Surela 2's existing draft and sat in my spot when I got up for coffee. Also, he really does have another ear under there, it's just hiding. He looks like a veteran of the backyard wars there.😆

Usually this is my favorite month of the year, but this time I am definitely ready to move on to a quieter, calmer month! But I hope wherever you are, you're having a great October, and I'll be back in November with more news. Until then, know that you are the bestest of patrons!🧡