Here's a snippet from my newsletter, which I publish every few weeks. Subscribe at https://caterowan.com/news to get book sneak peeks & ALL the news. 😀

Hello from hiding-under-the-covers land!

I hope you are doing well and aren't living in it, too. I mean, there's plenty of room for us all, but it's a weird place to be.

I'll ‘fess up: I live under the covers just part of the time. Sometimes life is fine — most things haven't changed too much in mine, all things considered, given that we live in a rural area and I work from home.

But Dr. 4×4 still works in the ER, diagnoses COVID-19 patients, and recently had a CV scare, himself. So let's just say my cuticles and fingernails have been taking a beating this year. (2020 has a lot of suckage, y'all. I know you get that, too.)

And then there's the all the other stuff going on here in the U.S. and across the world… sometimes I'm bawling, sometimes I'm yelling at the TV, sometimes I'm opening up my wallet for causes I believe in.

Authors tend to be empathetic creatures. That's one of the reasons we write — we think about what it's like to be other people all the time. 

Readers tend to be empathetic, too. That's one of the reasons we love books — we get to experience someone else's life for a while.

This is a difficult time for so many of us here and across the world.

But… I have hope for better things coming our way.

In the meantime, I'm sending my love and fervent wishes for better days ahead for anyone who's struggling right now.

Writing News:
The Ocean Between Us is coming!

Not only is the book done (thank you, my beloved and amazing beta readers), but I'm ~90% of the way through drafting the next book in the series, The Spell Between Us. I'm hoping to do a close-together release of them both.

The working name of the series has been The Between Us series (for, yanno, obvious reasons). But that's not such a useful name for the Amazon algorithms. So I have now named the series Swords of Olympus.

(Does that make you think of sexy, half-naked Greeks doing manly and heroic things? Yup!)

I also have drool-worthy book covers for both books. The cover reveal for Ocean is coming in another newsletter or two. *muahaha*

There will be FIVE books in this series. 😀 Soon I'll comission the third book cover from my delightful new cover artist. Funny thing is, for a long time I wasn't sure which book would be next. The events in two of them are going to be occurring simultaneously, so I held back… 

But now that I'm closing in on the end of Book 2, it's clear which one needs to be written next, thanks to what the characters are doing now and what needs to happen. (“Couple Three, you're on deck!”)

The kernel of The Ocean Between Us came to me more than a dozen years ago, long before I learned how to scuba dive, long before I got to swim with turtles and sharks.

All I knew then was that the heroine was a cursed and land-locked mermaid, and that she lived in a world dominated by the mercurial, prideful, and self-absorbed gods and goddesses of Olympus. The mermaid's isle would be invaded by a shipwrecked prince, and then… 

Furry co-captain updates

Furchildren are all about love, and Dr. 4×4 and I are thinking about adopting a dog if the right one comes along. This is a big deal for Hubs, since he lost his last canine buddy ten years ago after a horrific struggle with cancer.

I am also thinking about a particular loner kitty who responded to my cat whisperings while we were at the shelter looking for a dog. (If I have a super power, it's making cats purr.)

Dr. 4×4, upon realizing that I was thinking about getting another kitty to add to our three, gave me a long-suffering look and reminded me that I can't save all the animals.

In turn, I reminded him that while I can't, saving an animal makes a difference to THAT animal. (Do you know the starfish story?)

Still, this decision isn't a no-brainer. My three kitties will be likely be a bit upset if we get a dog, no matter how kitteh-friendly, and I hesitate to upset the applecart further.

Also, there are other humans who need a little love right now, so I'm hoping someone else who needs a companion will find the kitty in question in the next couple of weeks and they will be the right match.

But, if not…

S'more Cate Updates

Horse had his 12th birthday recently, and his FirstMom sent me his BABY PICS, y'all!

It's cute how much darker he got since he was a foal. His momma, on the right of the bottom pic, is the color he is now. (When he's not shaved, anyway. More on that in some future issue…)

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Here's a new book from a favorite author!

W00T, there's something new from Grace Draven! She's a wonderful romantic fantasy author, y'all. If you don't know her work yet, check it out. (Brishen and Ildiko in Radiance… Silhara and Martise and Master of Crows… *happy sigh*) Here's her newest, Dragon Unleashed:

A dragon shapeshifter and a healer with power over the earth fight a corrupt empire in this thrilling and deeply emotional romantic fantasy from the USA Today bestselling author of Radiance.

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Okay, my friends, see you soon with more on The Ocean Between Us as release day gets closer. *Cate does a shimmy*

I hope you get to stay cool (but not frozen, as in my case…) and that you will love aaaall the books that grace your TBR piles!

Yours in Enchanting Fantasy,

CATE ROWAN