Hey there!

Happy September, y'all. I'm slow-rolling back into work this week, waiting for my brain to catch up with the fact that I'm back in Pacific time, not GMT. Today I slept until 6:15, which was a major win! I think I'm back on track.

My husband and I spent the past month in Scotland. The first week was at a conference — WorldCon, which will be held in Seattle next year! The following three weeks were spent squelching our bikes around the Scottish countryside, being pummeled by what turned out to be the wettest August on record.

*Squelch, squelch.*

Long bike tours are normally a good time to unwind for me. I can't physically work (because bike), and I'm normally too beat at the end of a day to feel compelled to be productive.

Which is perfect, because when I'm traveling I don't want to be spending time in my own worlds — I want to be exploring a new-to-me world as fully as possible!

And explore — wetly — we did.

*Squelch, squelch.*

We spent most of our time out in the Western Isles (the Hebrides), which you will know as Skellige if you've ever played Witcher III. The landscape was stunning, the people were friendly and welcoming, and the weather was so epically bad that even the locals were complaining about it.

Our route between islands took us on many boats — and if I know anything about maritime law, it's that anyone wearing an eyepatch automatically takes control of any vessel they set foot on. Which means I am now the Pirate Queen of 9 different Caledonian MacBrayne ferries, thank you very much.

I opted to leave my new fleet of ferries in Scotland, though. (Our garage isn't that big.)

One of my favorite things to do when I'm traveling is to read books set in the area. The owner of one of the B&Bs we stayed at turned me onto Peter May's Lewis trilogy, which is a series of mysteries set on the Isle of Lewis. The first book (The Black House) was fantastic, and I just got the second book from the library. I highly recommend these books if you enjoy a moody, atmospheric mystery with twisty long-kept secrets and a strong, well-researched sense of place.

I may have taken a few notes for a mystery thriller of my own, set on the Isle of Harris. We'll see what comes of that. ;)

If you want to see photos from the trip, check out my Instagram. My husband (@_bob.kitty_) also put together a bunch of video reels that you can find linked to from that page.

Now to enjoy the final throes of warm weather here in Portland before our own rainy fall kicks in!

In writing news...

I love travel, but I'm also extremely excited to be back at my desk, and sinking back into my writing routine with renewed vigor. Fun things are on the horizon, folks!

Kickstarter:

I'll finishing up edits on all the stories and recipes for the Bulari Saga Travel Guide next week, and sending that book out to all Kickstarter backers this month. I'm so excited to share it with you all!

(If you didn't back the Kickstarter, don't worry — I'll put it up for sale soon-ish. And if you're a member of the Crew, don't forget that you get a free ebook copy of each new book when it comes out, including this one.)

New Nanshe Chronicles:

Nanshe Chronicles 5 is with my editor, but I'll be getting it up for pre-order soon! Which means I need to settle on a name... Keep your eyes peeled!

Meanwhile, I'm working on a short story in the Nanshe Chronicles world, which will be published as part of a new CROOKED anthology, coming out sometime in October.

For Your TBR

Sean Willson's Dead in the Water (book 2 of his Portalverse: Elemental Origins Series) is currently going strong on Kickstarter!

And Kate Sheeran Swed's delightful book, Phantom Station will be hitting retailers on 9/25, but you can pre-order it today. She originally wrote Phantom Station as a serial, which I followed when it first came out. Don't miss it!

Happy reading,

Jessie

P.S. What have you been up to this summer? I'd love to hear about it!