Monday Morning

I got all the kids to school this morning on time. It's rainy, so I even drove the high school boys. I'm not sure what they're going to do when I get a new day job and can't necessarily drive them. Of course, the oldest is 17 and doesn't have his driver's license yet, in spite of my gentle urging (nag? moi?).

I've been scoping out jobs on job sites since I got home and having a Messenger conversation with a friend who's getting medical stuff done today. And watching the goldfinches mob the feeder. Real high-level stuff.

So if you know of any office jobs in my area, let me know (that's Sacramento area, for those of you who don't know me).

I finished the edits for Book 5 of my Châteaux and Shadows series. It's titled Mélisande and is a tangent from the first four. The hero, Lucas de Granville played a minor role in The Chevalier, as a friend to Emmanuel. Manu and Catherine have minor roles in this book. 

Mélisande is the daughter of a comte and of a palm reader, but didn't inherit any magical talent. The comte reformed from his misspent youth a long time ago and is now an extremely pious, rigid, and dictatorial man who uses religion as a means of power. It was inspired in part by Molière's Tartuffe, but the Comte d'Yquelon isn't quite as hypocritical. He does think all magic is the work of Satan, though.

Lucas is the comte's godson and was handed over to the comte by his parents who are all about the glamour and party times of King Louis XIV's court and not so much about earning money or caring for their seven sons. Lucas was raised strictly and tried to please his godfather, all while watching the godfather's actual son pretend to be pious and go out and be debauched. Lucas is learning to be a secretary and/or estate manager and hoped the comte would hire him. When he didn't (instead choosing the dark, intense Monsiour Arbois), he started thinking about working for someone else.

SO ANYWAY. Mélisande should be out in a few months. My editor has threatened me with galleys soon. I mean promised me galleys. 

Off to edit my contemporary New Adult book in the meantime!

You have plenty of time to read the first four in the series before the next one!

Or at least The Chevalier!

It's my book with the prettiest cover (and the book inside is darn good, too). In fact, the cover's so pretty, I'd appreciate a vote in the Judge a Book by its Cover competition! Mine's the second one down. SO PRETTY.