Looking Ahead

A week ago, I was panicking that I was behind on getting out Christmas cards, getting presents purchased, and feeling like Christmas was coming too fast.

Fast forward to this week- my cards are mailed, all but three presents are purchased and sent, and other than not having an oven to start baking, I’m feeling pretty good about where I’m at in terms of being ready for Christmas.

I’m headed to Eugene tomorrow to sell books at an Authors and Artists event that is in conjunction with a large Holiday Market at the Lane County Fairgrounds. The event is Saturday from 10 – 5. I only have 4ft of space on a table so I had to be creative with the books I am taking and how to set up.

I’m thinking about downsizing when I do events where I’m not using my book trailer. It is a lot of work hauling so many (65) print books into and out of buildings, not to mention the boxing up and putting in the vehicle. I have half a dozen western romance books that are rarely purchased. I’m thinking they will start staying home when I’m having to pack so many books into a venue.

Fireplace in our new house.

Also, looking ahead, I’m hoping to stay focused on writing my usual four books in 2026, even though we are moving to another town by the end of March. The first quarter will be a struggle, but I need to get the next Gabriel Hawke book written then. I don’t know the title yet, and I’m still trying to determine how much of an event that is happening that draws Hawke into the middle of a missing woman and child will be in the book, or be the prologue, and then the book jumps forward in time. In other words, I’m still stewing and brewing the book as I listen to Merry Merry Merry Murder being narrated by Ann M. Thompson, and I prepare for Christmas.

If you missed out on the specials I told you about last month, they are still going on until the end of the month.

I have Christmas specials going on for the month of December. You can download an ebook or audiobook bundle of Double DuplicityMurder of Ravens, and Poker Face for FREE! Here are the bookfunnel links to get all three:

Mystery audiobook bundle https://books.bookfunnel.com/Holidayaudiobundle

Mystery ebook bundle https://books.bookfunnel.com/holidayebookbundle

I also have FREE first in series ebooks for these, only at my author website:

Mayan Moon holiday sale – https://www.patyjager.net/product-category/isabella-mumphrey-adventure-ebook/

Spirit of the Mountain sale – https://www.patyjager.net/product-category/native-american-spirit-trilogy-ebook/

Marshal in Petticoats – https://www.patyjager.net/product-category/halsey-brothers-series-ebook/

I’m giving/gifting these books to readers with the hope you find using my website easy and will purchase books in the future from my website as it takes out the middle man. And usually my books are available in ebook and audiobook here before they are available at other vendors.

Do you have your tree up? Do you have outside lights? And are your cards all sent? Let me know if you are moving along with your holiday celebrations.

Always Moving Forward

This is the last week of October. Only two more months left in 2025. This year has whooshed by like a freight train. Fast and hauling all kinds of things.

I have been busy with book events, family events, and life events. All of those things have whisked the days by in a blur. And the rest of the year will be almost as fast and furious!

I have an event in Bruneau, Idaho, November 7th-9th. I’ll be selling my books in a booth with my daughter who will be selling fudge. It’s called Bruneau Cowboy Christmas. I love their tagline: Best shopping and day drinking in the West! Which is what we’re hoping will give us lots of sales. 🙂

My daughter and I taped out the size of the booth on my living room floor and we set up the booth so we will know what we need to do when we get there. I also have all my books in totes, marked “put out”, “under table” and “in vehicle.” I hope to sell so much that I’ll need more books that will be in my vehicle. 😉

After that, we’ll have a lovely family Thanksgiving, and then I have two events back-to-back in December. A 4-H Christmas Bazaar, December 5th & 6th in Baker City, Oregon, and then the 2025 Authors and Artists Fair in Eugene, Oregon, December 15th.

When those two weekends are over, then it’s hanging out with family through the holidays and gearing up to start a new year of writing.

We will also be moving to Baker City in the coming year. We have slowly been taking things to the house we purchased there. So there will always be something to do, whether it is writing, editing, publishing, marketing, or boxing things up.

At the moment, I have two Gabriel Hawke novels, one Spotted Pony Casino mystery, and one Cuddle Farm Mystery book scheduled to write and release in 2026. I’ve been thinking about the next three books I’ll be writing and doing some research. I always have a couple of books brewing in my head while I’m writing one.

So stay tuned to this blog to find out what the next book will be and what I might have learned to write it.

Today and tomorrow are the last two days you can get the first book in the Shandra Higheagle Mystery series, Double Duplicity for FREE as an audiobook. You can download it from my website. https://www.patyjager.net/product/double-duplicity-audiobook/

Check out my website while you’re there and see that the prices for the audiobooks on my website are more reasonable than those of other vendors, and once you download the free audiobook, it will make any audiobook you order later the same process you go through at other audiobook vendors. Same with the ebook sales on my website. And if you want a print book with an autograph, you can purchase it from my website. Check it all out here: https://www.patyjager.net/

A New Book and an Audiobook Sale!

Well, I thought this post had been written and scheduled. Silly me! I must have forgotten to write it. The good news is that means you are able to purchase my new Spotted Pony Casino Mystery book! Crapshoot is book 7 in the series. It made me think and tugged at my emotions as I wrote it for many different reasons.

Here is the blurb, cover, and buy links:

 A Fentanyl death.

A missing woman.

Dela Alvaro, head of the Spotted Pony Casino security, and Heath Seaver, a Umatilla Tribal Detective, join forces with the FBI to find Dela’s missing basket-weaving instructor and put a stop to a lethal drug flowing onto the reservation.

The investigation turns deadly when an undercover FBI agent goes missing and the drug cartel’s girlfriend is out for Dela’s blood.

You can purchase the ebook of a dollar less at my website: https://www.patyjager.net/product/crapshoot-ebook/

Or you can use the universal link: https://books2read.com/u/3njQ7e

Along with this new book, I also have an audiobook bundle on sale.

The first three book in the Gabriel Hawke Novels, Murder of Ravens, Mouse Trail Ends, and Rattlesnake Brother.

Join Oregon State Trooper Gabriel Hawke as he performs his duties with the Fish and Wildlife Division while finding a body with a wolf collar, tracking a lost child, and hunting down a poacher in the wilderness of Wallowa County.

Books 1-3 in the Gabriel Hawke Novels

Oregon State Trooper Gabriel Hawke is part of the Fish and Wildlife Division in Wallowa County. He not only upholds the law but also protects the land of his ancestors.

Murder of Ravens

Book 1

State Trooper Gabriel Hawke is after poachers in the Wallowa Whitman National Forest. When he comes across a body wearing a wolf tracking collar, he follows the trail of clues.

Mouse Trail Ends

Book 2

Dead bodies in the wilderness. A child is missing. Oregon State Trooper Hawke is an expert tracker, but he isn’t the only one looking for the child.

Rattlesnake Brother

Book 3

State Trooper Gabriel Hawke encounters a hunter with an illegal tag. The name on the tag belongs to the Wallowa County District Attorney and the man holding the tag isn’t the public defender. 

You can purchase it direct from my website for $2.99: https://www.patyjager.net/product/gabriel-hawke-novels-box-set-1-3/

Or use a link provided at the https://indieaudiobookdeals.com/

Later this month, starting June 26th, the first three audiobooks of the Spotted Pony Casino Mysteries will be on sale. Use this link to get to the sale page: https://indieaudiobookdeals.com/

I’m excited to say I will be selling my books at two large events this year one is the Oregon State Fair on August 24th & 25th and the other will be at the Bruneau, ID Cowboy Christmas on Nov. 7th & 8th. So if you are in either of those areas, mark you calendar and come by to say hi.

Not all Creative Works Last

I just attended a bridal/baby shower for a granddaughter. Her wedding is next month. So there is that excitement brewing in our family. And we have a grandson getting married in August. These grandkids are almost as bad as our kids. We had three children get married in the same year. It’s easy to remember what anniversary they are celebrating! 2003 was an epic year. Not only three weddings, but we moved into the house we’d built. The house had been planned for seven years, and we finally had the means and the time to build it and move out of the old double-wide mobile home that was on the property when we purchased it.

I’d dubbed that house my dream house. It was. A spacious kitchen and dining room that was open to the living room, which had large windows that faced the Cascade Mountain Range. They were in the distance but you could see them. The main bedroom and bathroom were on the ground floor, and upstairs was a loft where I wrote from, two bedrooms, and a bathroom. I poured all of my creative energy into that house, thinking I’d be living there the rest of my life.

But Central Oregon grew, and my hubby and I didn’t like the growth. We purchased land in SE Oregon and built a house there. A nice house, one, we again thought we’d live in until we couldn’t get along by ourselves. But ten years later, we have purchased a house in Baker City. It’s a small, unique town, one that we enjoy. The house we purchased has a gorgeous view of the Eagle Cap Mountains and the Elkhorn Mountains. It is walking distance to the main part of town and there is a golf course close by to walk around.

Hubby decided that when he retired he didn’t want to do anymore farming. And even if we had leased the land to someone, he’d never be happy with how they were taking care of it, so we made the decision to move to a small town. Right now we are finishing out this year with his current employer, with hopes of putting the place in SE Oregon up for sale, and moving permanently to Baker City.

Right now we try to get over there once to twice a month. There is yard work and some remodeling that needs to be done, but at least this time we aren’t building a whole house! I don’t think my body could do that again.

The first house had a great room with a 28 ft high peak. We were on scaffolding, putting the knotty pine tongue and groove boards up. I’d lift them up to hubby who would then reach up and slide them to the top scaffolding. Then when we had as much as we could get up there and stand to put it up, I’d climb up to the top and hold the boards while he nailed them. I lost weight while building that house! I did all the tile work and painting.

That house? My dream home? Was recently purchased by another person and they tore it all down. It makes me sick to think of all the time and money that went into that house, and it’s gone.

Now I’m putting all my creative energy into the Baker City house and my writing. I hope the house in Baker City is as inviting and comfortable when I’m done as the last two houses we’ve lived in.

This month, you can purchase the Gabriel Hawke ebooks from my website for 25% off. It’s a deal for you and more ching-ching in my pocket when you purchase directly from the author. https://www.patyjager.net/product-category/gabrial-hawke-ebook/

Today is the last day to purchase Poker Face book 1 in the Spotted Pony Casino Mystery series in audiobook for $0.99! That’s right! Less than a dollar gets you 7 hours of entertainment. You can purchase it at my website also. Use this link to see all the great audiobooks on sale: https://indieaudiobookdeals.com

Or go directly to my website:

https://www.patyjager.net/product-category/spotted-pony-casino-audiobook/

As interim head of security at the Spotted Pony Casino, disabled veteran, Dela Alvaro, needs to find out who killed a casino accountant or lose her job.

Tomorrow you can use this same link: https://indieaudiobookdeals.com and get the audiobook of Murder of Ravens for FREE! That’s right as a way to introduce new listeners to my Gabriel Hawke novels, I’m giving away the audiobook for two weeks. Hop over to the audiobooks link or use this link to get your free audiobook. https://www.patyjager.net/product-category/gabriel-hawke-audiobook/

Wishing you a lovely May!