Resting - and wildlife

 

Saw this pretty lady - or one very like her (I snitched this picture off the Internet, since I'm beyond lousy with a cell-phone camera) - as I took my walk before sunup this morning. She's the second mantis I've seen in the past month - I saw one of exactly her dust-brown color sitting on a wall in Chico on my road-trip. They were all over the place when I was a little kid, in several colors - usually leaf-green, but often golden, or a darker brown than this. We had them as pets. My sister had a white one.

Later this morning when I went to the campus I saw a full-grown and DAMN BIG hawk flap down onto the seat of a chained-up bicycle, and case the surrounding area like he'd paid for smorgasbord there.

It's still hot - the temperature plunged clear down to 106 for today, though I'll bet it tops at 108 like it did yesterday (Sunday was 112). I'm still resting between projects (though I admit I'm working on another Further Adventure). The final page-proofs of Iron Princess come in Thursday. My first fantasy novel in years, it's due to come out in February, and is the reason I've been a bit overworked for the past year - it was sort of an add-on project that came through AFTER I signed the contract for Death and Hard Cider and One Extra Corpse. (Long story). 


Now that I think of it, the heroine, Clea, is a bit of a praying mantis herself. Confronted with the appearance of monstrosities that may or may not be the creation of the most powerful order of wizards in the world - who may or may not be in league with her father - she has to enlist the aid of the evil mage Ithrazel. First she has to rescue him from the dimensional enclave where he's been trapped in torment for the past 75 years, then she has to force (and blackmail) him into working for her - he doesn't want to have a thing to do with her mission. To do this she enlists the aid of a local shepherd, purely for the sake of muscle. To make sure he WILL NOT betray her, she has her novice mage friend Willow put a love-spell on him... and then discovers that love-spells can't be taken off. So she's stuck with a desperately adoring side-kick for the rest of the book. It's tough being an action heroine.

And for those who aren't up for evil wizards, warrior princesses, and love-lorn shepherds, there's One Extra Corpse - Hollywood mystery #2.


Just finished the last round of editing on that one, so with luck it'll also be out in winter or spring. Emma, Kitty, Zal, the Pekes, and the gang at Foremost Studios. (And a cameo appearance by Erich von Stroheim).


Comments

  1. JenJaySeptember 7, 2022 at 8:32 PM

    I apologize that this post does not answer this blog entry; I first read your books decades ago, and have reread them multiple times over the years, and each time, it is like seeing an old friend. I just wanted you to know how much I enjoy your writing and that your books have been 'friends' to me when I was lonely and needed them to be. Now that my life is so much better, they remind me that storytelling at its very best can be a balm for just about anything. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Barbara HamblySeptember 8, 2022 at 8:08 PM

    Thank you. For me, the purpose of books has always been, to be friends when we need them. I'm just glad I'm doing my job.

    ReplyDelete

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