You never know what might happen in a bookstore

On Christmas Eve I was in my local bookstore, buying a book for my husband. The place was jammed. This made me happy, as not everyone was buying calendars; there were plenty of people lining up to pay for actual books. I wandered around as best I could through the crush of people, enjoying the feeding frenzy. I found myself in the science fiction section, unsurprisingly. When the other customers briefly cleared away, I realized that right in front of me were a couple of books by an author whose name I recognized: Noel-Anne Brennan. For no good reason I pulled out a copy of “Tiger Lily”.  Yup, it was definitely my book, and I started to push it back.

“Oh!” said the young woman beside me. “That’s a good book! You should read it!”

I blinked in surprise and stared after her. I suspect my mouth was hanging open.  She had already moved on, disappearing into the crush of people. You never know what might happen in a bookstore.

Walking Companion

I went for a brief walk down to the wetlands behind our house. As I got close to the scrub woods a hawk flew up out of the trees, a big-red tailed hawk. The hawk flew a little ahead of me, landed in a tree and watched me. When I got closer, it took off again, but it paralleled me through the woods. At one point, I stopped. It stopped. I talked to it. I asked if it was the hawk I met a few years ago, on his/her first flight, when he/she almost crashed in my yard. Or was it related to that hawk?  The bird looked at me. Then it called out, an odd sort of chatter, while still looking at me. Then it flew away.  What did it tell me? I don’t know, but I would love to go walking with it again.

Apparently, I forgot ..

It seems I didn't post the Kobo link to the new Tiger Lily Series book. Sigh. If I had a brain, I might be dangerous. Anyway, here it is: 
Kobo:
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/tiger-lily-series

And Barnes and Noble: 
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tiger-lily-series-books-one-and-two-noel-anne-brennan/1124653895?ean=2940153555102

The new book is available!

The new book, "Tiger Lily Series Books One and Two" is now available for download. Go have a look on amazon: https://amzn.com/B01LZUM4VO, the ibookstore: Tiger Lily Series Books One and Two and Barnes and Noble.

What's New

What’s new and what isn’t? Actually, both at the same time. There is a new, combined edition of the first two books in my “Tiger Lily” series,“Tiger Lily” and “Burning Bright”. If you don’t already have these two, you might want the combined edition, unsurprisingly titled “Tiger Lily Series Books One and Two”. The combined volume will save you a couple of bucks off buying them individually. Right now it’s available for pre-order with a ship/release date of September 23.  It’s available now on Amazon and the ibookstore and should be available elsewhere soon.

Here is the link for Amazon: https://amzn.com/B01LZUM4VO

Oh, the cover:

Remembering

If you were alive on 9/11/2001 it is hard not to remember: where you were, what you were doing, how you felt. I remember it all, of course, including afterwards, visiting my mother in the city where I was born and going to look at the still smoking ruins. And I remember the unity and, despite the horror and sadness, the hope. A hope for the future and a hope for peace. I still have that hope: peace, for all of us, everywhere.

The Bad Stuff List

This has been a difficult summer.  That’s my excuse for being so far behind in writing book four of the Tiger Lily series. The Bad Stuff List: first, my husband was in a bad accident, then we both got sick and he was in the hospital (pneumonia), then he had a knee operation and then was sick and in the hospital again (still recovering, with me as the care-giver). Just when I thought things were settling down, I got very seriously sick (I’m still sick but I think it’s improving) and now I’m having a bad flare-up, a really bad flare-up, of my immune arthritis. And classes start right after Labor Day. Which means meetings. Sigh.

Okay, that’s my whine, but enough whining.  I have decided to just get back to work. It should be a relief after all this.

And in other news, all three of the “Tiger Lily” books are available in the ibooks store. More news soon!

Free Read

"The Blood of the Land", the second book in the Song of the Land/Rilsin Sae Becha series, is available right now in Amazon's Kindle Unlimited reading program (so is the first book, "The Sword of the Land"). This means you get to read it for free if you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited. If you don't, you can sign up for a free month, which is not a bad deal. Just remember to unsubscribe if you don't plan to stay in the program.

https://amzn.com/B00579YO74

Moonstorm is out!

"Moonstorm" is  available now on Amazon and also the ibookstore (Itunes). For now, it's an ebook only but I'll let you know if there are further developments.

https://amzn.com/B01HQSBEFI

http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1129504793

Who Needs Poetry

Poetry was my first literary love. I started writing it when I was a very little child. Adults discouraged me after the initial, “aww how cute” response. Poetry was nice, I was told, but it didn’t sell. You could never earn a living with it. I didn’t care and I persisted, even though the adults shook their heads. 

I didn’t need to earn a living with poetry, although that would certainly have been nice. Poetry enabled me to understand life, to go deeper into the world. I felt I could understand rocks and trees and stars and yes, people, much better. And I could feel. Feeling worked better than intellect sometimes. What’s the point of all this? I’m still writing poetry and now I get to share some of it. My new poetry book “Moonstorm”, will be out soon on Amazon and the ibookstore. But the real point: who needs poetry? I think we all need poetry.

Sale!

It's a "Welcome to Summer" sale on "The Sword of the Land", kindle only, begins on June 23 for four days! It's an Amazon Kindle Countdown sale, starting at 51% off. If you don't have this book, you may want to run and get it on the 23rd. I will try to post a reminder, but I can't promise (life is crazy right now). https://amzn.com/B0055DJLD4

ibooks!

For those of you who prefer the ibookstore to other e-retailers, there's good news. My little cat poetry book, Meow Cat Poems, is now available through the ibookstore: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/meow-cat-poems/id1123067648?ls=1&mt=11

Supposedly, it is available in 51 countries and territories (!). I am taking Apple's word for that. Other books should follow soon.

It’s been a rough couple of months. Dealing with health issues and illness is no fun, especially when you aren’t the only one sick but you are also taking care of sick family members. It’s not over yet but I decided that I’m tired of using all this as an excuse and it’s time to get back to work. I have a new book of poetry coming out very soon and fiction in the early stages. Stay tuned.

In other news, the hummingbirds are back. I saw one having a snack at a comfrey flower the other day. And one of “my” hawks from the local nest has paid a couple of visits . The hawk circled me a few times, "talking" to me. I think summer has begun.

Finally!

"Forests of the Night", book three of the Tiger Lily series, should be out by the end of the week! It's about time, seeing it was delayed about three months by a run of near disasters. Said near disasters included serious accidents and illnesses in the family, but there was also the more usual run of editing issues and cover delays. It was hard to continue working, but at last we're getting there! I am just about ready to stop holding my breath. Stay tuned!