Here we are again — All Hallows’ Eve, when the souls of the dead roam among us.  Blink and it’ll be Christmas.  Halloween is not something Mrs Thomson and I observe, but to me it always seems to have symbolized the delimitation between autumn and pre-winter.  After all, it is just about halfway between the fall equinox and the winter solstice.  By the last day of October, most trees have shed their leaves, the first snow flurries have made their appearance, our snow clearing service has installed driveway markers, and our property is prepared for burial under a snowy shroud.  For some reason tomorrow, the first day of November, or All Hallows according to the liturgical calendar, always feels very different from today even if the weather is the same.  Go figure.

Progress on Hard Strike (Decker’s War Book 7) in the last two weeks has not been what I might have wished.  In part it’s because life intervened.  It happens.  But mostly, after much cogitation and discussion, I decided on a better way to tell the story, and that means stepping back to reassess progress to date.  So it won’t be coming out before Christmas.  Late January is now a more realistic date.  Oh well…