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I’m writing posts for my upcoming Silver Pearl Guest Blog Tour, the week of March 17. Does anybody have any ideas for me for me to blog about? Deep, dark secrets you’ve always wanted to know? I’m open to questions.

It’s Silver Pearl month!

I’m very excited — I haven’t had a new release since Slow Awakening, my Charity Sip, came out last September. Well, The Dragon and his Knight came out in December, but that was a re-release of an older story. Which was cool in its own way.

Silver Pearl is a brand new novella. I changed gears a little bit from dragon shifters to unicorn shifters. When I first got the idea, I asked a friend if she’d ever heard of a story about m/m unicorn shifters before. She didn’t think it had been done because of the whole virginity thing. Well, that solidified my idea. The whole virginity thing is certainly addressed in my story! Believe me.

So get ready for Silver Pearl on March 20 from Less Than Three Press. I’m working on a book trailer with all my own photographs the way I did for for Sky Full of Wings. It’s going to be amazing. Watch for it when we get closer!

Here’s that pretty cover again, just because I like it so much:

I saw this guy at my mother’s farm today. Quite an unusual bird for our area. I saw him from inside, grabbed my camera, and ran out. I took about thirty photos of him. Standing ankle deep in snow in my sneakers, without a jacket. Brr. But this shot made it all worthwhile. I hope he keeps coming back.

Isn’t this a cute little guy? I had a snow day yesterday, which meant I got to spend time sitting and looking at the birdfeeders during the day for a change. I know that snow days mean we have to go longer in the spring, but they always feel like such a gift, especially to someone like me who REALLY dislikes winter driving. To be able to go back to bed instead of out on the roads… Yeah. Nice.

I don’t normally complain about things too much (I hope) but my car has been driving (ha!) me nuts for the last couple weeks. First I lost the heat when it was like fifteen below zero and I had a wild trip home in a snowstorm with my windshield freezing up. It turned out that I was leaking radiator fluid from some little thing that sits near the radiator. Apparently when there is not enough fluid in your radiator, your heater does not work. (Who knew?) After several days of constantly adding more fluid and cleaning up my garage floor, I got it fixed yesterday after the part arrived at our local garage. I thought I was all set when I went to pick up my car last night, but the driver’s door was frozen shut. I pulled it open and hopped in, only to find that my door wouldn’t stay shut after I closed it. No amount of banging, poking, and swearing would get it to stay closed.

So I had to drive home, holding it shut, which was frustrating, cold, and probably dangerous, especially because I couldn’t get the dome light to go off. Fortunately it was only less than a mile on a back road, but still! My husband thought that maybe it would work when it  warmed up. We went downstairs several times throughout the evening, but no luck. So, for the third time, we went into carpool mode, which involves getting up forty-five minutes earlier, rearranging after school plans, and a whole lot of more frustration.

But when I went downstairs this morning, prepared to drive back to the garage holding my door shut, the door opened and closed perfectly. Both my husband and I stood there and opened and closed it for a while, just kind of marveling at it. Then we headed off to work, separately. Sigh. It was kind of nice carpooling.

But it’s good to have my car again, with heat and no puddle.

At last!
I’d be honored if you’d friend me.
I’m M Raiya Author.

This is what happens to waterfalls when the temperature drops to the teens below zero for days on end. They freeze in midmotion, creating beautiful ice sculptures of frozen water.

I bundled up and took a walk this afternoon. It seemed good  to be outside for fun, as opposed to the mad dashes from car to buildings I’ve been doing all week. The day I bought groceries, I seriously considered abandoning them in the cart, it was so painful to put them into the back of my car. But winter is part of Vermont, and one deals with it. The days are getting longer, and when I turned my face to the sun, I could feel just a little bit of warmth. It was good.

Inside, I’ve been putting the final touches on Silver Pearl and making a video trailer for Night of Ceremony. I want to make one for Silver Pearl as well. I’m also in the middle of two other writing projects… Sigh.

How’s this one?

I took the photo for this one — it was one of those lucky sunsets when I was in the right place at the right time with the right lens and the right filter. And it was made into a beautiful cover by Brandon Clay.

Night of Ceremony — coming out in April. Josh and Varian and Baby Jenny, and Huntington, and Justin and Wells, and a major disaster. It’s going to be epic.

Isn’t this a lovely cover? Guess what this one is about? Not dragons, but close!

I just finished the edits on this novella this morning, and I really enjoyed working through them. Silver Pearl has been through a lot of permutations, and I really love how it’s turning out. It will be released in March. Can’t wait!

Just found out that this cover was designed by London Burden.

We always get one. Nobody knows why. Snow lovers find them annoying. I enjoy the break from the cold, and I love the way bare ground smells, and it’s nice to walk around the yard and remember green grass and flowers and swimming.

Three days of near fifty degree temperatures, and our brook went from this: