Hello, everyone! I’m sorry I took so long to get back to you. As many of you might have suspected, we had some storm trouble, though not from Milton. For us it was hurricane Helene and we’ve had no internet for the computer and only marginal 5G for the phones, which is why it’s been difficult to post stuff on my website and social media, but things are rapidly getting better. We are visiting my son at his house near Miami this weekend so I am using his internet connection today.

We’d just gotten back from the UltraCon in West Palm Beach when watches went up for hurricane Helene. Though we made our storm preps as good as we could make them, Helene swept by us and caused coastal flooding up and down western Florida. If it had been another Idalia, we would’ve been fine. Helene was double the flood of Idalia. My wife and I were staying with friends in town at the time.

We had salt water chest high in the lower floor of our house. Much was destroyed, but some stuff was saved. I lost a whole bookshelf of my favorite books, and also lost a few hundred copies of my own books that got soaked in water. Our friends came over to help us the first day, and my two sons came in from out of town with their wives and helped us all weekend. They were a big help to clear the house of things and wash the mud off the floor and get everything dried out. We got electricity back the second day and were fortunate to have the air conditioning on again that night, with clean floors and all the debris out. Our bedroom is upstairs so nothing there was touched and we could at least get a good night’s sleep.

But I say all that to say that despite the disaster, we are truly blessed. Our house, though nearly empty, is functioning and livable again. So far I’ve been able to save many items such as our generator, clothes dryer, lawn mower, etc. Some houses on our street cannot even be lived in yet.

As to my books, my son suggested we dry them out and just give them away at the book fair in Miami. I won’t make any money on them, but it might be a good way to introduce my work to new readers. (There is expected to be 100,000 people attending the event.) So if you’re in Miami on the weekend before Thanksgiving, drop in to my tent at the Miami Book Fair for some more free books! The covers are a little crinkled but the story inside is still good. As of right now they are drying out well.

When hurricane Milton was coming toward us, we really thought it would be the end but it struck 100 miles south of us. I am deeply sorry for the people there, because I understand how overwhelming it feels. We were lucky not to get anything from it. Now we continue repairing and restoring our house. I am constantly sore and tired, but we are making progress.

And by a happy surprise, we got to see comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas the other night! It was like a kind gesture from Mother Nature because of the storm (like the white Christmas we had after hurricane Hugo). Much appreciated.

All in all, the storm was a setback, but everyone in the world has them in one way or another, and we will move forward. I am looking forward to the Miami Book Fair. Until next time, I wish you peace and safety, and happy reading!

Novels by James Crawford (available in print, eBook, and audio book) –

Mariner Valley – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0141N9UXO

Seed of Aldebaran – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08SHXTRMP

AlCent Sagas Book One: Formation – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CQ5C3TQT

AlCent Sagas Book Two: Revelation – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D2FRH6Q8

AlCent Sagas Book Three: Investigation – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D5SBFYMW

AlCent Sagas Book Four: Desperation – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D8767LHL

AlCent Sagas Book Five: Confrontation – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D9PPTX6G

A Noble Paradise – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QG6LZ10

Cover artist Wojtek Kapusta – https://www.artstation.com/kapucha76

Audible narrator Lyle Blaker – https://www.acx.com/narrator?p=AXZPXFQRN07M3