Mad March

The March madness has descended.

Random words from a romantic fantasy author, perhaps. But March has been genuinely maddening, so I say this with the barest hint of sarcasm.

We have been rather caught up in the men’s college basketball tournament, to be fair. My dad’s side of the family does a big bracket challenge every March, which has provided mild entertainment in years past, but this year, Mike’s in on the tourney—as is my 13-year-old son—so the level of competition within the Walker household has climbed to staggering heights. We’ve watched virtually every game (why are they all so STRESSFUL!?).

(Mike and I are tied for 1st place, btw. The family cannot be pleased.)

Alas, that’s about all me and my post-surgical self have been able to do the past week and a half: sit on the couch and holler at collegiate athletes on the television. (Nebraska, you surprise me! And Florida? Don’t even get me started on the gators…)

(Everything’s fine. We’re on the mend. No, I haven’t started book 3. Settle down.)

But! This brings me to my next point. I have some art work for you sweet peeps.

What manner of art work, you ask?

Well I’ll tell you. Or better yet, I’ll show you.

I’ve been craving some visual representation of Kitty and Kal of late, and I must say, this one hits the spot. If you’ve got an Instagram account—and particularly if you’re a fan of Brandon Sanderson’s tales—you’ve got to check out Shayndl’s work. She’s a digital artist that I happened upon a number of months ago while still deep in the trenches of book one and I’ve really enjoyed her work. Her handle on Instagram is @shayndl_art. And now I’ve got a custom piece of Felíne and Kal for my very own!

Enjoy the next 30 seconds of my fancy reveal.

PS: If you haven’t yet read Cloaking Fate, first, what are you even doing? And second, avert your tender eyes. There may possibly be a teensy spoiler? 🤷🏻‍♀️

Unfortunately, my newsletter platform does not allow imbedded videos, so you’ve got to navigate to a YouTube page (what is this, the dark ages?). If 30 whole seconds of watching me play with brush strokes in ProCreate kills you (you impatient fiend), you can just scroll along and check out the actual image below. 👇🏼

Keep scrolling.

Keep scrolling.

Keep scrolling…

Okay, now I’m just messing with you.

But seriously, scroll a little farther.

✨ BEHOLD! ✨

Ooooh she’s pretty! 🤩

I told ya. Shayndl’s good.

Can anyone remember what scene this is from? Virtual bonus points to those who do. It’s one of my faves!

That’s all I’ve got for now. Next month I’ll have a blurb teaser for you! Maybe some more art. Maybe something to read. Who knows! We’ll see what the rest of Mad March has in store. 🤪😉

(Sorry for all the parentheses. My inner monologue was particularly persistent this evening.)

🩶