Happy June everyone! I can’t believe it is June 1st already. I’m sure we’ll all be hearing that a lot today. I’d rather hear that than, “I can’t believe it’s January 1st”. But I’m not a big fan of winter so that just might be me.
The second to last book, Pushing Up Roses, in the Reaping Covetous series, is now available for purchase in digital and paperback from Amazon. I really like the cover on this one. If it’s not my favorite, then it’s in the top three. Hopefully, book seven, “Reaping Consequences” will be out in August. That will be the final book in this series. For those who read book six and seven, you can see there is a spin off that is swirling around in my brain. If it does get written, it won’t be for some time. There are some other ideas swimming the turbulent seas of my mind that will get done first.
Speaking of which, Perfectly Imperfect Pixie is finished and I just sent it to my good friend, Kathy, to see what she thinks. This is a M/M fantasy romance (getting back to my fan fiction roots). Kathy has the rather unenvious job of reading my stories before they see the light of an editor’s computer screen. That’s the mark of a good friend 🙂
Veterinary medicine is still kicking my ass, as well as most vets out there. Business certainly hasn’t slowed down. We are adding an expansion where I work, but it is very, very, very slow going. Anyone out there trying to build anything right now understands that struggle. There is a flurry of activity for a day or two and then a couple of weeks of nothing but the sound of crickets. It’s very frustrating but not much to be done about it beyond taking deep breaths and trudging on.
Our new veterinarian starts in a couple of weeks. We are all thrilled but like everything else that’s new in life, it will be an adjustment. As with building the addition, we’re also suffering from the nationwide woes of hiring more competent staff. I often find myself humming the Jack Johnson song, “Where’d all the good people go . . .”
On a different front, we must have had a kind winter because my plants have come back this year like never before. Everything is lush and beautiful outside. The hawk’s that nested in my sycamore tree have had baby woes. Their first clutch of eggs fell out of the nest during a huge windstorm. I wasn’t sure if they’d breed again, but they did. About 3 weeks ago, the eggs hatched and this past weekend I could see the baby hawks peeking their heads up. I was so excited but then we had tragedy again yesterday. I came home for lunch and found one of the babies dead at the base of the sycamore tree. With a heavy heart, I buried the little guy/gal behind the shed. The whole time I was digging, I kept thinking I was working my way to being on an episode of, “Buried in the Backyard”. Yes, I watch a little too much true crime. Home improvement and true crime shows . . . I think my television would go into shock if it played anything else.
That’s all for now. Newton and Copernicus are still doing well and Fennik is currently at the groomers getting all the nature bits and pieces his fur has collected removed. I don’t envy the groomers and always try and tip them well. From what I understand, Fen Fen is a good boy, but he’s got enough hair to outfit three cavalier king spaniels. At the end of the day, that’s a big job for even the most seasoned professional.
As always, stay well, safe and find joy and peace where you can. Keep your fingers crossed that some of my hawks make it out of the nest and into the air alive!
MJ May
veterinarian and fiction writer 