Monthly Archives: November 2009

We’re back! Starband is disconected along with their dish which they assured us wasn’t the problem, the alignment which they assured us wasn’t the problem, the modem which they assured us wasn’t the problem, and the software which they also assured us wasn’t the problem either. Hughes Net to the rescue? We’ll see. Our determination is that any communications technology functions reliably for a maximum of three and a half years in Red Canyon. After that, pull it out, put in the latest thing, and try and hold on for another three and half years. Revisions on our two latest manuscripts have been neglected for the last week as we sorted out the communications problems. That and Michael’s relatively new HP 3005 printer ceased to expel printed pages, sort of choking on its own exhales. After two days of phone calls, it was determined that no one fixes printers. The HP lady in Canada finally determined that if we wanted our printer fixed we’d have to drive clear up to Great Falls, Montana, or down to Salt Lake. Ain’t technology grand? We’ve got a new printer. In the old days an HP4 would last for twenty years–Kathy still prints on the one she bought in 1989! Now, Mike will be thankful if his new one lasts three years. Hmm? That number just keeps coming up! The good folks at Pocket Books have begun planning our sell-out tour for COMING OF THE STORM. It looks like a Florida-only tour following de Soto’s route. We will have the bookstores listed as the schedule firms up. If you haven’t seen the cover, take a look at the home page. We think it’s great. Also from the good news category, PEOPLE OF THE THUNDER in paperback is on the New York Times extended list! Thanks to all of you who picked up a copy. We can’t do this without our readers. The evening repast has just been placed upon the counter: pizza, broccoli, and sweet potato. This will be chased with a rich black beer. We will be thinking of you. With all of our kind thoughts, Kathleen and Michael

Dear All: We are back for our real, glorious, and magnificent vacation floating around the Carribean, seeing islands, and meeting delightful people. Of course any time a person really gets relaxed, he’s got to come home to a mess. Most of you know that we’ve been having internet problems. Our account was with Starband, and things just got worse over the last few months. Turns out that they no longer have local service and support. We have had to borrow computers to get these blog entries in for the last couple of months. The really bad news is that we haven’t been able to monitor the blog entries you have been sending in, which has left us with over ten thousand spams. Uh, yeah, the number is right. So, we’re not sure how to fix this without just clearing thye decks, deleting them all, and starting over. That and we’re getting a new satellite internet system next week which will allow us to get back on a reasonable schedule. The first review for COMING OF THE STORM was by Booklist. They really liked it! We’ll see if there’s a way to post it once we get our new dish set up. Meanwhile we are polishing PEOPLE OF THE FOREST, and waiting for comments from Pocket on THE FIRES OF MABILA. Until next week when we’re back online, be well, read heartily, and may you remain prosperous and healthy