September 2023 – Magic, Mayhem, and Mystery

Sleuth & Psychic is out!

The past rarely stays buried.
No matter how deeply you bury it.

For James’s entire life, his mother—dangerous, unhinged, and powerfully psychic—has been the monster in the closet, the cruel abuser behind his urge to protect the innocent and helpless. Now she’s back in his life, and James and his friends must help her with a magical heist to steal a powerful artifact.

If he refuses, everything and everyone he cares about is in terrible danger.

But if he goes through with it, he has a lot more than just his life to lose …

It’s James Keeley’s highest-stakes case yet, with his family history about to throw a magical grenade through the life James has built for himself in Grand Bluffs.

Fall Equinox 2023 in pictures

I drove about 28 miles or so up the Elliot Hwy today – the southern part of the road that’s locally known as the Haul Road that supplies the Prudhoe Bay oilfields.

There were so many places where I would come around a turn and would be confronted by a golden hill that made me say “Wow” to myself. The pictures can’t really capture the experience of simply *everything* that isn’t a spruce tree being this bright vivid gold.

I like how you can see the rippling of the frost heaves in the road in this one. Behold the interior Alaska driving experience!

In non-highway experiences, the woodland trails around our 11-acre property have a fall magic all their own.

My somewhat minimalist fall table setting display … fake leaves and real gourds.

In book news, Keeley #7 will be out on Sept. 26, and Vicki Vandermoon #2 follows closely on Oct. 11. As always, it’s a busy fall, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

September update

September rolls in with colorful harvests and cool, rainy weather. Leaf colors are just beginning to turn, but many years we have our first frost in the next few days. It’s not looking like this year is going to be one of them (so far).

Sleuth & Psychic, Keeley & Associates #7, is back from its first round of edits and on track for a late September release.

I’m also inviting readers to email me prompts for October/autumn/winter stories for the mailing list for the next few months.

Other than that, I’m just settling in for the next few months of writing and colder weather. I’m going to put Keeley & Assoc. on a short hiatus while I work on other projects, and I’ve got some exciting stuff planned for 2024 …