Hello readers! Guess who’s returned?

Yeah, I know. It’s not much of a guess. And I’m not quite 100% back yet. Physically, I’m back at my home at long last (after nearly four weeks of being away), so that’s not a worry. But as to the other kind of physically, I’m still pretty sore and tired. My fingers feel like they’ve been through the wringer, as do my hands and wrists. But hey, I can make a fist when I first wake up now so that’s progress! During the trip, at one point they were sore and swollen enough I could only just get my fingers to touch my palms when I woke up.

So I’m going to take another day or two. Oh, and this Monday there will not be a Being a Better Writer post. Why? Because when setting up the posts in advance, I completely missed that the last Monday I prepped for was Labor Day, a holiday I normally take off. Oops. So next Monday (this coming week) there won’t be a traditional post.

Which isn’t to say that there won’t be a post. No, far from it! Monday instead will see a compilation post of the last few weeks. Why? Because quite frankly a lot of people depend on ads and feeds to keep up with Being a Better Writer each week, and a number of those are manual. So quite a few people were just waiting for the notification to pop up rather than spend the time going to the site itself.

I get it. I’m not ragging on them. So this post will deliver to them all the content they may have been missing for the last four weeks.

After that? Well, I do have a large post coming. See, I took a lot of pictures this time. And video! Of some seriously awesome stuff that happened while I was in Alaska. Seriously, this trip made memories. I’ve never been as close to a killer whale (orca) pod as I came this trip. And when I say close, I mean they were close enough I could have hopped over the side of the boat and landed on one.

That close. And I got video. And pictures.

So yes, there will be a big post coming next week. But not Monday. And … I’m not actually sure when during the week either.

Why? Well, because something else happened while I was in Alaska. Something big. Something awesome.

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My new baby nephew was born. If that fakes you guys out a bit, well, I’m excited. He was due after I got back, so him arriving a few weeks early (no complications or anything, no worries) was a surprise. And this is the family that lives within a day’s travel from me so … Yes, as soon as I’ve recovered a bit, I’m going to blast up there to see him. So the post about the trip will drop next week … but I can’t say when, because new baby.

Yes, I get excited about new babies. They’re precious and adorable, and this one is super adorable from the few pictures I’ve seen (aren’t they all though, save the odd ugly baby?).

Anyway, in other words things will slip back to normal next week and we’ll get life back on track. Work will resume, new posts will arrive, and—

Oh, while I was in Alaska, I figured out the missing piece I needed for the next Axtara book, Magic and Mayhem (tentative title). Starforge will come out first, but the next Axtara book now has the overarching plot worked out! Also, next week I’ll get back to work on the print cover work for Shadow of an Empire, and with luck I’ll have the proof ordered by the weekend! It’s coming at last!

So yeah, I’m back, and it’s time to get excited! Gonna get a few more short story projects done, some work on Stranded, and the print for Shadow of an Empire out into the world, and then … Well, then it’ll probably be time to pre-Alpha Starforge.

Get ready, people. The ride is about to start!

Have a last fishing pic to tide you through the weekend! These are both of my family’s current boats.

See you next week!