Hello there, and welcome to the eighteenth edition of... Son of Thunder!

As I write this, it's three days to Opening Day for he Chicago Cubs.

By Thursday, they should be mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. :)

And we still have a couple inches of snow on the ground. They say it'll be gone by the weekend, but I'll believe that when I see it.

I really don't mind the snow - this is the first winter here that really felt like winter - at least, the winters that I was used to. The South Bend, Syracuse, Buffalo winters where we'd actually have a couple feet of snow on the ground. Where we went out and enjoyed winter because, hey, when you've got a third of the year where you're buried in snow, you either learn to have fun or just curl up and die or move to warmer climes.

Nothing against warmer climes, by the way. My sister was in her pool in Atlanta and my parents were out near theirs in San Jose this past Easter. Enjoy it while you can, I guess.

But there's just something about a good, thick covering of snow that I enjoy. I even enjoy shoveling it (not that I do it too often around here).

But I also enjoy spring, when the world turns bright and emerald, the dull greys giving way to marvelous color, the sun burning warmer, the sounds of baseball in the air. No offense to my compadres in California and Carolina, but you can't truly appreciate spring unless you've gone through winter; there's just not enough contrast.

Wherever you're living, Happy Spring, everyone!

Yep, I've got some new pictures for my gallery, a number of which I did myself. They start at Americana's Art Gallery #19.

New Americana fiction starts off with a visit to an old acquaintance and Conversations With Marcy.

Next up we have Freemans meeting Starrs over Thanksgiving dinner, and Talking Turkey.

Okay, so she's had a nice couple of issues where she hasn't really been threatened by anything worse than Mrs. Freeman's stuffing. But action is imminent when Astrea faces a real flying saucer - a UFO!

And lastly, Americana finds herself perplexed when facing Flames of Winter.

Over on the Forte world side, I have the last three chapters of Hornet's final run. CHESS finally has a beaten Hornet in their clutches, and her ex-lover is not in a very forgiving mood. If you missed it last time, seeing how it was put up a week or two after the deadline, here's your shot at The Last Hornet Story.

And remember in my Angel Flight story, how I mentioned that two heroines were missing? Out in Hawaii, helping out with storm damage? Hah? Remember? Well, I do, at least, and I've finally finished part two of the tale - as in, what were the other two up to while their fellow heroines were being pounded into pudding? Well, read Angel Flight - Island of Fire! and find out! There's even a neat-o Hawaiian-American dictionary at the bottom, so you can understand what they're saying!

And here's the first story, if you need a refresher or something. Angel Flight - Vengeance of the Ghost

And Red Skelton, God love him.

Have a great spring!

K.C.