I just cancelled the Dragon Sworn preorder, with only hours to spare before the final manuscript upload. Sincere apologies to my dear long-suffering fans who have waited – yet again – in vain.

As I mentioned in my last newsletter, a PC failure saw me having to restart typing up the final manuscript on my laptop, only to abandon it until I connected an old keyboard. What I didn’t mention was my bad reaction to our 2nd wave here in Victoria, Australia. Too much doom-scrolling (yes, there’s a word for it) was doing my head in, plus my dear mother-in-law was hospitalized for weeks and then sent home with an end-of-life kit.

With lockdowns in metro Melbourne, we haven’t been able to visit her. She lives in a covid hotspot and I panicked so much about having to go there, if the end came, that I brought on an asthma attack. I called an ambulance for the first time in my life. Anyway, to cut a longer story short, my asthma might not be asthma at all. Ahead of new lung function tests, I’m trying a prescribed gastric medication along with over-the-counter antihistamines.  So far, the results look promising.

My covid test was negative, thank goodness, for I’m pretty sure if I get it, it will probably kill me. I’ve got the doom-scrolling under control. I find it calming to watch our Premier’s daily press conference. My mum-in-law is still in palliative care at home. My own mum is safe and well in South Australia.

I feel ready to tackle Dragon Sworn again. I’ve reread Taniel and the paper Dragon Sworn back-to-back and still the tone and a minor sub-plot aren’t  right.  

I’ve decided to release Dragon Sworn and Cladessa in the latter’s current timeframe. This will give me a better mental space, methinks. 

Take care, stay safe.