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My wife laughs at me for ripping open all of the mail the instant we get home from vacation. Sure, some people might want to get some sleep at midnight after a seven-hour drive. I am not those people. I mean, come on! After a week and a half away, the pile o’ mail included:
- Advance Review Copies of The Mermaid’s Madness [Amazon | Mysterious Galaxy]
- A review copy of James Van Pelt’s forthcoming short story collection The Radio Magician and Other Stories
- Contracts for my short story “Heart of Ash,” a dryad/werejaguar/urban fantasy tale that will appear in the DAW anthology Girls Guide to Guns and Monsters
- The on-publication advance for the French edition of Goblin Hero
- A royalties check for my story in Prime Codex [Amazon | Mysterious Galaxy]
We also came home to find the new playset assembled in the backyard. The deductible will sting a bit, but the insurance company covered most (not all, sigh) of the damage from the storm, including sending contractors to set the thing up. I spent Sunday mowing the jungle while the kids explored the new playset.
Vacation itself was very nice, as you can see. I got about 20,000 more words done on the Red Hood rewrite, as well as finishing the page proofs for Mermaid, but I also had time to relax with the family. There were parades, swimming in Lake Superior, a few small fireworks, various kid’s day events, strawberry picking, late night cribbage, a little reading … and yes, I did squeeze a quick booksigning event in at the end. Still, I might be starting to get the hang of this whole vacation concept.
Tune in soon for a chance to get your very own Mermaid ARC 
Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.