The third book in the Reaping Covetous series if finally available on Amazon/Kindle. It took longer than I had planned, but sometimes plans don’t go the way you’d like. The editor that does the proofreading is having some health issues so getting it back took a little longer than expected. Since this is on my own timeline, that was okay. I’m wishing Rogina a healthy recovery from her recent struggles. Hopefully, book four will be out at the end of December or maybe January. I am currently working on book seven—the final one.
Thanksgiving went well this year. The weather was rainy, but other than that, it was nice. I don’t have a very large family, but we gathered at my house and ate some lovely, Midwestern, carbalicious food. I fully plan on repeating that menu in a couple of weeks when Christmas roles around. Thanksgiving was also nice because we got more time off from work. It was like a little, built in, mini staycation.
Speaking of work . . . big sigh . . . I’m afraid things are going to get even rougher in the new year. A local veterinary clinic won’t have a doctor at all come mid January and another close veterinary clinic is on life support—held together by relief doctors. The whole system is unsustainable and I’m unsure what will happen. We are trying to do the best we can without burning out our doctors or staff, but it is difficult. There will be, and currently are, a lot of displaced clients and patients looking for a new vet. Many veterinary clinics have stopped taking new clients because they can’t support the load. We are desperately trying not to decline new clients, but we are limiting the number of appointments we are making for them. We don’t want to, but we can only do so much. It is all very frustrating.
On another work note, we are hopefully adding on to the clinic. The plans are nearly finalized. I would guess work won’t start until next spring/summer. The ground should be getting colder (maybe). I’m certainly no construction guru though. And the weather is anything but what we might view as typical. Friday it was 60 degrees outside! That is unheard of for this time of year. Friday night through Saturday morning we had bad storms but I think my area of the country lucked out. We didn’t get the tornados that Kentucky and surrounding states did. My power was out from around 1:30 am to 4:30-5 am but other than that, my home and outdoor Christmas decorations weathered the storms.
Newton, Copernicus, and Fennik are all doing well. Fennik decided to roll in something in the yard last week that smelled god-awful. Then he kept wanting to go out and roll in it again and again. I had to watch him like a hawk every time he wanted to go outside. He also dove into the carpet when he got inside and decided to spread the lovely stench around. As I was giving him an impromptu bath that morning, I repeatedly told him that I loved him, but he was gross.
I think that’s about all for this post. For those of you reading the books, I hope you like the third installment. So far, I like this cover the best. Cheriefox did a great job on it.
Until next time, stay healthy—both physically and mentally. Since my next post probably won’t be until after Christmas, I’ll leave by saying happy holidays!
MJ May
veterinarian and fiction writer 