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Authors Jacob & H.P. Holo

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Want to make some kittens? Catgirls from Outer Space is out!

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READ CATGIRLS FROM OUTER SPACE HERE

Catgirls from Outer Space

Standalone (For Now)

by Edie Skye & Jacob Holo
Harem Lit • Science Fiction • Action-Adventure • Men’s Romance

***

A down on his luck spaceship captain?An ex-space pirate catgirl? A catgirl warrior who’s down for some wild … adventure? Only one question remains:
Want to make some kittens tonight?

***

Captain Nathan Kade just wants a quick job to keep his busted-up spaceship limping through the Solar System.

Instead he gets Vessani S’Kaari, a mysterious and beautiful catgirl who tried—and failed—to steal a ship belonging to a band of space pirates. She’s chaos in a tight catsuit, but she also has a lead on what may be the greatest treasure trove of lost technology the Solar System has ever seen.

Not to mention a really nice … tail. He pulls that tail out of the fire, and together they assemble a team to seek out this long-lost bounty. Soon, he’s commanding a ragtag crew of space cowboys:

  • A warrior catgirl who’s as deadly with a wink as her blade
  • A snarky multi-bodied robot commando pilot
  • A sexy engineer who knows how to make a reactor purr
  • And a grumpy, cyber-implanted cleric who whispers with the remnants of ancient gods

They’ll dodge spaceship fire, flirt with danger (and each other), and maybe—just maybe—make the score of a lifetime.

But they’re not the only ones chasing the prize. The Jovian Everlife has dispatched a fleet of warships with one of their elite, many-bodied agents in command, and he’d like a few words with Nathan and his catgirls—preferably in chains.

Guns will blaze. Spaceships will burn. Tails will swish.

And somewhere in all that mayhem, a broke captain might just find everything he never knew he wanted.

Embark on the adventure of a lifetime with national bestselling author Jacob Holo and Amazon bestselling author Edie Skye in this brand new science fiction standalone. If you’re a fan of wild futuristic technology, wilder catgirls, and spicy scrappy crew space opera, this just might be the story you’ve been waiting for.

WARNING: Catgirls from Outer Space is a fast-paced, action-packed sci-fi adventure romance for men where the hero saves the day and gets all the girls. (So don’t read it and then complain about the spice. Y’all know exactly what you’re getting into.)

***

TROPES:

  • Extra Spicy Fast Burn Romance
  • Heroic Broke Spaceship Captain MMC
  • Badass Catgirl FMCs
  • Smut with Feelings
  • Lots of Snark and Banter
  • Small Harem (MFFF)
  • Quest/Treasure Hunt Across Space
  • Scrappy/Ragtag Crew
  • Space Western

***

NOTE: The first edition of this novel was originally released by Baen Books as Freelancers of Neptune by Jacob Holo. This second edition features additional content and character arcs contributed by Edie Skye.

For readers unfamiliar with Edie Skye, there will be spice and its doors will be WAAAAY open. For readers unfamiliar with Jacob Holo, there will be math but it will be fade to black.

READ CATGIRLS FROM OUTER SPACE HERE
Also, a humble request:

One of the best places for harem authors to drum up interest for new releases is Reddit, and the more upvotes a Reddit post has, the more likely it is to be noticed.

If you’re over there, we’d be immensely grateful if you’d pop over to the posts below and give them an upvote and/or comment. Thanks a bunch in advance! 😁

NOTE: As Amazon Associates, we earn a wee little commission on any Amazon purchases made through qualifying links on this page.

Catgirls from Outer Space is up for pre-order! (And releases 11/20!)

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HEY Y’ALL! 😀 H.P. – well, Edie – here!

Some Amazon pre-order drama thwarted our timing (We’d intended to have this up three weeks ago 😐), but the bright side?

SURPRISE! 😄 We have a new book for you to look forward to! And it releases THIS THURSDAY, so you don’t have to wait long at all!

Now, there’s a story behind this book. You might notice some … similarities between this and another title we released last year. 😉

That story’s coming, but ’til then, here’s the story of this one:

PRE-ORDER CATGIRLS FROM OUTER SPACE HERE

Catgirls from Outer Space

Standalone (For Now)

by Edie Skye & Jacob Holo
Harem Lit • Science Fiction • Action-Adventure • Men’s Romance

***

A down on his luck spaceship captain?An ex-space pirate catgirl? A catgirl warrior who’s down for some wild … adventure? Only one question remains:
Want to make some kittens tonight?

***

Captain Nathan Kade just wants a quick job to keep his busted-up spaceship limping through the Solar System.

Instead he gets Vessani S’Kaari, a mysterious and beautiful catgirl who tried—and failed—to steal a ship belonging to a band of space pirates. She’s chaos in a tight catsuit, but she also has a lead on what may be the greatest treasure trove of lost technology the Solar System has ever seen.

Not to mention a really nice … tail. He pulls that tail out of the fire, and together they assemble a team to seek out this long-lost bounty. Soon, he’s commanding a ragtag crew of space cowboys:

  • A warrior catgirl who’s as deadly with a wink as her blade
  • A snarky multi-bodied robot commando pilot
  • A sexy engineer who knows how to make a reactor purr
  • And a grumpy, cyber-implanted cleric who whispers with the remnants of ancient gods

They’ll dodge spaceship fire, flirt with danger (and each other), and maybe—just maybe—make the score of a lifetime.

But they’re not the only ones chasing the prize. The Jovian Everlife has dispatched a fleet of warships with one of their elite, many-bodied agents in command, and he’d like a few words with Nathan and his catgirls—preferably in chains.

Guns will blaze. Spaceships will burn. Tails will swish.

And somewhere in all that mayhem, a broke captain might just find everything he never knew he wanted.

Embark on the adventure of a lifetime with national bestselling author Jacob Holo and Amazon bestselling author Edie Skye in this brand new science fiction standalone. If you’re a fan of wild futuristic technology, wilder catgirls, and spicy scrappy crew space opera, this just might be the story you’ve been waiting for.

WARNING: Catgirls from Outer Space is a fast-paced, action-packed sci-fi adventure romance for men where the hero saves the day and gets all the girls. (So don’t read it and then complain about the spice. Y’all know exactly what you’re getting into.)

***

TROPES:

  • Extra Spicy Fast Burn Romance
  • Heroic Broke Spaceship Captain MMC
  • Badass Catgirl FMCs
  • Smut with Feelings
  • Lots of Snark and Banter
  • Small Harem (MFFF)
  • Quest/Treasure Hunt Across Space
  • Scrappy/Ragtag Crew
  • Space Western

***

NOTE: The first edition of this novel was originally released by Baen Books as Freelancers of Neptune by Jacob Holo. This second edition features additional content and character arcs contributed by Edie Skye.

For readers unfamiliar with Edie Skye, there will be spice and its doors will be WAAAAY open. For readers unfamiliar with Jacob Holo, there will be math but it will be fade to black.

PRE-ORDER CATGIRLS FROM OUTER SPACE HERE
Also, a humble request:

One of the best places for harem authors to drum up interest for new releases is Reddit, and the more upvotes a Reddit post has, the more likely it is to be noticed.

If you’re over there, we’d be immensely grateful if you’d pop over to the posts below and give them an upvote and/or comment. Thanks a bunch in advance! 😁

NOTE: As Amazon Associates, we earn a wee little commission on any Amazon purchases made through qualifying links on this page.

Jacob’s a Guest of Honor at P-Con! (Fort Worth, TX – September 19-21)

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TL;DR: Jacob’s gonna be a Guest of Honor at P-Con this September, along with David Weber, Sharon Rice-Weber, Daryl Mayfield, Cedar Sanderson, Wally Waltner, and Charles E. Gannon!

Hey, y’all! 😄 H.P. here!

This year’s a low con year for us as we focus on writing projects, but we’ve got one more coming up in September—and it’s extra exciting! 😁

P-Con

Fort Worth, TX – Holiday Inn DFW Airport South

September 19-21, 2025

GRAB YOUR P-CON TICKETS HERE!

See, Jacob’s one of the Guests of Honor at P-Con in Fort Worth, TX! 😄 I had an absolute blast as last year’s Literary Guest of Honor and am totally pumped that Jacob gets to join in on the fun.

(I suspect Artist Guest of Honor Cedar Sanderson took some inspiration from Jacob for the above convention art, but even if she didn’t, that’s my headcanon now. 😉)

But that’s not the only thing that’s cool about this year’s P-Con. Its leading Guest of Honor is David Weber himself, along with Sharon-Rice Weber! Plus, if you’ve listened to any of our audiobooks under our Edie Skye pen name, you’ll recognize the name Daryl Mayfield—and he’s also a special narrator guest! 😃

Basically, if you’ve enjoyed any of our stuff under any pen name or collaboration, P-Con’s the best place to be this year.

Rounding out the guest list is Wally Waltner as Wafflemaster and Charles E. Gannon as Science Wrangler!

Tickets are already available and the hotel is small, so if you want to stay on site, it’s better to reserve sooner rather than later.

GRAB A ROOM IN THE P-CON BLOCK HERE!

We look forward to seeing you there! 😁

Win a Kindle Paperwhite and 6 eBooks in our Feral For Fantasy Reddit Giveaway!

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Hey, y’all! 😄 A bunch of author pals (and our spicy pen name 😉) are doing a giveaway over on Reddit wherein you can win a Kindle Paperwhite AND eBook copies of the following books, some of which have yet to be released! 😁

All you have to do to enter is answer the question at the bottom of the post, which is: “Which book has the best chapter 1 you’ve ever read? (And why?)”

If that sounds like your jam, hop on over to:

THE FERAL FOR FANTASY GIVEAWAY

March 7th-9th! Grab Monster Punk Horizon #1 and Monster Girl Tamer #1 for JUST $.99 in the Mana and Might Promo!

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Hey, y’all! 😄 If you love LitRPG and GameLit you’re gonna want to jump on this!

For the next three days, you can grab a bunch of FREE and $0.99 books, either from some seriously talented women authors and/or about some kickass ladies! 💖✨

GRAB YOUR FREE and $.99 eBOOKS HERE!

Both Monster Punk Horizon #1 and its spicy offshoot Monster Girl Tamer #1 and are in there for JUST $.99 – and it’s a perfect time to read both, because I just finished the first draft of Monster Girl Tamer #2!

You’ve gotta grab ’em fast, though, ’cause these deals are gonna disappear on March 9th.

Also, FYI, a fun perk of this promo is that, when you buy these eBooks at $.99 on Amazon, you can add the Audible narration for just $7.49 – which means you can effectively get both the eBook and audiobook for less than $10!

GRAB MONSTER GIRL TAMER #1 HERE!

Monster Punk Horizon Audiobook Cover
GRAB MONSTER PUNK HORIZON #1 HERE!

NOTE: As Amazon Associates, we earn a wee little commission on any Amazon purchases made through qualifying links on this page.

Meet our new blessing, Dazzle.

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We had not intended to get a new cat. Not this soon.

For me, the loss of Nova was still so raw that the idea of adopting any new cat felt like a betrayal of her memory and all the joy she’d brought us. Like an ungrateful dismissal of a near-decade of blessing.

But this past Friday, my mom received a text.

See, my family has an unofficial Cat Network. None of us actually try to find cats, but cats find us, and together we get the cats to the places where they need to be.

In keeping with family tradition, my cousin’s boyfriend found an abandoned kitten on one of his construction sites. Cousin then went to rescue kitten … much to the surprise of her mom, who declared “You’re not getting ANOTHER cat!” (Cousin already has two, from similar origins. It’s A Whole Thing. 🤣)

But cousin had A Plan, and picked up her phone.

“I know it’s soon, but …”

It was soon. I told mom I’d think on it, and perhaps meet the kitten the next day since I was going to be in town anyway.

Then I showed Jacob the text.

We visited the cat that very evening.

And, well, you see the result. ☺️

The thing is, y’all, this cat’s absurd.

He cuddles.
He flops for scratches.
He squeaks.
He carries on conversations.

And he loves on sight.

There is so much of Nova in this random abandoned kitten that his every move makes me cry in her memory.

But it’s a happy cry now, because it feels like she had some part in sending him. Like she couldn’t bear to see us sad, even from her next life, and did what she could to help.

We named him in Nova’s honor, after the Dazzling Skies through which she fell.

Meet our new blessing, Dazzle.

To Nova, in her next life.

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I’ve long called Nova a serendipitous cat.

Appropriately, there was serendipity even in her passing.

We know we’re not the only ones grieving. So y’all need to hear the story of how she passed, and perhaps I need to tell it.

The past several days have been some of the worst of my life – largely because, Nova’s kidney numbers being what they were, there was nothing we could do except keep her comfortable and watch to decide when caring for her was no longer a mercy.

It’s the worst decision we’ve ever had to make, made even worse by the fact that her spirit was still as strong as ever. Her distinctive, wide eyes never lost their luster, and she never lost her loving, sassy expressions.

But she’d lost everything else.

Nova was a vocal enough cat that Jacob and I routinely carried on “conversations” with her, and she responded like she understood. She had a distinctive, delighted “prrt” she’d make when we surprised her with scritches. She had a ritual flop that she’d do whenever she wanted to be scratched on a certain part of her back, and she’d always do it during Jacob’s morning stretches, because his free hand was always perfectly positioned to give scratches. When Jacob sat down, she’d be in his lap in two seconds flat. (My lap was subpar, so she only sat in mine when he was at work.)

She’d done increasingly fewer of those things in the week leading to her fateful checkup.

The turning point was her tail flick. Nova has a distinctive tail flick that she does when she hears us say her name. She’ll do it in her sleep. It’s only for us. She does it with vigor even when she doesn’t feel well.

There came a point yesterday where she didn’t have the strength to flick her tail.

There were other, more conspicuous points, too – breath smelling like ammonia, cooling body heat, irregular breathing. I suspected that if we didn’t act that day, she’d suffer in the night from one of the dramatic results of kidney disease, and we wouldn’t be able to ease her suffering until the morning when the relevant services reopened. That’s no way for a cat like Nova to go.

But here’s where it gets serendipitous.

I’d sat down to write with her earlier that day, hoping to grant her what normalcy I could – and perhaps needing to have one last writing day with my cat. Once I suspected how the day would end, I burst into a hot mess of tears (a common theme of the past few days).

At which point – despite her weakness – Nova looked up at me with a distinct expression I see frequently on the writing porch. Only she knows what it means in her cat brain, but I interpret it as her “MA’AM, YOU SHOULD BE WRITING” look. And that day it came across as “Ma’am, I’m still your boss. My dying is no excuse for you to not be writing.”

I laughed, because well, it was so Nova.

But also, it felt like permission.

I talked to Jacob. He’d suspected the inevitability longer than I had, largely because Nova spends more time with him, and he could feel the nuances in her suffering before I could. He’s also the more realistic of the two of us, and I am an incorrigible shonen anime optimist who thinks I can solve every problem if I just yell and cry and fight hard enough to unlock my next power level. It works for most things. In cases like this, it’s my most painful trait. And I didn’t want my selfish optimism to be the thing that prolonged Nova’s suffering.

Thus, we made the appointment. We’d intended to have her put to sleep at home for her comfort (and because there’s only one thing in the world that she hates, and it’s cars), but the service our vet recommended wasn’t open that day. So we took her to her vet.

Which was another bit of serendipity.

See, Nova is beloved at my vet. A while ago, I learned that when they board her, she doesn’t get a little cat condo. If they have a free examination room, they give her the whole room. If any of the vets had a period where they needed to work in their offices, they’d let her hang out with them because they knew she enjoyed the company.

When we brought her in, every single vet and tech that we passed offered their condolences, and some cried. We weren’t the only ones losing her. They were losing her, too. We had people to grieve with, and Nova would be sent off by even more people who loved her – something that wouldn’t have happened if we’d gone with an at-home service we’d never used before.

But that was not the end of the serendipity.

See, I remember reading that sometimes, before cats pass naturally, they get a burst of energy so extraordinary it can trick their people into thinking they’ll recover. Perhaps it was that. Perhaps it was simply the change in environment that invigorated her curiosity.

But while we waited for the vets to make their preparations, she got it.

She explored the room. She sat in both our laps. She flopped for both of us. She prrted at our scritches. She squeak-talked as we spoke to her, in full conversations.

She flicked her tail every time we said her name.

We got to see every bit of the old Nova before the vets even returned to the room.

Again, it felt like permission.

Like she was comforting us, and ensuring that our last memory of her was a blessed one.

I held her in her blanket as she passed. Even then, she looked like herself. Her eyes sparkled so brightly, full of galaxies.

Jacob and I told her we loved her, and her last act on this earth was to flick her tail.

To know she was loved, and return it.

***

Our house is quiet now.

And I find reminders of Nova in my very muscle memory. Her stair step to our bed is no longer there, but my feet still avoid it in the dark. I went to my office to lure her from her nightly hiding place – the one she specifically goes to because she knows we’ll get her out by offering treats – before I realized she wasn’t there to hear the treat bag.

There’s not a single corner of our house she doesn’t inhabit.

But also – there’s not a single corner of our house she doesn’t inhabit.

She still lives there.

She just doesn’t have a body.

And, well, Nova was *always* more spirit than body.

A sad Nova update. 😔

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It’s been a rough day at House Holo, y’all.

I took Nova to the vet this morning expecting to hear about early-stage kidney disease, but it turns out that between her two most recent checkups, she advanced from “let’s keep an eye on it” kidney stats to Stage 4 Kidney Disease, the physical symptoms of which have become increasingly obvious in the past week, like an awful string of falling dominoes.

The single worst part is that her spirit is still there. She still flicks her tail every time she hears her name, and her eyes still go wide and brilliant whenever Jacob and I come to pet her.

But her body is increasingly unable to keep up with her spirit, such that Jacob and I will soon have a decision to make.

For now, Nova’s getting all the sunbeams and scritches she desires.

But I already know my next book dedication:

“To Nova, in her next life.”

We’re back at cons! :D

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Last year’s dearth of conventions left us starving to get back to con life, and now, we’re pumped to announce our first convention appearances since The Before Times! 😄

Scroll on to see if we’re coming to a con near you (and click their names for more info)!

  • Upstate Pop Expo – November 13th – November 14th, 2022 – Greenville, SC
  • FantaSci – March 25th – 27th, 2022 – Durham, NC
  • LibertyCon – June 16th – June 20th, 2022 – Chattanooga, TN

Amusing Stuff H.P. Finds When Doing Ad Research

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When I’m not writing, my main responsibility is marketing our books, and a lot of that involves compiling Amazon Ad keywords – usually by researching books and authors that are similar to ours, and by seeing what kinds of books show up in our Also Boughts.

This often leads me down some interesting Kindle rabbit holes. For example, there was a period where, for some reason, a lot of the readers who bought mecha action-adventure Bane of the Dead were absolutely devouring … harem lit. 😳

That said, here’s a collection of some of the stranger books I’ve come across. 😀

I haven’t read any of these as of yet, but many are so weird that they’ll probably make their way onto my reading list at some point. 🤣 Enjoy!

***

We’ve reached peak light novel, y’all.

Reborn as a Vending Machine, Now I Wander the Dungeon (Volume 1) by Hirukuma

***

I don’t even care what this is about. I’m 100% reading for the dinosaur hands.

Rexus: Side Quest (Completionist Chronicles #3) by Dakota Krout

***

I’m a huge fan of honest, straightforward, unashamed titles, and this is absolutely that.

Making Monster Girls: For Science! (Volume 1) by Eric Vall

***

I can’t decide if science has gone too far…or not far enough.

Maid to Order: A Catgirl Harem Adventure (Build-a-Catgirl Book 1) by Simon Archer

***

Bizarre light novel titles are my favorite thing in the world right now.

Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to A Starter Town (Volume 1) by Toshio Satou

***

Ok, given how much I love animals and adorable things, I’d actually read the heck out of this.

Woof Woof Story: I Told You To Turn Me into a Pampered Pooch, not Fenrir (Volume 1) by Inumajin

***

You know, given how much time I spend cooking and eating in games, I’d actually read the heck out of this, too.

Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill (Volume 1) by Ren Eguchi

***

Have you read any of these little oddities? 😄 Tell me what you thought in the comments!

***

Note: Holo Writing is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and, as such, may earn a small commission from any product purchased through an affiliate link on this blog.

Halfway Dead – Book Review

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halfwaydeadIf the tagline “Come for the waffles. Stay for the magic.” doesn’t grab you by the throat and plunge your eyeballs straight into Terry Maggert’s Halfway Dead then you, my friend…well, probably haven’t met the right waffle. Which is all the more reason to visit the good witch Carlie at the diner in Halfway.
Halfway is a town in the Adirondack Mountains “exactly halfway in the middle of something,” a liminal space that’s equal parts “tourist destination, pit stop for travelers, and a repository of more things magical than I care to think about” – which is why protagonist Carlie McEwan frequently finds herself occupied with the mysterious hidden world around this cozy town. Strange forces have begun to stir in Halfway Dead. When a dumb YouTuber gets himself lost in the unforgiving mountain terrain, he unwittingly stumbles upon one of the last surviving groves of American Chestnut trees, thus setting off a race to find the trees…which happen to be sitting upon an area rife with dark, dangerous magic, and home to an equally dark mystery in Carlie’s family history. Aided by a mysterious investigator and a vampire Viking hermit, she must venture into the woods to stop this magic – before it kills (again).
I knew I was going to like Halfway Dead the moment I picked it up – I mean, waffles and magic, what more could a girl ask for? – but I ended up surprised by the specific ways in which I liked it. Frankly, the plot was the least interesting thing about it – not because it wasn’t interesting, but rather because the world and characters surrounding it were that much more interesting. More than the quirky magical adventure that the tagline led me to expect, Halfway Dead reads like a love letter to the beauties and dangers of the Adirondack Mountains. This is heightened by the fact that Carlie’s magic is nature-based, equally as beautiful and equally as dangerous as the natural world from which it derives. The book is also clear that Carlie is not a storybook witch or a stereotype (“I’m a witch. A real one, not some amateur who reads things on the Internet and likes to dress up.”), and while I don’t know enough about the practices of modern witches to comment on the accuracy of the depiction, the practical, down-to-earth way in which her magic is presented has the depth of research-based writing. Maggert’s descriptions of Carlie’s magic are simply wonderful, with thoughtful attention to detail that ultimately builds to Carlie’s own evaluation of her skill (“For now, I treat my magic like a new pair of shoes. Someday we’re going to love each other, but for now we’re just trying to fit together comfortably”) and her treatment of both nature and things in general (“I take care of my things, because they return the favor”).
I could easily see a modern witch practicing in the same way that Carlie does (albeit without the same magical clout), and this is one of the hinges upon which the book rests.
The other hinge is the town of Halfway itself, and the mountains surrounding. Halfway is unique among fictional mountain towns in that it’s not a Deliverance-inspired backwater, but a cozy town where everyone knows everyone, the locals are charming, where Carlie’s magic is known and appreciated (though not by all and not entirely fathomed even by those), and its only real limitation (or perhaps one of its greatest strengths) is its sheer distance from everything else.
I’d go to the Hawthorn Diner to try Carlie’s waffles as much as I would to hear of Tammy Cincotti’s dating conquests, take tea with Carlie’s classy, fearsome Gran, or just to hear the servers talk their special brand of diner pidgin that names a half stack of pancakes after the shortest member of the staff and somehow makes raisin bread appealing by rechristening it “bug toast.” I would eat bug toast here until Carlie had to magic up a spell to roll me out. The town is a homey point of pleasantry buried deep in a mountain range that, despite its wondrous beauty, does not give a slice of bug toast whether the people hiking it live or die, and that’s even before one considers the magical forces at work in it.
A side note: One can’t fully appreciate this book without having some appreciation for the Adirondacks themselves – or really, any vast swath of wilderness largely untouched by human presence. To that effect, if you like to read books in themed clusters, Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods pairs excellently with Halfway Dead, both because of its similarly reverent sense of wonder and terror toward the woods and because it provides historical context that enhances certain parts of this novel. Halfway Dead clearly establishes that the pivotal American Chestnuts are severely endangered, the species nearly wiped out during a blight in the early 1900s, but a later read of A Walk in the Woods took my reaction from “Ok, so they found some chestnuts” to “HOLY SH** THEY FOUND AMERICAN CHESTNUTS! 😀 😀 :D” Plus it’s just a good read for people who like the idea of hiking but not the inconvenience of probably being eaten by bears in the isolated wilderness. But I digress.
If I were to fault Halfway Dead for anything, it would be how complicated the plot becomes at points. There are lots of characters and lots of different motivations circling around every facet of the conflict, from people who want to protect the pivotal American Chestnuts, to people who want to exploit the Chestnuts (both independently of the magical storyline), to Carlie’s family history surrounding that grove, to the aforementioned Viking vampire, who has his own complicated reasons for being in the woods in the first place, to the dark force at the center of it all, which has origins the reader never would have expected at the beginning of the novel. It all comes together nicely in the end, but until the reader reaches the end, it sometimes makes for a disjointed first read as one wonders why exactly the novel focuses on this new character or that new detail without a reason that’s apparent in the moment. (On the flipside, though, it makes the second read-through that much more entertaining.)
That said, its plot pretzel can be a bit exhausting – but the world in which that pretzel was tangling was so appealing that, in the end, it barely diminished the reading experience. If you’re looking for a cozy contemporary fantasy with just a twist of darkness, and a waffle-slinging witch who wrangles it all with panache, Halfway Dead is a must-read.
***
Note: Holo Writing is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and, as such, may earn a small commission from any product purchased through an affiliate link on this blog.

Nova’s Having Hyperthyroid Adventures.

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While everyone else is social distancing from people, we’ll soon have to distance ourselves from…our cat. 😐
novasmile
Catboss Nova has been keeping things exciting this spring.
When H.P. took her to the vet for her regular checkup last month, we learned that she’s in the early stages of hyperthyroidism. 😞 Thankfully, though, there are a lot of options for treating it. With the right treatment, it’s fully curable, so needless to say, we’re going for that one.
This treatment, however, is radioactive iodine therapy, and while the vet’s going to send her home at safe levels, Nova’s going to be too radioactive for snuggles for two weeks after she returns. For a cat who thrives on snuggles, that’s going to be a big Do Not Like. 😭
In the meantime, Nova’s taking medicine to bring her thyroid back under control, and she is ALL FOR IT. 😆
See, whenever Nova has to take medicine, we sneak it into some fancy cat food to make it more appealing. This medicine has to be given twice a day, which means that she gets a little bit of fancy cat food twice a day, so I imagine her inner monologue goes something like:
“I have no idea what hyperthyroidism is, but IT IS AWESOME.” 😍

But that’s not the end of it.
See, Nova is what we like to call “selectively clever.” For example, she regularly tries to burrow under blankets…while still standing on top of them. 😐
When it comes to food, however, she’s a GENIUS, and she has figured out how to manipulate us so that she gets MAXIMUM TREAT.
The first week or so of her medicine, she scarfed it down without thinking. Now, though, she’s getting sneaky.
Now she waits until H.P. has prepared the Fancy Cat Food Medicine. She then eats it tenderly, carefully tasting for the pill, and gradually eats everything but the medicine. At which point H.P. tries to fool her with her favorite crunchy treats…
…and she scarfs EVERYTHING down without hesitation, treats and medicine. 😆
H.P. now has to vary her medicine strategy from morning to evening, solely to keep Nova on her toes.
We’re 100% certain that Nova knows what we’re doing, too, because when Jacob threatens to withhold her fancy food completely, she’ll eat the pill un-hidden.
Another strategy is to 1) hide her pill in a Greenie’s Feline Pill Pocket, 2) squish the pill pocket onto the back of a Greenie’s Dental Treat, then 3) offer the treat to her pill-side down so she can’t see the pill pocket.
For some reason, this one continually works without a snag…though it might be because Nova knows she won’t get fancy food until she eats the medicine snack, so the faster she snacks, the faster she gets fancy food.
Like we said, “selectively clever.” 😏
The important thing, though, is that she’s in good spirits and on her way to recovery, and that’s not a bad place to be. 😊
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