Aztalan’s Idol, Almost Ready!

(Written last Friday)
When I sit down at my computer and tell myself it’s time to move Book 3, Aztalan’s Idol, forward towards our publication date of August 28, a niggle of worry has begun in the back of my brain. That date was so far in the future, we thought, “Of course we can hit that.” I hear Trell snort.

Then problems with getting the cover file to work with Amazon, and other issues here and there, have slowed me down. Despite saving time by formatting this book myself, problems seem to creep in wherever they can to wreak havoc on our plans. Learning hurdles, a weird form of author training.

Before you ask, no, there are no reviews yet of Merlin’s Tomb. I’m learning Author Patience, which is different from normal patience. Trust me.

So yes, I’m tired, but I did switch to helping Book 2 marketing along. I submitted it to our library’s Local Author Shelf, and hoping since they accepted Atahualpa’s Mummy, that there will be no issues. While getting Book 3 ready for all of you to read, I must also take steps to showcase our cozy steampunk in places online and link up as authors. Both locally, and in the greater “out there“. I tried FaceBook ads to promote the book for 4 days, just to see how it all worked, but not much came of it but some negative posts that haunt me. Well, thanks FB. But there are more ways to promote the book to readers, I just have to find them and use them. I’ll network with some author friends to see what might be done to spread the word.

Realistically, we should be able to get Book 3 out before our deadline of the 28th. But I worry and I bite my nails, and crave corn chips and cucumber dip, and a large cold chai latte. And still I work in the background on my cozy mystery series, Sunset Lake Cottage Mysteries. I find it difficult to do multiple books at once though. I need more To Do lists.

(Written Monday.)
AND I JUST KNEW IT, we finally solved our book cover problem, and my format issues (learning curve kicked in), but we have had to move the release date to September 4, 2026. Nan Sampson and I need to check how the format looks in print. The author copy arrives Wednesday and we shall see how well I can format.

Meanwhile, I wonder weird things these days. Would Trell like my cucumber dip, and would he also prefer corn chips with the dip, like me? Where is Kinzy really heading now that we changed so much in our world? Will Esme ever have kids and would Kinzy get to know them? Where is my cold chai latte? I am off to the kitchen for chai and dip.

Last, here’s our cover, Aztalan’s Idol, Book 3 of The Harrogate Chronicles. Look, you can check online and find out the Aztalan Aztec thing in Wisconsin is pretty much not true, but this is our alternate history world and we were so intrigued, Nan and I built this story around the tale in a way we never guessed would lead us in so many new directions.

Major changes hit both Lady Esme and Lady Kinzalynn,
but they remain best friends, fighting together.
They defy queens, travel beyond the Colonies,
and find enemies old and new. But also friends.
And they’ll need friends to stop the Fae King before it’s too late.