Published July 13, 2026
Hello Flames. So much has been happening. Upheaval seems to be the word of the month! I’ve been
busier than a three-legged dog at a flea circus lately.
Here’s some bullet points:
—We’ve moved! Again. Sigh. Yes, but we are in a much bigger place, where I have a brand-new big
office with a wonderful circular cockpit to work in. I’ll post photos as soon as the clutter clears. I am
surrounded by three computers now so I can work on several projects at once. Heh heh.
I really miss the friends I made when we lived at the over 55 place but luckily we’ve managed to stay in
touch and we get together for meals occasionally.
The move has put my latest cozy mystery on a back burner but the book, When Mercy Goes Missing, is
still very much alive and she grows a little bit each day. Of course, because of the move, it’s nothing like the
writing of Hot Tea and Lemon, a novel which poured from me a flurry of words in only a month or two.
My goal is to have five books out this year. Two down and three to go. I think I might make it, if the
writing muses cooperate.
Muses are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. Traditionally the nine daughters
of Zeus and Mnemosyne (goddess of memory), they served as the divine source of knowledge, music and
storytelling. Nothing about cozy mysteries but storytelling is storytelling.
I digress.
—My past two books have released a mad mass of promotional people wanting me to pay them to
promote my books. I get about ten to twelve emails a day. I know! It’s exhausting. I also get about ten calls a
day saying yes to the debt consolidation loan I applied for. Nope. Never applied for a loan.
All these things take way too much of my time. I know there’s a TON of things wrong with our world at
present but the jackasses selling our numbers and other contact information should be strung up and flayed. If
you do any kind of legitimate business—banking, shopping, buying a car or home—these people often sell your
contact information to make money. I’m sure of this because I’ve tested it with secondary emails and numbers.
Just to find out who is doing it. I honestly believe they all do.
Okay, rant finished. But I’ve been too busy trying to deal with this idiocy.
—My friend died. He wasn’t a best friend but he was part of our close-knit Albuquerque group and I
miss him so much. He died too young and too soon, from a medical issue, an emergency that none of us saw
coming. He had a lovely memorial and I got to meet some of the people he worked with. His estate sale,
orchestrated by his best friend and executor, allowed me to get to know him even better as we parted with the
things he’d possessed and loved. I now have a lot of mementos to bring him to mind every day.
As author Isabel Allende so aptly put it— “You never die as long as there is someone left who
remembers you.”
—Another dear friend is struggling. Her wife of almost fifty years recently went into hospice after a bad
fall. I want to be there for her. Also for another long-time friend who’s just been diagnosed with a progressive
brain issue. I will drop everything to be there for each of them when they need me. During this time, my writing
with definitely be rescheduled as needed. With no guilt or angst.
—I’m going to a conference! By the way, dear flames, I hope to see some of you at the Romance
Writers of America conference next week. I’ll be there each day, attending sessions and hanging out. Saturday
afternoon I’ll be signing copies of my books, my new cozy Hot Tea and Lemon, as well as a stack of my older
romances that were published recently. Yes, including Pony Dakota. Come by if you can.
RWA2026 Annual Conference – July 15–18, 2026 | Albuquerque, NM
At the Embassy Suites by Hilton, Albuquerque
https://www.rwa.org/anual-conference
—Other big news includes this lovely blog page which is attached to my new webpage natburns.com.
My baby brother created it for me from scratch when my old server went away. He did such a great job! Makes
me want to not pick on him as sisters will do. For a while anyway. I know I still had thenattybits.com but the
natburns.com page was on most of my promotional materials so I really needed to get that back up.
So that’s it—life in Natty-ville. I rise early, have coffee with my cat, Boo, and the morning news then I
unpack and organize and write in between.
Quick note, By the Winds Will, The Wittering Way and Gospel, will soon be re-released on a different
publishing platform. We hope to have that done by September. I’ll let you know.
Have a great summer and please stay hydrated and as cool as possible. And for the East-Coasters, please
stay high and dry and especially safe.
Love and joy, Natty B
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