Well this is awkward...

You know, I had this grand plan for an exciting November newsletter installment, and then November decided to kick the Walker household in the teeth. Don’t worry, we’ve got dental.

Brief recap:

• Mike (my husband, for those who don’t know) was in a vehicle accident toward the end of October. He’s fine—thank divine—but his truck, which served as his work and personal vehicle, was not. Total loss. Commercial dump truck: 1; Mike’s pickup: 0.

• Thus ensued an insurance fiasco. To anyone who’s dealt with this whole infernal process, I deeply empathize. We, quite unfortunately, don’t have boatloads of cash lying about, so we had to wait for the insurance company to comb through miles of provided paperwork before moving forward with replacing our pickup. This took ALL of November. In fact, it’s still not entirely resolved. 😑 I can’t even. Transportation with one vehicle has been a logistical nightmare with both Mike and me working full-time—he relying entirely on a strong engine to haul material, which necessitated insanely expensive rentals—and both kids in sports. Can you tell I’m salty? It sucked.

• Throw in some exceedingly obnoxious personal health issues, and I’ve about had it with 2025 in general.

• Alas, we Walkers are nothing if not tenacious. The vehicle situation is looking up, and I miraculously managed to get through a huge chunk of self-edits on book two. I have full confidence that she’ll be off to my editor by the end of December, which puts me back on track with my original deadline.

• Thanksgiving was delightful. We spent a solid four days with family we rarely get to see, ate an absurd amount of delicious food, drank ourselves silly on homemade hot cocoa, binged Stranger Things, discovered some dangerously good tequila, and just had a really great holiday. Blessed is an understatement. I hope yours was equally enjoyable.

Okay, so now for what my original November post was supposed to entail.

Remember way back when I told you that my cover for Cloaking Fate wasn’t my original cover? If not, I’ll offer a quick recap: I commissioned an artist to do my cover for CF before I was truly ready, and while I ended up going with another designer, the first one was still a pretty cool piece of art that I think those who’ve read the book might enjoy. In fact, I may end up using it for something down the road. Who knows.

Anyway, here it is—old enough that it predates my current series name. 🫣

Anyone know the inspiration behind the design? I’ll give you a hint: it’s a rather pivotal moment in book one—a scene I quite enjoy. 😉

That’s about all I’ve got for now. I MIGHT squeeze one more newsletter in before December’s end, but if not, I wish you an abundantly joyous holiday season, and I’ll be back with some (hopefully) exciting book two news!

🩶

N.