Publisher's Note
Publisher’s Note: Finding Solace in Fiction
My blog last week was eerily timely. Truman slipped away at home with me by his side in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
I was right: It has been beyond brutal.
As such, I’m not much of a conversationalist right now. But the world keeps spinning and with each revolution comes the potential for new worlds to get lost in when living in one’s own is far too painful.
Ironically, the first project I have to tell you about has an orange tabby on the cover, so Truman certainly would have encouraged you to read it, having been a beautiful medium-haired orange tabby himself.
Publisher’s Note: Life (and loss) with Cats
I can’t imagine life without cats. I’ve lived with cats most of my life and have had at least one feline companion for the past 30 years.
I have always loved animals, but cats are special creatures. I’ve always felt particularly connected to them. I sometimes wonder if I was a cat in a past life.
There’s really not much better than having a purring cat curled up in your lap.
But it’s a cruel reality that cats’ lifespans are so much shorter than ours.
If you read Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s blog, you’ve seen her write about bad cat years. Those are the years you lose multiple cats because of age or ill health or both.
It’s a phenomenon I wasn’t familiar with until recently.
Publisher’s Note: Love is in the Air
You might expect someone who has been married three times to be skeptical about love. But in my case, you’d be wrong. At least, you’d be wrong now.
I was skeptical about love until I met my third husband. It was only then that I realized I’d had no idea what love, romantic love, truly felt like. If I had, I would never have married husbands one and two.
But then I wouldn’t have my daughter, and I wouldn’t be who I am today, so I don’t regret those past mistakes. I needed to learn from them to find the strong and loving partnership I have with husband three.
Publisher’s Note: Smith Does It Again!
It’s a new year, and Dean Wesley Smith is kicking it off in grand style with another issue of Smith’s Monthly!
After relaunching the series in January 2021, he produced one issue each month, just as the name implies. And he’s back at it for 2022.
If you haven’t picked up an issue of Smith’s Monthly in a while, you’re in for a treat. Packed with all sorts of great writing—all by Dean, of course—this monthly magazine is unique. And I mean unique: there’s nothing else like it on the market.
Publisher’s Note: Don’t Rob Yourself of This Opportunity
Our Crimes Collide Kickstarter ends this week, and it’s really going gangbusters. We funded in record time and hit our first stretch goal in record time, too. Kickstarter named it a “Project We Love” almost immediately, too.
We can’t thank you enough for the support!
If you missed my blog last week and don’t know what I’m talking about, here’s a quick summary:
Kris and Dean are collecting 100 of their mystery short stories together into a five-volume set called Crimes Collide. Fifty stories from each author in the series; ten stories from each author in every volume.
Publisher’s Note: Missing This Kickstarter Would Be a Crime
My daughter loves crime stories. Maybe more than she should at 11.
It’s all Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s fault, really. Not because Kris is a fantastic crime writer, which, of course, she is. But because when the pandemic shut down the schools in 2020, Kris sent me a link to The Mob Museum’s virtual summer camp. It was fabulous! Nola learned all about forensic science. And she became hooked on solving crimes, especially murders.
It’s safe to say that now crime is Nola’s favorite genre. True crime, fictional crime, all is fair game. We even recently watched a documentary on Ted Bundy.
I’d worry more if she wasn’t so interested in catching the criminals
Publisher’s Note: New Year’s Resolutions
It’s that time of year again when we’re supposed to be full-on into our New Year’s resolutions. And we’re totally on that, right?
Well, maybe not. Thanks to Omicron, the gym’s out. We can still try to improve our eating habits, although I just got the annual call to order Girl Scout cookies, so….
And given everything that’s going on in the world, you can take your Dry January and, well, you know. (I mean, if you want to commit to that, go for it. I’m proud of you. But I will not be joining you.)
But there’s one aspect of life that I think is primed for resolutions: taking charge of your work life.
Publisher’s Note: The 2021 Year in Review
Is it just me, or did this year feel like, well, a lot?
The pandemic didn’t help that, of course. We’re still wearing masks, still weighing the risk of every outing and human interaction, and I’ve gotten more shots in the arm this year than I have since I was a kid.
I’ve also lost two of my furry family members this year. I have two left, but at 17½ years and 16 years, it’s about appreciating each day with them at this point.
Emotionally, this year has been difficult. But I’ve had plenty of work to distract me, thank goodness.
We’re a small but resourceful staff here at WMG. As of the end of 2021, we have three full-time employees. We do contract out some work, but the three of us (me, Gwyneth and Josh) make up the core team.
And the feat this team pulled off this year is nothing short of…I’m searching for the right word here, because insane is what keeps coming to mind.
Publisher’s Note: I’m Dreaming…of Better Days Ahead
I’d be lying if I said I was dreaming of a white Christmas this year. Not because I don’t absolutely love white Christmases. I very much do. They are magical.
But living on the Oregon Coast, where you’re far more likely to see a rainbow than a snowflake, I gave up on the idea of a white Christmas at my house years ago. I mean, we might see snow a time or two some years. But the chances of seeing a white Christmas in Portland (where it actually does snow) are only 1 to 3 percent. Here, almost zero.
But this year, a Christmas miracle.
Publisher’s Note: We Wish You a Merry Christmas
Christmas week has come at last, and with it some much-needed joyful celebration.
The WMG offices will be closed Dec. 22-26 and Dec. 29-Jan. 2 so our staff can spend time with their families (safely, of course). And in my household, we have plans!
We have cookies to bake and presents to wrap and holiday movies to watch!
But before I do all that, I have an annual tradition to fulfill. A gift to you, dear readers.