I'm just going to get the bad news out of the way first--I've decided that rather than write the Ben and Fran book in the next month, well before it is due to be written, I will let it go back to its original due date, and take the next month off to recuperate from the past two weeks. I know how disappointed some of you will be that the B&F book will come out in November 2010 rather than May 2010, but given the recent happenings, I just don't have the heart to write it at this time.

Given that the stress related to my furry girl's illness sent me to the ER last Saturday night/Sunday morning with a severe ulcer attack, I am confident that people will understand, even though they're disappointed. I'm disappointed, too. I really want to get this book written, but not at the expense of making another early-morning visit to the folks at the local hospital. They were certainly nice enough, and introduced me to morphine, which I have to say is a wonderous, wonderous drug, but meh. I'd rather not do that again.

So Love in the Time of Dragons, the new dragon sept book, will be out in May 2010, and the Ben and Fran book, as yet unwritten, will be out in November 2010. Smooshed in that schedule are also Steamed (February), a paranormal novella for the animal shelter anthology, which I believe is scheduled for July 2010, and my Jim short story in the Charlaine Harris/Toni Kelper antho Death's Mysterious Vacation (out in August 2010, if I'm recalling the date correctly).

This gives me a couple of weeks off to edit the dragon book, and cope with the loss of my furry girl. I plan on reading like crazy during this time--I've already started--including some of the old classics that I mentioned via yesterday's BookGlutton post.This free time should also let me catch up on all the reader request letters, reader e-mails, and to spruce up my websites, as well as clean Rancho Doghair from top to bottom (it's amazing how much crap you can accumulate during the year!). OK, that last one is pretty low on my priority list, I admit, although it would be nice to have a belated Spring Cleaning and replace some old furniture with new pieces.

In the mean time, thank you all for hanging in here with me. I'm sorry that my plans to whip off the B&F book fell victim to life's sorrows, but since I have yet to be made Supreme Ruler of the Universe (and dammit, I don't see why I haven't!), that's just going to be the way things are.