I’ve basically been focusing on cleaning (it’s how I grieve) and getting the new lantana in to replace the stuff that had been killed by the last freeze. Or at least I’d thought it had been killed until I laboriously levered up one big dry cut back mass and found little leaves growing on the underside as well as one massive tap root. If we have another freeze this winter I’ll cover them up as I usually do, but afterwards I’ll cut back EVERYTHING to the very base and let it stand until the end of March to see if it’s going to grown back. Seriously, those tap roots were humongous.

I’m still mourning J.J. and I probably will for a while, but I’m trying to get things done in the hopes that it will keep my mind off things. So I set up some promo for A Theory of Crystal (the Paladins of Crystal novella that I released yesterday) and did some TikTok videos for that and ECS:OE in the hopes that someone might be interested in reading those (and help me offset the vet bills).

And I didn’t talk about Theory here, did I? Yeah, sorry, brain is still not functioning all that well. It’s a Paladins of Crystal novella that I wrote for the charity antho F*ck the Patriarchy: Getting Smutty for a Cause (and got the rights back this month). It’s the story of smart, rebellious farmgirl Yelena Kozar who doesn’t want to marry the trio of carters picked out for her by her overbearing mama and decides to start a new life by disguising herself as a boy and running off to the capital city of Sideros. In the process she runs into three gorgeous scholars trying to solve one of the biggest mysteries of elemental magic, gets hired as their assistant “Yul,” falls in love with them (and they struggle with their attraction to “Yul”), and hijinks ensue. It’s currently at Amazon and on KU so if you like my Why Choose series and want to read a standalone story while I’m finishing up Crystal Blade, head on over to the ‘Zon and pick Theory up.