It’s the first of the month, so I have a new Hot Flash for you to read. It’s also the first month of the Summer Reading Trail, so I have a new full-length story, “Blood of Mermayds”. It’s the story of how two of the characters in The Novel Which Might Possibly Still Be Named EEL’S REVERENCE Or May Not first met. Uncle Phineas is in it, too. Brrrr!

I’m currently reading That Book to Mom. She says she never did like the title, so I’ve challenged her to come up with a better one. NO PRESSURE, MOM!

The cover for the story is a design by T. Lee Harris, with a bit stuck on by me. My bit is a manipulation of a picture of coral, gotten from Wikimedia Commons and posted there by Nick Hobgood. I told T I’d like to use her gorgeous and creepy background for all the mermayd stories and novels, with bits stuck on as appropriate. What do you think of that idea?

I also need to do a new trailer for That Book, once I know what its name is going to be, using T’s design and our #1 grandson’s gorgeous music.

Those of you who have read the book, what do you think I should stress: the tension, the humor, the fantasy or the spirituality?

No, of course I’m not trying to trick you into doing my work for me. I am not!

A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: Look at the covers of five books you’ve read. What element of the book is stressed by the cover? Is that what you would have chosen, if you had planned the cover? Why or why not?

MA