Apologies for the long silence. I started 2023 with enthusiasm, but am ending it like a marathon, feeling rather wiped out and disoriented. Refocusing and planning for a better 2024!

I’m not sure I ever mentioned here that our sweet boy, Crafty, was diagnosed with epilepsy 2 1/2 years ago. We found out that 1-3% of all dogs suffer this, with the onset between 3 and 5 years of age. He was 3 1/3 when he had his first seizure.

It was hard to look at an otherwise athletic and visibly healthy dog and make that awful decision, but I think if we could have seen the chaos in his brain…

He was the sweetest boy, an angel in fur, a bright beam of sunshine, a love muffin. He is greatly missed. His half-sister, Zloty is adjusting well, but it’s been a rough season for all of us.

From the start, we had problems. His episodes were not nicely controlled with one or two meds; in short order, he was reaching the maximum treatment available, and still having seizures once a month. We held steady for a while but in the autumn, we rapidly shifted from once a month to once a week, to daily, to no longer controllable. We lost him the night before Thanksgiving.

THE GOOD NEWS:

I am planning to attend the Sunshine State Book Festival in Gainesville, Florida at the end of January. Probably won’t have Jiko Bukken books, (remember, it is available on Kindle Vella) but will have copies of my short, funny, ghost story, “Lady Eleanor Hosts a Séance.”

I WILL have a booth at AtomaCon 2024 in Charleston, South Carolina. The special guest is local author, Grady Hendrix. Big fan! Very excited!

And my mannequin, Poinsettia, dressed as the demon from Jiko Bukken, will be joining me again at Deep South Paracomicon in Ozark, Alabama the first week of October 2024! We had a blast last year. Looking forward to it –bigger and better!

From Zloty, me, Haint, and all the other characters in my life–real and imagined–

Very best wishes for health, peace, joy, hope, prosperity and all good things for the New Year!