New story, new giveaway, new notebooks

Before I get to my usual burbling about office supplies, you should know that I have a new short story in the BEYOND THE STARS anthology, out now. This is a great anthology that’s been around for several years. My story is sci-fi, set in the same universe as the Audacity Saga, but with all new characters. It does feature a familiar setting, though: Molyarch Station!

If you’d like to read about a young thief that gets stood up on a first date… and finds a dead body instead… check out the anthology now!

Back to school… sort of

I’ve said it before, this is one of my favorite times of the year. Probably because I’m a huge geek, and I love school supplies, and Halloween and all things fall. But I’ll save those topics for October and November and for now just regale you with my latest purchases in school supplies.

This year, it includes a Fancy New *drum roll* printer. It’s actually not that fancy and only prints black and white. But it’s so fast, guys. And yes it might make the lights flicker and my desk shake, but I do. Not. Care. Print all the things!

I won’t tell you what happened to the last one.

Just kidding, it’s still sitting on the floor waiting for its special date with electronics recycling. ♻♻♻

This year I want to get back in the habit of keeping a sketchbook. This is my favorite size and brand, and I’ve been through a lot of them.

I want to just freely make notes and draw more.

I tried bullet journaling last year, but I just can’t relax into it. The neat lines and pretty page themes and charts make me want to make it PERFECT. And it can never be perfect when you’re just thinking out loud, sketching in pen and ink.

And I don’t get that much joy out of making it perfect. I feel obligated to craft it but then I just get irritated because why? As a busy mama, it just feels like I should have spent that time on something else.

And in another light, perfect is often the enemy of the good.

So I’m going to try to be a little sloppier this year!

Part of my desire to return to sketchbooks comes from that I’ll be doing a lot more hands-on teaching as I move to homeschooling my kiddos. (Virtual and in person teaching just wasn’t going to work for them and our family, and while I’d like to be writing, I want them to grow up loving learning as much as I freaking do! I want it so bad, I’m willing to spend this time to instill it myself. Still writing every day, though!) I think the public school system is great too, and we have always I definitely miss the excitement of putting a kid on the bus, but we are trying to make the best out of a tough situation. =)

Teaching has me thinking about what I’d like to learn these days. I love focusing on writing craft, and learning about how to spread the word about my stories and my characters with good marketing. But I’ve been learning about that for years.

There’s broader things to learn! So I’m dipping my toe into Russian, Botany, Electromagnetism. Robotics! Cognition. (That’s always been a favorite.) I may brush up on my ancient history. (I already know tons about that, but I mean, who needs an excuse to read about the Celts or ancient Romans? Not my kids.)

All these things are excellent fertilizers to feed and grow great stories….

Speaking of great stories, if I must say so myself, I’m running a giveaway for the next week or so!

MAGE SLAVE Picture Contest

And Giveaway! Take some pictures! #mageonanadventure

I would love to gather up some pictures of MAGE SLAVE out in the world! I have fan shots of DAGGER and EMPRESS, but not so many of my debut novel, so I thought this might be a good time to change that!

And since it’s COVID times, if you can’t get out and about, I’m perfectly happy if you want to Photoshop one! 🙂

In exchange, there’s a prize…

If you haven’t read the book and want to take part, you can still jump in because MAGE SLAVE is on sale on ebook for $0.99 right now! And as always, you can read it for free in Kindle Unlimited. 🙂

One randomly selected person will win a hardcover copy of the book and a matching mug!

So take some pics, and enter below in Rafflecopter!

Tag it with #mageonanadventure! And reminder: pics of the Kindle screen are absolutely fine. 🙂

The contest starts September 17.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

So have you purchased any fun notebooks, took any fun pictures, or read any good stories lately?