Vacation Wrapup

My wife laughs at me for ripping open all of the mail the instant we get home from vacation.  Sure, some people might want to get some sleep at midnight after a seven-hour drive.  I am not those people.  I mean, come on!  After a week and a half away, the pile o’ mail included:

• Advance Review Copies of The Mermaid’s Madness [Amazon | Mysterious Galaxy]
• A review copy of James Van Pelt’s forthcoming short story collection The Radio Magician and Other Stories
• Contracts for my short story “Heart of Ash,” a dryad/werejaguar/urban fantasy tale that will appear in the DAW anthology Girls Guide to Guns and Monsters
• The on-publication advance for the French edition of Goblin Hero
• A royalties check for my story in Prime Codex [Amazon | Mysterious Galaxy]

We also came home to find the new playset assembled in the backyard.  The deductible will sting a bit, but the insurance company covered most (not all, sigh) of the damage from the storm, including sending contractors to set the thing up.  I spent Sunday mowing the jungle while the kids explored the new playset.

Vacation itself was very nice, as you can see.  I got about 20,000 more words done on the Red Hood rewrite, as well as finishing the page proofs for Mermaid, but I also had time to relax with the family.  There were parades, swimming in Lake Superior, a few small fireworks, various kid’s day events, strawberry picking, late night cribbage, a little reading … and yes, I did squeeze a quick booksigning event in at the end.  Still, I might be starting to get the hang of this whole vacation concept.

Tune in soon for a chance to get your very own Mermaid ARC