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Life News, Plus a Cool SciFi Holiday Bundle

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We interrupt this regularly scheduled newsletter with breaking news - I caught my first aurora borealis last night! I took these pics from my new front yard. They’re really terrible, aren’t they? I obviously need to learn how to take proper nighttime photos with my phone. But they’re mine. :)

So as I was about to say, new front yard. About that. If you’ve been around here for a little while, you might recall my epic move from Colorado to the wild mountain reaches of Montana three years ago. Well, the pictures above are definitely not taken in the wild mountain reaches of Montana, so what’s the deal?

Tl;dr: We've moved down the road to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho!

The rest of the story: Actually, we moved a year ago. But we were camping out in an apartment while we built a house, and that was just so very uninteresting, I didn't mention it. But now things are exciting again.

First, why the move? A couple of reasons, but to encapsulate them, a beautiful view does not a life make (who knew?).

While wandering the woods was lovely, after a while I chafed against the isolation and lack of access to the trappings of modern life. Mr. Jennsen sucks at early retirement and, after two years chopping trees while wearing flannel, decided he was bored and wanted to get back in the engineering game. A series of frustrations when too much snow and impassable roads kept me from getting to the (distant) airport to travel for some family medical emergencies brought the problems into sharp relief.

Luckily, just a few hours down the road existed the equally lovely (if less wild) city of Coeur d'Alene. It, too, has mountains, rivers and lakes (Lake CDA is one of the most beautiful I've ever seen). But guess what it also has? Coffee shops and boutiques and theaters and a Best Buy and, well, people!

So here we are. I’m stoked about all of it, so have a few pictures of my working space:

My working space. The desk is a motorized standing desk, so I don't turn into a sloth while writing. That banner is just ridiculous, isn't it? Mr. Jennsen insisted on hanging it there. Swearz.

What I see when I'm *standing* at my desk. Gaming, comics, collectibles, science/space books, duplicates of some scifi books and, in the bottom right corner, a bit of a TBR stack. (Note: the rest of the scifi books will be going in the library - more on that soonish.)

The view out the window by my desk.

Lake Coeur d'Alene (about 15 minutes from my house), because I love it.

But enough about me upending my life again—let’s talk sci-fi books. I've teamed up with four other awesome scifi authors to offer a paperback book bundle. Each book is the first in a multi-book sci-fi series, and the bundle comes with bookmarks, stickers and space-ready freeze-dried candy.

Grab it for yourself, or if you have another scifi fan in your life, this would make a great holiday gift.

  • Expedition by Rachel Cheríe (Dekra 9-2-6 series)—join Elise and Rick as they find themselves in a new galaxy loaded with allies, enemies, and lots of drama along the way!

  • Night Owls by Stephen Gay (Night Owls series)—all Ethan wants to do is throw an underground party. But someone wants to throw him out of an airlock.

  • Dakiti by EJ Fisch (Ziva Payvan series)—fly with Ziva and Aroska as these two enemies race to save their people and…each other??

  • Isolating Contact by Ash Remington (The Contact series)—follow five strangers as their lives intertwine in an attempt to save the world.

  • Starshine by yours truly (Amaranthe series)—while on a routine scouting job, Alex makes a discovery that will change everything for humanity. (Admittedly, you might already have this one. 😊)

At $59.99, this bundle is an absolute steal, and it would make a great Christmas gift for yourself or another scifi lover in your life. You can pre-order this collection from now through November 7th, so we’ll have time to order books and get them out to you in time for the holidays (apologies, but we can only ship within the US). Get more details about each of the books and pre-order the bundle at the link:

Finally, just a quick reminder about The Expanding Universe Vol. 10 anthology. TEU is curated by Craig Martelle, sci-fi superstar and tireless indie author advocate. My story in the anthology, “Extinguishing the Stars,” is a prequel to my upcoming novel, The Universe Within. Read it now and get a sneak peek at the world Alex and Caleb will discover early next year.

In addition to my story, it features a tale by Martelle plus 18 more stellar stories from well-known authors to rising stars. You don’t want to miss it.

…and if you have picked it up, and have read a couple of the stories, I and the other authors would so greatly appreciate it if you shared a quick little review. No need to have read the whole (hefty) book - you can just call out any stories you hopefully enjoyed. You have my thanks!

Until next time!