Hot weather and the scorching sun have returned here to Colorado this past week, after a slight break of a week of rain and cooler air. Our water bill was huge last month, doing our best to keep the grass and our garden green during the baking sunshine. The flowers continue to bloom, the vegetables growing. We have cucumbers, carrots, lettuce and cabbage in our garden. And being an Iowa boy, we have sweet corn growing, the stalks nearly 7 foot high right now, with peaches and cream corn on the cob getting bigger every day. We’re looking forward to a decent harvest of food as summer winds down, with a few cucumbers and lettuce already picked for good eating. Here are a couple of pictures.

Besides the garden I continue to work on the front yard, doing my best to eliminate sections of the grass and plant water-wise flowers and shrubs, with weed barrier and mulch to keep the weeds at bay. I expanded this one section, with another planned once the weather gets a little bit cooler. Digging out this sod rooted in the hard clay soil we have here in Colorado is exhaustive work, especially in the heat of the day.

The editing continues on The Divine Devils. I sent the file back to my editor after the first round of changes. I’m now waiting for her final suggestions, hopefully getting them by the end of August. I must say editing is challenging. When writing the words flow out of me, the creation quick and painless. Whereas editing is harder work. Editing a story can be similar to disciplining a child. It can be challenging and heartbreaking at times, but necessary to get the end result. And I do think of these books I write as children I’ve helped create and molded for everyone to enjoy. From my initial drafts, to Alpha and Beta Reading, to rewrites, before sending it to the editor for a couple of rounds of cleanup and finetuning. All of it taking endless hours to complete in hopes readers will be immersed in the story.

Unfortunately because of COVID, I’ve not been able to have as active of a year getting out and meeting people at Craft Fairs and Author events. With fall coming there were two other events canceled, and I’m waiting to hear about the holiday events and if they’ll be held. But that hasn’t stopped us from working on items to tie into the next book. I’ve previously shared in the newsletter the new logo for The Divine Devils. This logo will be added to t-shirts and my daughter will be making soaps we’ll be selling as well. Here is one we’ve already made that we’ll have on hand once events begin again. They will come in various color combos and fragrances. This one is a peppermint which we hope will be popular.

If you haven’t already, be certain to check out the first two chapters of The Divine Devils on my website. You can read it via these links for Chapter 1 and Chapter 2. I’m excited about this book and hope to have a release date set soon, targetting the end of September or early October if all goes well. I’ve already contacted my early review readers and hope to be sending out the nearly final version for their feedback and reviews in the coming weeks.

This month we have five new Prolific Works giveaways, featuring the short story, The Case of the Missing Bubble Gum Card, the first in the Jarvis Mann PI series. Along with other free eBooks from great Indie Authors. Here is the information:

Magnificent Summer Middle Grade/Tween/Teen Book Giveaway features 7 books for Teen and Young Adult readers running until August 30th. Check the book out via this link.

Just Desserts – Cozy Mystery GG features 14 books of Cozy Mystery reading and runs until August 23rd. Check out all those books via this link.

Dial M for Murder – Mystery & Crime Giveaway features 19 mystery crime books for you to check out and runs until October 10th. Check them out via this link.

Awesome August Action, Crime, and Thriller FREE giveaway begins August 15th and runs until August 31st. Featuring 26 Action Crime books. Check them out via this link.

Justice Is Served – Mystery, Crime, Thriller GG begins August 18th and runs until September 1st. Featuring 38 mystery crime thriller books. Check it out via this link.

I been thinking about running a contest for readers of my newsletter, racking my brain about what to do. With all the talk of my yard and garden, I’d love to see what others out there have done in their yards. Whether it’s vegetables, landscaping, bird sanctuaries, and other hard work you’ve sweated over. Send me the pictures of your hard work and brag while you’re at it. I will share some of them in future newsletters. And if I get enough responses I’ll give away a eBook of your choice to a few random submissions. Just email the photos with your comments to me at this address.

Lastly this month I’ll do a quick plug to check out all of the books in the Jarvis Mann PI series if you haven’t read them all. There are 8 books in all, each getting consistent 4 and 5-star reviews. And all but the first short story are available on Kindle Unlimited for those who pay for that subscription service. Be certain to add them all to your bookshelf or eBook reader. They can be accessed via this link.

Thanks again for reading my monthly newsletter. Be sure to share with any friends who love to read. Those that sign-up get a free eBook version of the first novel Tracking A Shadow. And if you signed up and didn’t get the free eBook, email me and I will send it to you ASAP.

Time to get back to writing and editing. Stay safe, healthy, and happy!!

R Weir