Greetings and Solicitations!! This is written on Memorial Day, and we are ever cognizant of the debt we owe our military veterans and those currently in the armed forces.

Everything we do, all that we accomplish, is possible because of the men and women who risked their lives and too often paid the ultimate price to protect this country and its institutions. A military veteran from the Vietnam war altered Michael’s life back in his university days. Captain Dan Smith had returned from two tours of duty flying helicopters in the war and was pursuing his education. Not all Vietnam vets were treated with respect let alone appreciation in those days. Over coffee one day, Michael noted that while he wasn’t headed to the military, he was very much aware of the sacrifices our troops were making for the country, and what should he do? Dan lifted his coffee, sipped, and said, “You’re doing what the guys are fighting for. Finish your degree, go out and live your life. Just be sure that you live it in a way that makes a contribution.”

Spring has finally begun to show its greenery in our part of Wyoming! The grass is starting and out on the BLM land the sagebrush buttercup has its first little yellow flowers. To our consternation, the trees are leafing out. We think that’s a bit early since Wyoming was always prepped for the Mother’s Day blizzard. Spring didn’t officially start until after that last hooraw by winter.

We did, however, cook our first buffalo burgers on the Traeger yesterday.  Hip Hip Hooraw! And we accented them with fresh pineapple cut into slices and then seasoned with a chili-chocolate powder before roasting them on the grill. Wow! Outstanding!  (Though God knows how we managed to get a ripe pineapple at our local Cody grocery.) Yes, indeed, we are ready for warm afternoons sipping a glass of wine on the deck and drives up the North Fork.

Dear Readers!

We are adding the final editorial changes requested by our editor, then BUFFALO JUSTICE will be off to the publisher. It should be available in July, we think. Having owned buffalo for over 30 years, it was an especially interesting book to write. It’s set in our home country of northern Wyoming and southern Montana, where we’ve lived for 47 years, country we know and love.

The story is about a buffalo rancher named John Cody who lives at the edge of Yellowstone. It explores the joys and struggles of raising an iconic American species in the face of overwhelming pressures from unethical “conservation” groups, bad scientists trying to make a buck, and clueless government agencies. The challenges that John Cody faces are challenges we have faced. While fictionalized to protect the guilty, John’s problems are not fiction.

We send you all the best of the season be it Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Io Saturnalia, a Super Solstice, Kwanza, Blessed Father Dance, Happy New Year or whatever end-of-year sacred or mystical tradition you adhere to. This is the season when we all reflect, celebrate, and pledge for the coming year. We hope you are as excited about the coming year as we are!

Here, in the wilds of northwestern Wyoming, we’re dry and way too warm. Temps have been in the 50s and 60s, and though we can see snow on the high peaks, the basins are a tepid shade of parched brown. We sure wish we had about a foot of snow on the ground and more in the mountains. We’re praying for more precipitation. Especially for the ground water, though we’d take a soaking wet spring as an option!

PEOPLE OF THE OWL, THE MASKED OWL, and forthcoming THE POISON BRIDE.

Bet you’re wondering what’s happening at the Gear household. First and foremost, we’ve just seen the release of THE MASKED OWL, part two of the PEOPLE OF THE OWL re-release. Part 3, THE POISON BRIDE is coming January 14^th!  For those of you in the know, the POISON BRIDE title of course refers to Anhinga. Salamander wasn’t all that wild about marrying her in the first place, and as is often the case, brooding old blood has a way of leeching into even the best of relationships. Hope you’ve been enjoying the new edition of our classic novel. Since it was originally released back in 2003, The Poverty Point site, on which the book is based, has become both a National Monument and World Heritage site. Only here would the first and oldest city in North America be mostly unknown¾even with its international recognition. Our job was to bring Poverty Point alive, recreating the kind of world those original American urbanites lived in. We did it so well that with 1,600 ratings, it has a 4.3 Star average. Some critics consider it the finest writing we ever did. So, if you don’t already own the original Forge edition, download or order the outstanding Wolfpack 3-part version! You’ll be ready to binge your way through Salamander’s epic adventure in America’s first city. And, no, it’s nothing like you would imagine. Just a whole lot better!

AWARDS SEASON COMES TO A CLOSE

It’s been a hectic couple of months since our last newsletter. Where to start? Probably with our recent travels. For those of you who have been keeping track, we were off to Italy and Greece for Kathleen and her dearest old friend Itrice’s combined birthday celebration cruise. They’ve been planning this for years, and it came off this September. Most of the cruise was concentrated on classical archaeological sites like Akrotiri, the Parthenon, the Forum, and Pompeii. With Itrice around expect lots of laughter, joy, and good food!  

WOMEN WRITING THE WEST

Back home, the next excitement for us came when we arrived at the 30th annual Women Writing the West conference in Denver the second week in October. WWW celebrated their founding members, including Kathleen, with a special and wonderful ceremony led by award-winning author Karen (K.S.) Jones. In addition, our co-authored article, “Gene-Edited Bison: A Barnyard Revolution? Or a Looming Disaster?” placed 2nd in the Downing Journalism Awards. Then, to Kathleen’s surprise, her short story “Stalker” was the 3rd place winner in the Laura Awards in the best western short fiction category. Have to tell you, Women Writing the West puts on a great conference.

When does life ever slow down? We’re still living in the center of the cyclone, and the months of October and November aren’t even hinting at a reprieve.

In September we took off for ten days to join Kathleen’s best friend, Itrice Sanders, for a combined birthday cruise in the Mediterranean. The trip was filled with laughter, lots of classical archaeology, great meals, and good drink! Couldn’t post much about it because the frigging internet on cruise ship sucked. Nevertheless, we came home energized, infected with a rhinovirus, and filled with smile-laced memories.

So, what’s happening? The big news is the release of Switching Gears, our first short story anthology and our first self-recorded audio release of our work. Click on the link below to preorder your copy in Kindle, print, or audio!

Buy Switching Gears Online

Note that Switching Gears contains both of our Spur-Award winning stories, “No Quarter” and “Bad Choices” along with six new pieces we wrote just for this anthology. We’re particularly proud of this one. It’s an entirely new form of fiction for us, and we’ve found it not only challenging, but fun. We’ll look forward to your reaction.