Shelly Laurenston/G.A. Aiken Newsletter

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Hi, all!

Sorry I missed last month. I am so behind on my latest WIP and, quite honestly, didn’t have much to say (except incoherent screaming) that I just let it go. I find this system works much better for me. Besides, a newsletter with nothing but “aaaaaaaah!” seems like a waste of everyone’s time.

Anyway, in May’s newsletter, a few of you were wondering if I had a separate newsletter that only talked about book stuff. Nope. Sorry. I don’t. Some authors keep you apprised of every step of their writing process, but I’m too superstitious for that. WAY too superstitious. So, to help those who just want book news and nothing else, I’m going to add headers. For instance, I’ll have one for Aggie, one for anything personal I need or want to convey, and then a specific header for just the book information. The headers will be bold and underlined (for easy viewing), the book info one will be last and a little bigger than the others, placed just before that month’s excerpt. As we go along, there might be changes here and there until I find something that works well. But hopefully what I have below, will help.

Anyway, this new layout will allow you to just read straight from the beginning OR to quickly skim down until you get to the book stuff you seek, if there is any for that month (if I don’t have anything, I’ll just say so). After that, you can close the newsletter and get back to your day. And that’ll be it! Easy-peasy!

So, let us begin!

AGGIE GIRL!

She is doing GREAT! And I am madly, hopelessly in love with this little psycho! I call her “The Rhino,” because that’s what she reminds me of when she’s running at me full bore. She’s even all gray like rhinos. She’s just missing the horn.

She still sleeps on the bed when I’m not in it and, every once in a while, when I am in it as well. The reason it’s not full-time yet is because she wants to not cuddle up quietly beside me and sleep. No. She wants me to pet her chest and stomach. Forever, it seems. I can manage twenty or thirty minutes of petting, but for Aggie that’s still not enough. And when I go to bed, I go to sleep. But every time I stop petting her, she starts wiggling and climbing. On me! She’s a compact girl, but she’s still 50-pounds of muscle, in a California King, who won’t let me sleep. When that happens, I just lead her to her crate. Thankfully, she loves her crate, and we can both sleep in peace. A few times, when she’s tired enough, we can sleep all night in the bed, but I think it will take a while longer before that becomes a regular routine. That’s fine, though. I’m willing to wait and work with her to get there. She’s worth it.

Aggie is getting me out each day for walks, which is good for both of us. Honestly, if not for her, I’d be trapped in my house like a hermit for weeks on end while I attempt to finish this book. Not healthy, in general, and a nightmare on my back.

It turns out, also, that my little girl is quite protective. I brought her over to my friend’s house just before July 4^th holiday because my Cali Fam wanted some play time with her (and I really needed a break). She was off with my friend’s partner and I was chatting with the rest of the Fam until I had to go to the bathroom. Didn’t think about it, just went. But when I came out, I found Aggie outside my door. Everyone was eager to tell me how she’d stood outside like protection. That seemed cute, but I became convinced she just didn’t like not being able to go into the bathroom with me. Aggie has no personal boundaries. She doesn’t believe in them. So I assumed that’s all that was behind her “protection” duty.

But then, this week, Aggie woke me up early for a potty break. Took her to the front door, but when I opened that door, there were lacrosse players on the nearby basketball court doing drills that involved the banging of their little balls against the back hoop (I wouldn’t have minded but it wasn’t even 8 am yet…on a Saturday!). Aggie, who is not a fan of loud sounds (yes, July 4^th was FUN! /sarcasm), took one look out that door and was all, “NOPE! Not going out there.” Knowing how stubborn she can be, I decided to take a little break myself in the hopes that she would want to take that potty break after I was done. She did not, but I noticed that while I was in the bathroom, she positioned herself in the middle of the hallway outside my bathroom, facing in the direction of the front door. She’s NEVER done that before. She either follows me inside or she goes to lay down. And she didn’t move from that position, her focus on the front door, until I came out. She was absolutely protecting me. And it felt awesome! Y’all know I loved Gaius, but he would have let John Wayne Gacy and Jeffrey Dahmer walk into my house with kill kits in see-thru bags, if he thought he’d get treats out of them. And Max was protective but he was also a little nuts. I never knew what he’d do or when. Some days, he’d tried to rip a guy’s leg off because he walked too close while completely ignoring us; or Max would not see what was right in front of him because, on that particular day, he didn’t want to be bothered. But my Aggie…on guard! Like that cool girlfriend you always take to the club because she’ll be the first to notice a guy trying to put drugs in your drink.

But just in general, Aggie is doing great. She hasn’t molested my leg in a couple of months. Doesn’t even try anymore. She has all her basic commands down. She is good at self-soothing. She listens when I tell her things! And I think once she’s a little older, she’ll be less into the climbing on me and wiggling around, swinging that heavy head like she’s trying to break my front teeth.

Anyway, if you want to see a recent Aggie video, I posted something to my Facebook page. Just a fun little thing. Don’t expect a Francis Ford Coppola film. Heh.

GENERAL (NON-BOOK) STUFF

I’m doing fine. Still have Gamer’s Thumb but I have less pain (thank you, Odin!) but in my right thumb, less mobility. So still going to see my ortho in the next couple of weeks. I really don’t want surgery, though. What if something goes wrong and my thumb or hand is worse than it was? I need my hands. I know there is software that will transcribe your words, but I don’t really write like that. My books will just be a crazy stream of consciousness that I’m not ready to deal with emotionally. “Then the centaur entered the lord’s castle and went to the grocery, picked up macaroni noodles, milk, ground beef, went home, made Hamburger Helper, booked a brow appointment, needed conditioner, cut down the evil sorcerer with his blade, and, AGGIE! STOP BARKING AT THAT DOG! The end!”

BOOK NEWS

Not a ton of news, but remember that TO KILL A BADGER is up for pre-order at all major online outlets. And keep your eyes open. My publisher and other sites sometimes do ARC giveaways. Please keep in mind, these are not run by me or Cheryl—Otter Warrior and Destroyer of Evil—so we can’t assist you if you have questions about any contests or giveaways. Go directly to those running the event.

One last book-related thing. Kensington has been updating the covers for my Dragon Kin series. I love them all! Cheryl—Battle Priest of the Otter Order, Destroyer of Boredom—made a little video of the new covers so you can see them in one place. Please note that the books have NOT changed. There are no updates or additional stories. Just new covers that I want to brag about. You can find the video here.

And that’s it! Now I MUST get back to work. Here’s this month’s excerpt. A little fun and silliness from BEAST BEHAVING BADLY! Talk to y’all next month!

A purple cover with a tiger head and text

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