Legolas back on the job, monitoring bears fishing for salmon.
The humans brought me back to my castle. Now I face the task of catching up on my many princely duties.
As much as I enjoyed the recent trip, and the discovery of flying fire bugs, I must make certain the bears are achieving maximum plumpitude. They awkwardly capture salmon, consuming their guts, skin, and fins, leaving only a few bones.
Which makes me hungry.
While my companion, the Orc Dog Strider, has a bit of a delicate tummy, I suffer no such infirmity. If it moves too slow, I eats it. If I eats it, it stays. During the recent journey - the point of which I still cannot fathom - I ate all manner of creatures native to the place called Iowa.
Fire bugs. Spiders. Ants. Pup cups. Steak. Eggs. Cheese. Ice cream. Chicken. Cheesecake. All delicious.
My menu is limited in my home castle. I attempted to try Big Yellow Butterfly, but it escaped.
Hummingbird on the feeder
I have to resist the feeling of being behind. We’ve been home from our RAGBRAI trip for two weeks. I managed to finish a “final” read-through of book four in the Rose Creek Mystery series. It’s ready to run by critique group - hopefully for the last time.
That’s an accomplishment. Right?
And I read a novel in preparation for a write-for-hire project, to get the right tone in my head.
I have lots of events coming up in the next month with my co-author and daughter, Merida Bass. All of those require a certain amount of promoting on social media.
I’ve been writing Substack articles on the Traveling With Pets at RAGBRAI topic.
It all feels like . . . busy work. But it’s not. It needs to be done.
Still, I’m anxious to get back to the more creative aspects of fiction writing. One project has been on a back burner for far too long. Another I am itching to push beyond the outline stage and dig into writing the story.
At the beginning of the summer, I advocated for actually having a summer. Not letting the season slip by without being lived to the fullest. Then the smoke from fires blew into town.
Colorado isn’t the main cause of the smoke this time. It’s coming from further west and northwest. Utah, Oregon, Washington.
Makes no difference. When air quality is poor, with my asthma, I need to stay indoors. Argh! So I’ll live vicariously through the live bear cams, and watching my hummingbird feeder, until the skies clear.
Grandpa’s New Year’s Relocation won the Colorado Authors League Award for the best humorous book! We couldn’t be more honored and excited! The audiobook, read by the talented actor, Stephen Bowlby, will be available in August.
Frayed Dreams and Broken Strands audiobooks are complete! Listen to the action-packed YA sci-fi series narrated by Merida Bass on Audible.
Book Three of the Ninja Grandparent Placement Mysteries is in the works! Granda’s Celtic Captivity will be here in 2026.
Catherine Dilts is re-issuing her Rose Creek Mystery books. She is on the final phases of working on the manuscript for the fourth title in the series. Merida completed exciting new cover art. Reveals and more information, coming soon!
Merida Bass’s latest children’s book is pending proof approval! It is coming fall of 2026.
Art from Merida’s latest children’s book, releasing this fall.
We will be sharing the stage with other Colorado authors.
Saturday, August 15th
1:00 - 3:45 pm
Douglas County Library - Parker
20105 East Mainstreet, Parker, CO 80138
Douglas County Library in Parker, Colorado
Support small business and local authors in one big event!
Sunday, August 16th
Noon - 5:00 pm
3918 Maizeland Rd, Colorado Springs, CO
Basecamp Books and Adventure
Catherine and Merida are featured authors at the Mesa Verde Literary Festival! More details to come.
September 5, 2026
Mancos, CO
Mesa Verde Literary Festival and Writers Conference
Basecamp Books and Adventure carries every current title by Catherine and/or Merida.
3918 Maizeland Rd, Colorado Springs, CO, United States, 80909
Basecamp Books and Adventure's Facebook
Hidden Gems (University Village Colorado Springs Location) also carries all of our titles.
5020 North Nevada Ave Suite 120, Colorado Springs, CO, United States, 80918
Escape Velocity Comics stocks children’s books illustrated by Merida Bass.
19 E Bijou St, Colorado Springs, CO, United States, 80903
Escape Velocity Comics' Facebook
Poor Richard’s Books and Gifts offers children’s books illustrated by Merida Bass.
320 - 324 1/2 North Tejon Street, Colorado Springs, CO, United States, 80903
Poor Richard's Books and Gifts
Catherine’s Website - https://catherinedilts.com/
Merida’s Website - https://merida-creates.com/
Catherine Dilts is the author of the Rose Creek Mystery series. Her short stories regularly appear in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. Recently retired from a career in environmental compliance, Catherine now writes fiction full time.
Catherine's Substack @catherinedilts
Merida Bass almost wasn’t an artist. Fear of criticism resulted in her teaching remedial algebra to unwilling college students. After ten years of torture, she grew a backbone and threw herself into art, writing, and training for endurance events.
Merida's Substack @meridacreates
This post is public so feel free to meow it out to the rest of the world.
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