I’m taking a moment from blogging about birds to blog about my newest novel about birds.

Familiars of the Flock is now available on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle editions. It’s the third and the last book of the Crow Nickels. Here’s the blurb from the back: Sol, a thinker-linker crow, challenges the Sky Council to work with select humans to put those sharing the planet on a flight path to make the world more habitable. Many members of the Great Flock – including the mischief-loving magpies – master thinker-linker techniques, and use their abilities to encourage humans to make better choices. In some parts of the planet, progress happens, often one human at a time. Alas, not all humans are willing to cooperate. The Sky Council sends Sol on dangerous missions, requiring many sacrifices from him, his sister Ava, their dead brother Peeps and even the magpies. They make progress, but at a cost. Sol is taken captive by a human and faces a set of difficult choices.

Familiars of the Flock is the third of a series, the Crow Nickels (chronicles), in which Sol joins other daring birds in a quest to save the planet. The first two novels are Hunters of the Feather and Scavengers of Mind.

Familiars of the Flock took a while to finish. One reason was because I was including the pandemic in the background, and when that started, I didn’t know how it was going to turn out.

Another reason was because a woman had tracked me down on the internet to tell me that Hunters of the Feather was the only book her husband would read when he was dying of cancer. He kept it by his bed to comfort him during the difficult treatments. Well, being told that is inspirational, but it’s also a bit intimidating. I kept wondering, is what I’m writing good enough? And, at least for me, first drafts are never good enough.

Nevertheless, I loved the journey with the crows and the magpies and a saucy cockatoo. I am sotty that it is over. But in the words of Great Mother Bird, “Grieve, but not too much, for your duty is to go on living.” Familiars of the Flock