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Dear Readers,

December is a sacred time for us and around the world. In North America, many of the native peoples celebrate the winter solstice, the longest night of the year, and the return of the sun the next day, which is their New Year’s Day. More ceremonies occur on December 24th and 25th.

For example, the Salish say that long ago a great and good man came among their forefathers and performed miracles of all kinds. Upon leaving them, he said he would return in the form of a big white coyote. At Isleta Pueblo, they celebrate the Buffalo Dances on December 24th and early morning on Christmas Day, and at Nambe Pueblo the buffalo dancers come out in glorious horned headdresses to dance by a light of a great bonfire. The fragrance of piñon smoke drifts through the darkness as the dancers cast enormous shadows over the pueblo walls.

In the Gear house, this season is a time of hope. We celebrate the return of buffalo to our world, and the “great and good man” who came and will return.

No matter your beliefs, we hope that this holiday season brings your long night to an end, and you find yourself surrounded by the light and the warmth of family and friends.

We wish you the happiest of holidays,

Michael and Kathleen Gear

Happy September!

It’s a quiet beautiful day here in Wyoming. The aspens and cottonwoods just have their first touches of yellow, heralding the arrival of autumn a bit early, but it’s been a cool summer.

We were just informed that we will be the recipients of the 2023 Frank Waters Award. “The Frank Waters Award stands for exemplary literary achievement, as well as a canon of writing that communicates a deep understanding, celebration, and love of our human nature and peoples of all races.” Previous recipients are: Barbara Kingsolver, Tony Hillerman, and John Nichols.

It’s a great privilege to receive an award that bears Frank Waters’ name. The award is given by the Pike’s Peak Library District, and we are deeply grateful for this honor.

The award ceremony will be held in Colorado Springs on June 3, 2023.

Michael and Kathleen

Hello Everyone,

Yes, it’s been a stressful day today. Fans have been notifying us from around the world that their orders for RECKONING (coming in October) and THE ICE ORPHAN (coming in November) have been cancelled by retailers like Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and others. This is one of those glitches that’s very frustrating for everyone concerned. Here’s what happened…

Our wonderful publisher, DAW Books, just sold the company to Astra Publishing. The unanticipated consequence is that Penguin Random House (which distributes DAW books) cancelled all orders for DAW Books scheduled to be published after September 1st, while PRH transitions the ISBNs to Astra. DAW was not made aware of this consequence beforehand, so it’s as much of a surprise to them as it is to all of us.

It means that our fans must reorder RECKONING and THE ICE ORPHAN. We are so sorry for the inconvenience. But both books WILL be published on schedule in October and November!

Right now, we only have links to Amazon:

THE ICE ORPHAN: Amazon https://buff.ly/3OneG8v

RECKONING: Amazon https://buff.ly/3zmQUWc

Thanks for taking the time to reorder. We appreciate each and every one of you. We have the best readers in the world.

Best Regards,

Mike and Kathy