Free Chocolate Binging the Chocoverse

Ok, this was on my mind since everyone's been huddled in their homes.  It's the perfect excuse to go read those books you've been meaning to get to.  Of course I would suggest the chocoverse series.  Free Chocolate and Pure Chocolate are available now and Fake Chocolate will be coming out in just over a month.  Of course if you go to Netgalley you can get book three as well as other advanced copies and all they request is that you review them for others to know how you liked them.

Corgi in Chocolate Trailer

This last weekend we ran the film end of the book trailer for Fake Chocolate.  For anyone who doesn't already know, this is book three of the Chocoverse series, written by my amazing wife, Amber Royer.  The first two books were published by Angry Robot Books out of London, England.  The third book is being Indie published to complete the trilogy so the fans that are out there won't be left disappointed with being left unfinished.  Fake Chocolate will release on April 14 with a party at Four Corners Brewery in Dallas, Texas.

Emma was probably the biggest diva of the group.  She only had about two hours of filming but she was determined to be the spotlight as long as she was there.  It didn't hurt that she was the most adorable ball of fur ever.  We went out to River Legacy in Arlington for the footage with Emma. and of course she found the water as soon as she got near the grassy areas.  The real conflict for her came when she had to decide between the ball and going up to new people to say hi.  Unfortunately for those folks the ball won out.  She really likes to chase them.

For those who haven't read the first two books yet, Emma was playing the part of Botas, the corgi Frank gets in the first book and the thing that helps you realize that maybe he's not such a bad guy after all.  Because how bad can a person be if he takes the time to make sure innocent pets don't get caught up in the mess us humans get ourselves into.  Botas also plays a role throughout the series in various ways.  Want to know more?  You can order the books from any convenient bookstore or if you can't wait then come to the launch party, there will be plenty of copies on hand.

Cacao Tree March 2020

Moved the big guy up front so the smaller plants could get a little more light.  He's still producing pretty big leaves though.  The one right in the middle is nearly done growing and will pop up soon but every time he makes a new leaf I'm amazed at how much bigger it is than last time.  You can easily tell the progressive size of the leaves as well.  The leaves near the bottom of the trunk are the original leaves as seen in it's earliest pictures.  Eventually they'll turn brown and fall off but hasn't happened yet.

It's already looking like it needs a bigger pot but I'm going to hold off a little until it makes a few more leaves.  Probably May or June before I repot.

The vanilla on the other hand seems to have stopped growing quite as fast.  Still a little growth here and there but it's slowed dramatically.  The other cacao trees have slowed as well.  probably more a note on how I need to water more regularly and in easy to use quantities.  They definitely do like the more light areas in the office.  Some places need bulbs to be replaced and the plants near those areas are less happy with their location. Still have hope though.  Put one outside today with the nice weather.  Hopefully a little bit brighter day will kick it into growth mode.