Speaking of carrots ...

My elder son claims he has the time management skills of a carrot. Apparently, I have inherited that disability from him, as I'm late--yes, again!--with my blog. So, why am I late:

1. I promised to step up content production on a book I'm ghostwriting. Working on my own stuff hinders that.
2. I magazine for which I edit is revving into high gear for the next issue.
3. Clients for whom I edit send new content to be edited.
4. Another client hired me to do the interior formatting for his next book. (Yes, I sometimes do that, too.)
5. I finally finished Satin Boots and uploaded the files--which KDP finally accepted.
6. Damn, I'm tired!

Those are, frankly, explanations that do not excuse my poor time management skills.

So, what's on the plate this week? I have another round of editing on client projects. I have to finish formatting a client's book. I have ongoing work with the magazine and two clients' newsletters. I have to go to the lab for blood work.

Oh, yeah, the blood work.

Both maternal and paternal sides of my family are prone to severe health issues that result in one certain diagnosis: I'm doomed. But none of us gets out of this alive.

So, about Satin Boots ... well, this came about because aligning authors' efforts is like herding cats. I wrote an article on that not so long ago.

After collaborating with Russ Town on Six Shots Each Gun, we discussed another collaboration focusing on romantic themes set in the American Old West. He wrote some stories; I got frenetically busy with client work. Here and there I did manage to crank out a story. Then his day job kicked into high gear and he sighed with a new publisher and he got busy. So ... I decided to publish my own small collection of romantic short stories set in the American Old West.

It goes live on October 1.

These romances are clean, wholesome, and sweet--nothing to offend here. That marks, of course, a departure from my usual romantic writing; however, I hope that the lack of explicit content won't matter. We've got gunslingers, ranchers, mail order brides, and gamblers--everything that hearkens back to those old western movies. Find thrills, danger, humor, and some deeper social issues. They're all mixed in.

ANGELS HIGH: A woman who makes her living by winning at a man’s game learns to expect trouble, especially when the stakes are high. But when trouble finds her this time, Angelica Durant gets more than she bargained for.

THE MAIL ORDER BRIDE'S CHOICE: Looking to improve her circumstances, an indigent woman travels across the country as a mail order bride to meet a fiancé who has plans for her other than marriage.

COMING HOME: Life is hard. No one knows this better than Dessie Humphrey who’s trying to hold onto the family farm. When aid comes in the form of a wanted gunslinger, she’s in no position to refuse.

PRIDE AND PEACE: It’s an open secret on the Lazy Five that Jessie North is a woman, but that doesn’t stop Daniel Harper from reacting badly when he learns about it. Can he overcome his prejudice when the proud half-breed saves his life?

RESURRECTION: Undertakers bury the dead; they don’t resurrect bodies left for dead. But that’s exactly what Antonio DiCarlo does when a lovely Swedish immigrant lands on his doorstep.

THE RANCHER'S FIRST LOVE: When a gravely wounded Chinese woman collapses on Clint Cheswick’s front porch, he doesn’t expect to compete with his half-breed foreman for her affection.

Satin Boots will be sold in both print and ebook formats on Amazon. The ebook will be available during the month of October for only $0.99. Enjoy!

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