Gray Skies, Cold Wind, and Editing Misadventures

Saturday, January 31, 2026 — Orlando, Florida

Hello again, Dear Reader.

Central Florida is wearing its grayest winter coat today. The sky is a solid sheet of cloud, the air sits at a brisk 59°F (15°C), and the wind promises to make things even chillier as the afternoon rolls on. It’s hardly the sort of day that graces postcards, but it is the kind of weather that nudges a writer indoors with a warm drink and a blinking cursor.

Yesterday brought another round of edits to The Jim Garraty Chronicles omnibus—though not as many as I’d hoped. My focus drifts more easily on this project than it did while writing the novel, partly because I’m juggling the ongoing (and admittedly unglamorous) task of marketing Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, and Comings and Goings – The Art of Being Seen. Necessary work, yes, but not the kind that sparks joy. Add to that the occasional doubt about whether readers will want the omnibus at all, and you get the picture.

And then there’s Kindle Create. Bless its heart, but the app and I are not on speaking terms when it comes to subheading formatting. Its sense of capitalization is…creative, let’s say. So instead of drafting fresh front‑matter copy, I spend my days correcting errors I didn’t make. A thrilling use of time, as you can imagine.

Still, the project isn’t without its bright spots. While combing through the manuscript, I’ve uncovered and fixed a few more “bloopers” that slipped past earlier readthroughs—including one in Comings and Goings that somehow evaded detection until now. Most of these mistakes are small and don’t derail the story, but every so often I stumble across one so forehead‑slappingly obvious that I can’t help but fix it. Print readers, unfortunately, are stuck with the original versions unless they spring for the updates, but at least the omnibus will be as clean as I can make it. So yes, the process is tedious, but it’s not without its rewards.

On the publishing front, January closes with six copies sold and $21.95 in royalties. That total includes the copies of Reunion: A Story and Comings and Goings I purchased for my friend Betsy so she can have the revised editions. Amazon shipped them out Thursday night, and as I write this, they’re marked “Out for Delivery”—the final orders of the month.

If you’ve been thinking about picking up Reunion: Coda, the upcoming Kindle sale is a perfect opportunity. From February 1 through February 8, the e‑book will be just $1.99 on Amazon’s U.S. store. Consider it a small thank‑you for reading along, cheering me on, or simply showing up for these updates. Your support means more than you know, and I hope you enjoy spending time with Jim, Marty, and the rest of the gang at a bargain‑bin price.