Hello, dear reader who is hopefully staying warm,

Above you see Mochi in the act of selecting an ornament from the tree, which he will then treat like a soccer ball, only to finally lose under the couch. I swear, he picks each victim like a lion cutting a gazelle out of the herd.

In housekeeping: thank you to those of you who voted regarding priority vs media mail. You voted overwhelmingly in favor of keeping priority as the default setting for my signed bookstore, so that will remain the case going into next year. I expect Payhip will allow me to offer multiple shipping options at some point, and then I will include media mail.

Finally...I wrote you a Christmas present! (Hanukkah gift? Solstice offering?) This is another Hunters universe story, but you don't have to be current with the series to read it. If you read the first novel, you've got all the background required. If you didn't read the first novel...gee, I have no idea what you'll think of this, but we're welcome to give it a try. It is certainly spoilerific for the first book.

The story takes place between the last chapter of the novel-proper and the epilogue (which occurs 2 years later). It's about Lyndi and reveals the details of her introduction to the creasia council and to Roup's den, as well as some of the fall-out from the rebellion which we never see in the novel. It's a 13,000-word novelette, which I've posted in 4 parts. Most of it is totally SWF, but there is a little ff love'in at the end. The story will be free through New Year's, and then I'll move it to the five dollar level. That's where "Legacy" is currently residing, and this story will be included with that novel when I publish it.

Next week - a few more surprises, plus my Year in Review.

I leave you with an image of my boys...stalking each other around the Christmas tree.

Yours, an author writing cat stories,
Abbie