Of La Nina winters and fire hazards

They're telling us that we could have a moderate to strong La Nina weather pattern this winter, which is something of a mixed blessing. I hate the cold, so the warmer temperatures the southern US sees during La Nina are a welcome thing, but the drier weather could be problematic, especially since we're already in a moderate drought. High wind days are already cause for the weather service to issue fire weather statements. We may be seeing wildfires in Oklahoma and Texas again this winter. I hope not, but it happens in drought years.

Sometime today, we're supposed to be getting the season 5 set of Doctor Who (season 5 as in the most recent series, not the original one). Matt Smith makes a wonderful Doctor. Amy is one of the better companions (she's right up there with Sarah Jane and Donna, as far as I'm concerned). River Song is intriguing, and the fact that she and the Doctor seem to be moving in opposite directions through each other's timelines is really interesting, or at least they're meeting out of order, but so far River's the one who knows all about the Doctor, and he's just learning about her. I'll be interested to see where they take this in next year's episodes.

Rio Star is just beginning to show up in other venues. There's a listing for the trade paperback on Amazon now, but it's showing as temporarily out of stock. At least it's listed. There's a copy of the original edition (from WCP) on Amazon, listed at the appallingly high price of $274.14. I would be flattered that anyone thinks my books might be worth that much, but there's just a wee bit of insanity in believing that they really are. Especially when you can buy a brand new copy from my new publisher at $12.95, or an ebook for $4.99. The ebook has also shown up in an online store in the Netherlands, so it should begin showing up in various venues before very much longer.

I'm dealing with the aftermath of the yearly virus, which seems to run rampant through the local population beginning around the time everyone has to close up their houses and turn on the heat. Yucky stuff. Two days of constant drainage and coughing, followed by days of coughing up everything that drained into your lungs during the first two days. There's a secondary infection that goes with it, but it seems to be less of a problem if I just avoid eating anything with a lot of dairy in it. In a way, it's oddly appropriate, since the fourth book in the series (which I'm working on now) begins with Patty standing-in for her aunt somewhere due to her aunt having the flu. Not that I'm telling you anything that you don't find out in the first page or so. And Micheal will be in it. If you've ever lamented the fact that Patty's first three adventures don't include an awful lot of her husband, this will hopefully make you happy.

The first review for Rio Star has come in from the Romance Studio. Hmm. Okay, it's not the first review, since I got the review from Romantic Times a while ago. The RT reviewer was apparently not a fan of horse racing. Ah well, can't please everyone.