It has been quite a week... month... year...

I'm not sure I have the words to adequately talk about everything that has happened this year, especially because some of it involves my family members' health and talking about that on the internet without their express consent seems... not ideal. So, I won't go into details, but it has been a hard year emotionally.

It's still hard. I am trying to meditate and exercise often to stay on top of things, but it's getting colder now (it was -26 when we got up this morning, though it's currently only -16) and so it's getting all too easy to say "I'll run tomorrow." Thankfully, I have a weekly aerial silks class that I hate missing because it is the only thing that has made me feel strong lately, and missing one week tends to be a huge setback, so I've only missed one class since September. The class has been a big highlight for me, both physically and in terms of keeping my head clear. Regaining strength and flexibility is a very big deal for me, so even though I haven't been keeping up with cardio as well as I would like (I still get in about one run a week) I am feeling reasonably strong. That helps.

Meditating helps even more. I'd been having trouble sleeping for the past week or so, and I was doing sleep meditations but they weren't really helping. Then last night I did a series of guided meditations addressing some of the emotions I've been sorting through lately, and last night I slept blissfully well. Helpful tip, the meditations had me crying, and that was actually a big part of what I needed.

But things are alright for the moment, and I am holding it together, although it's not as easy as I might like.

In the meantime, there have been a number of really positive things happening. In fact, that was originally supposed to be the point of this post, but I'm not feeling as upbeat today as I was when I first planned to write this, and I think it's important to talk about the hard stuff too. But despite the hard stuff, I managed to write books four and five of the Victoria Marmot series. Which I released back in November to... crickets. Kind of. I mean, the individual books have sold fewer than a dozen copies. (Meanwhile, the Omnibus has already sold a bunch of copies!) So, if you missed it because you're not on my mailing list, or following my FB or Twitter accounts, know that Victoria Marmot and the Dragon's Rage, and Victoria Marmot and the Road to Hell are both available now in all formats! And, as you may have gathered from the parentheticals back there Victoria Marmot the Complete Collection is also available in both paperback and hardcover formats! Here are their glorious covers!

Back in November I sold all of my books at the wonderful even that is GeekGirlCon in Seattle, WA, and I had a wonderful time doing it. I got to see readers/friends from last year *waves to the ones reading this* and meet new readers/make new friends, and I almost sold out of my Victoria Marmot the Complete Collection stock. I did even better than last year in terms of sales, and I had a ton of fun being on a panel about Found Family in Pop Culture. The whole weekend was amazing, and made extra fun by having one of my best friends join me for the whole thing, and having another of my best buddies from high school actually be in town and available for catching up and chatting. I love that event so much, and I hope I get to attend again next year.

Then, after returning to Manitoba I had a week to get ready for the launch of Victoria Marmot the Complete Collection at McNally Robinson here in Winnipeg. I was nervous that no one would show up, but lots of people wound up coming out to support me and it was a fabulous event (except for the part that my nerves made me forget to thank Corey, Lindsey, and Quintin for playing tunes, and to thank Corey in general for supporting me while I work on this whole writing thing). Other than my lack of an acknowledgements section, the whole thing went well, and I had a great time! (And once again, I almost sold out of stock of the Omnibus!) 

Finally, there is one last piece of really uplifting news, and that is that Blade's Edge, my little debut from back in 2015 has made it to finals of the Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off. Which, if you go look it up on the interwebs, you will see is actually a pretty big deal. The other 9 finalists this year are top notch, and include The Sword of Kaigen--which was one of my favorite reads this year! So, if you are reading this blog, and have always meant to pick up a copy of Blade's Edge, but haven't gotten around to it, now is an excellent time to do so. I mean, especially if you were hoping for some external system to validate your choice in fantasy reading material. ;-) You can read the Qwillery's review of Blade's Edge here (they are the blog that nominated Blade's Edge for the finals). 

Buy the eBook!

Buy the paperback from a local indie!

Buy the hardcover from a local indie!

Buy the print book from amazon! 

Ok. On that very high note, I am off to work on my latest project, which just happens to be the next book in the Chronicles of Gensokai. I'm very excited to be working in that world again, and I will let you all know more about it in the near future. Happy winter holidays (if you're in the northern hemisphere and summer holidays if not)! I hope this post finds you well. See you in 2020!