Here in the United States it’s the week of Thanksgiving, a time when we typically gather with our friends and family and then consume copious, regretful portions of food. This often consists of some form of turkey and then roughly 700 side dishes, most of which contain enough carbs to put a fully-grown mammoth to sleep faster than a high-capacity tranquilizer.
Of course, this year is a little different than most, obviously, what with all this *waves arms* pandemic and what not. For many, gatherings will be far more limited than as usual, if there’s any gathering at all. I certainly wouldn’t argue that choose to not get together with your 14 cousins and 3 drunk uncles is a responsible move. That said, I’m a little concerned that I’m going to make as much food as I typically would for a year when we’d host close to 30 people, except this year, there won’t be anyone here to eat it but my wife, four kids, and, well, probably safe to assume the two dogs get a little spoiling, too.
All of which has me looking at the holiday on Thursday with more than just a twinge of hesitation. No family, too much food, and no ready excuse for day drinking while the turkey does its thing.
The thing is, though, as trite and cliched as it is a sentiment, what matters here is that Thanksgiving is supposed to be about being thankful, not just shoving pie down your gullet like it’s a éclair you have to stuff. Admittedly, 2020 has been quite something of a s$%*show, and we all know it. Coming up with things to be thankful for in the middle of a global dumpster fire that has pretty much turned all our societal, cultural, and even political norms on their respective ears can be… challenging, to say the least.
But, even with things being as messed up as Cousin Eddie emptying the RV waste line into the storm drain, I’m fortunate to still have many things to be thankful for.
We still have a roof over our heads and are generally in good health.
I was able fulfill a lifelong dream of mine this year with the release of Famine, and it’s been doing as well as I could have hoped.
Incidentally, I’ve been lucky enough to build a small but growing base of fans that seem to enjoy the crazy things in my head.
I finally know what’s going to happen in Fury1.
There’s still bourbon in the world.
Which is all fantastic, and a reminder that I do have Very Much To Be Thankful for. But! That’s not all. I’m also exceedingly thankful, as well as positively thrilled, to announce that of this posting, my second novel, Goldenshield, is available for pre-order, and will be released on December 29th, 2020.
What’s Goldenshield, you ask? It’s the first chapter in an epic fantasy RPG saga, and it has an absolutely killer cover. Don’t believe me? Check it out!
As you can probably tell from the cover, Goldenshield is definitely a different kind of fantasy than Famine. Less dark horror, more epic adventure. It’s more Lord of the Rings than The Stand, but there’s room for all kinds of fantasy worlds in my head. If you like more traditional fantasy, I think you’ll really love it. And did I mention that it’s available now for pre-order?
That’s it from me, for now. I hope you’ll check out Goldenshield, and stay tuned for news about Fury, coming soon! Have a great week, and for those that have a holiday to celebrate, I hope you find a way to enjoy it to its very fullest, however that works for you and yours.
As always, thank you for you support. I look forward to hearing from you!
-JR
1: More news coming soon!