Back from Vacation

First, let me say, Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms of both two legged and four legged kiddos. Cheers to those who’ve embarked on the most difficult job in the world.

I recently returned from vacation. This lovely vacation was spent in costal Georgia. My sister and cousin went with me and are in several of the pictures posted at the bottom. We spent the first two days in beautiful Savanah and then four days on St. Simons Island and the surrounding areas.

While this trip was mostly vacation and down time, it was also an exploratory mission for me. I would love to move to warmer climes in the future so I was also checking out the general area to see if this is somewhere I might want to eventually call home. I have to say, several areas ticked a lot of my boxes. I just can’t get enough of the live oak trees and their sweeping branches and Spanish moss. As those who’ve read previous posts already know, I’m not a fan of the cold, thus my search for somewhere warmer.

I’m not certain when I’ll eventually move. Fen would absolutely hate the heat as he hates hot weather where I currently live. At this point, I will most likely wait until the sad day when he is no longer with me to move. Of course, things change, but currently that is the plan. Also, when I move, I don’t want to continue working as a veterinarian, or, at least would want to only do relief work and not work full time. Therefore, it makes more sense to continue working full time for now before making a big leap/move. I currently live in an area of the country with fairly low housing costs and will definitely be moving somewhere where homes cost more.

Switching gears from vacation . . . I’ve had a couple inquiries regarding when the last necromancer book, Deadly Arrogance, will be available in audiobook. I contacted Podium and it looks like it is scheduled for release in June with pre-order hopefully by the end of May. FYI, most of the audiobooks are now available on other platforms beyond Audible.

Dryad’s Treasure, the second book in the Magical Usage Council Misadventures series will hopefully be available in June as well. It is currently going through editing. I had a few comments regarding editing mistakes in Warlock’s Menace. I apologize about them. All my books go through two rounds of professional editing by two different editors and then I read through them again before formatting. I hate that so many mistakes still get through. I will endeavor to try and catch more of them in the future.

I’m switching gears a bit on the writing front for the next book. For those of you who’ve read the Reaping Covetous series, I’m returning to this world to hopefully write a series about Augusta Mayfield. She makes an appearance toward the end of the series. I was always planning on giving Augusta her own book/series but got waylaid by Phil, Sedrick, and a gaggle of quirky pixies. I then became enamored with Erasmus and well . . . the writing roads became winding with interesting little pit stops and plot bunnies. There will be at least two more books in the Magical Usage Council Misadventures series (four all together) and most likely I will start on the third book when I’ve finished Augusta’s story. Right now, she’s taking up too much head space to ignore.

Fen and Newton are still doing well. They were happy to see me when I returned from vacation. Oddly, Fen (who will generally eat anything and everything not nailed down) doesn’t eat well when I’m gone. He’s got enough padding that a few days of nibbling doesn’t hurt him, but I’m happy that he’s back to scarfing down his food.

Thankfully spring is truly here. The weather where I live is hit or miss with some days being nice and warm while others we have frost warnings. I did go ahead yesterday and purchase the annual plants that I place in the pots around the front of my house. As usual, I spent way too much money, but I do enjoy them, even when I have to find time in my busy schedule to water them. Their color brings me joy and these days, joy can be a difficult commodity to find.

Until next time, I’m wishing you all well and hope life is treating you kindly. Thank you to all those who have sent me private messages telling me you enjoy the stories and also pointing out where I can improve. I know we are all busy and I truly appreciate you choosing to spend some of that time with me and the characters that crowd my mind.

MJ May

FYI, the first few images at the bottom are all from a beach on Jekyll Island called, Driftwood Beach. It’s a bit eerie but also fascinating.