It’s been a long family tradition to watch The Muppet Christmas Carol during the holidays, and one of my favorite parts is when Sam the American Eagle makes an appearance.

“Today you become a man of business,” states Sam proudly.

“I’m looking forward to it, Headmaster,” young Scrooge acknowledges.

“Mmm, you will love business,” Sam emphasizes again. “It is the American way!” Gonzo leans in and whispers a reminder to Sam that they are in a Charles Dickens story, and therefore not in America, so Sam redelivers the line as, “It is the British way!”

Today, I’m talking business (said in the most Sam voice I can muster) and, since I’m American and this weekend we celebrate Independence Day, the movie quote seemed a fitting opening for the topic.

For the past couple of months, my husband and I have been hard at work setting up our very own publishing house, and at long last, it is up and running! The name of the company is Cu Rua Publishing, LLC, and it will act as an umbrella company for the books, music, and merch we plan to begin publishing and creating. Cu Rua is Irish Gaelic for “Red Dog” and is named after our Plott Hound (the state dog of North Carolina, by the way).

Cu Rua Pub will not only be your source for signed copies of my books once they are published, but also home to the official merch related to my epic fantasy series, The Stone Key Chronicles, such as world map posters, tees, ale mugs, bookmarks, decals, and more! Remember the pub song I wrote about? That recording will be released through Cu Rua Publishing as well.

As of right now, there’s not much on the site, but as my husband and I tick off to-dos, more content will be added. The first hurdle was getting the company up and running, and now the fun part of publishing content comes in.

I’m looking forward to what the second half of 2025 brings! Happy Independance Day, America!