Happy Memorial Day Weekend. This weekend, for my US readers, remember the folks who’ve laid their lives down for us–for their country and their fellow citizen…

I thank them, and I thank their families, who stand as brave as those we remember.

This week I have a special announcement! I’ll have a booth and be selling my books at the Annual Northwest Book Festival in Portland, OR! This of course means that all my books will be–wait for it–coming into print! More on that later…

First, I wanted to give readers that aren’t in the Portland area, or even in the US, something to enjoy. So, I’m sharing a video about Langston Hughes. Hughes was an amazing poet who wrote about the lives and times of African Americans during the 1900’s. His poetry spoke clearly and honestly about racism, culture, and them jazzy blues. I’d suggest checking out all his work, but this video is a nice intro:

Now, some more info on the festival and my books!

First, huge shout out to 9 Bridges for putting this event on. It’s a writing community that helps writers like myself grow and succeed in such a saturated market. As for the NW Book Festival itself, it’s a huge event that goes from 10am-4:30pm on Saturday, July 29th. I encourage anyone who’s in the Portland area to come by the festival for the chance to get a signed copy of one of my books (or several of them if you choose). The header image for this blog post was used from the NW Book Fest website, where you can check out a whole gallery of photos.

Speaking of which, yes! My books are coming to print! I plan on having The Book of Ardilia, The War for Yokendale, and the We Are Humans Collection all in print and available for purchase online no later than July 1st. All this is subject to change as I figure my way through the process, but I’ll update this blog if anything major changes. As for my next release (the cover art and title of which is still being officially released later this coming week or early next), it won’t be done in time to be sold in paperback at the festival, but it will however be available as an eBook by the end of July and the paperback version will be available online shortly thereafter.

Thank you to everyone who reads and follows this blog and my writings–I can’t do it without you!

Again, have a great weekend, enjoy the Crash Course video, and I hope to see you at the NW Book Festival! Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe!

Here’s this week’s writing prompt:

You say good morning to your pet, and your pet, casually as could be, says good morning back…