Author: Madeline Crane

Fantasy writer, tabletop gamer, wearer of hats.

What the Hex Witches’ Market: May 6, 2023

What: A witchy craft fair with workshops, Tarot readings, vendors, food, free entry AND a free gift!

Where: Falcon Bowl, 801 E Clarke St., Milwaukee, WI

When: Saturday, May 6, 12pm-6pm

Who: Brooke Miller (the artist behind the Figuratively Speaking Tarot), me, and a whole bunch of other fantastic creators, including hosts Tres Ojos and Bee Batty Studios and sponsors Materia Magicka and Ritual Floral

Here’s a link to the Facebook event

Here’s a link to the Instagram page

I’m packing up a box of books and bookmarks, including a BRAND NEW ONE Brooke painted in honor of The Book of the New Moon Door‘s upcoming publication. This is the original:

A watercolor painting of Isabel Rainier, a light-skinned woman with long brown hair, dressed in a black Victorian dress and holding a bell in one hand and a book in the other. A black candle and a corpse covered in a sheet sit on the table in front of her, with one of the corpse's hands visible.

Brooke also has fancy new packaging for her cards as well as new paintings for your perusal and divination enjoyment.

Black paper envelopes big enough for individual Tarot cards, blazoned with an embossed silver letter C and sealed with stickers featuring a watercolor rose.

We hope to see you there!

The Book of the New Moon Door: Part Three, Chapter One

Impossible

The Book of the New Moon Door cover image: A book with yellowing, wrinkled pages lies open on an old wooden desk, with a sprig of lavender lying in the center.

Table of Contents

One by one, the dead fall still and drop to the tiled floor. Silence falls over the hospital wing.

Berend stands on legs shaky with exhaustion, adrenaline the only thing keeping him upright, his empty pistol gripped in one hand as stiff as a corpse’s. A slow fire that reeks of disinfectant and rotting flesh eats at what’s left of his barricade.

Is it over?

Continue reading “The Book of the New Moon Door: Part Three, Chapter One” →

New Patreon Post/ Journey to the Water chapter XXXIII

And so, as Fenin knelt at the feet of the elders, her arms held up in supplication, I saw the room as it truly was.

Chapter XXXIII: The Temple of the Elders

Eske’s figuring some things out–and just in time, too, because he’s about to be in serious trouble. The latest chapter of JOURNEY TO THE WATER is now available on Patreon.

Song of the Week

Iris, “Hell’s Coming With Me”

Happy Monday! A bit of a throwback for this week’s song.

We’re still on the normal posting schedule for this week: a new chapter of Journey to the Water will be up on Patreon tomorrow, and the latest chapter of The Book of the New Moon Door (chapter one of Part Three!) will be available to read here on Wednesday.

Because I’m spending all my time working to finish New Moon Door, there won’t be a new episode of The Well Below the Valley on May 1st. The Well is the project with the fewest readers, so it’s the proverbial plate I’m letting drop. I might be able to get one out June 1st, but that will depend on how quickly I finish New Moon Door.

Also, if you haven’t already, sign up for my newsletter! It goes out once a month and contains pictures of my cats and my garden. The link will take you to a box where you can enter your email address, and then you’ll be sent a confirmation email. Be sure to click on the confirmation link, or you won’t be added to the mailing list.

Lastly, I’ll be at What the Hex Witches’ Market with Brooke of the Figuratively Speaking Tarot on May 6! I’ll have a post with more information later this week.

I think that’s all for now. Stop by again soon, and have an excellent week!

Journey to the Water Chapter XXXII: Svilsara

Journey to the Water cover image: three evergreen trees stand on a hillside, shrouded in bluish fog. Subtitle reads: the sequel to Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea.

Table of Contents

Confined by this new stranger’s grasp, his wicked knife inches from the pale veins of her emaciated arms, Fenin was surprisingly calm. Her eyes closed, and she knelt without struggling, her hands stretched upward above her captor’s curled fist, as if in supplication. 

“I’m not from Svilsara,” I said, a needless clarification that I nonetheless felt compelled to make. Whatever devilry Fenin’s city had concocted and inflicted upon its citizens, I wanted no part of it. “I am a warrior of the North. Unhand the girl, and I’ll let you depart from here in peace.”

His smile only stretched wider. “I might have known.”

Continue reading “Journey to the Water Chapter XXXII: Svilsara” →

New Patreon Post/ The Book of the New Moon Door: Part Three, Chapter One

“She did it,” he says aloud. “Gods love you, you crazy death cultist. You did it.”

The Book of the New Moon Door

PART THREE IS STARTING

You can read this chapter right now on Patreon, or wait another week for it to show up here on the blog.

Song of the Week

Paris Paloma, “Labour”

Good morning!

This is a very exciting week, because Part Three of The Book of the New Moon Door is starting! The first chapter will post on Patreon tomorrow. The latest chapter of Journey to the Water will be up here on Wednesday.

I am four chapters into my sprint to the end of The Book of the New Moon Door, so wish me luck as I continue that this week.

In other news, I’ll be at the What the Hex Witches’ Market, along with Brooke of the Figuratively Speaking Tarot, on Saturday, May 6! It will be open from noon to 6pm at Falcon Bowl in Milwaukee. Here’s a link to the Facebook event, and here’s one to the Instagram page. As soon as I find out our booth number, I’ll let you know!

As always, thank you for being here, and have an excellent week.

The Book of the New Moon Door: Part Two, Chapter Twenty-Six

The Void

The Book of the New Moon Door cover image: A book with yellowing, wrinkled pages lies open on an old wooden desk, with a sprig of lavender lying in the center.

Table of Contents

Isabel gets to her knees and grips the back of the driver’s seat. It’s empty, and the carriage jerks and bumps over the fog-shrouded terrain with no apparent guidance. Ghostly figures part like water before it, barely lifting their heads to acknowledge it. Their attention is focused on the crumbling wall, and the seething mass of eyes behind it. 

Where are we going? Either the carriage is compelled by a base, inanimate desire to move despite its lack of horses, or it has some destination it seeks out mindlessly like a compass needle finding north. Isabel can’t wait to find out when it will stop. Her body, and Brother Risoven’s, are still sitting on the carriage’s physical counterpart, less than an arm’s length from the horde of undead filling the streets of Mondirra. When the angry corpses pull the wheels off the carriage, which won’t be long given their numbers, both she and Risoven will be torn to bloody shreds in no time at all. 

Risoven’s spirit crouches behind her, one arm over his eyes and the other hand gripping the edge of the open window below him. He prays in a breathless, whispered litany: “Watcher on the wall, master of the gate, guardian of the bridge, shepherd of all souls, deliver us, please.”

Ondir isn’t listening, wherever he might be now. Isabel reaches out and shakes Risoven by the shoulder. “We have to hurry.”

Continue reading “The Book of the New Moon Door: Part Two, Chapter Twenty-Six” →

New Patreon Post/ Journey to the Water Chapter XXXII

There was magic here, crafted to deceive the senses and confuse the mind. I adjusted my grip on Bran’s halter, pulling him close. I could trust him, and I could trust my enchanted harpoon, but all else could have been an illusion. I had walked once again into danger.

Chapter XXXII: Svilsara

Eske travels to what looks like a safe haven in the desert, but all is not as it seems. You can read this chapter right now on Patreon, or wait until next week for it to make its appearance here.

Song of the Week

Hozier and Bear McCreary, “Blood Upon the Snow” (from God of War: Ragnarök)

You know, I’ve never played a God of War game, but this song makes me want to.

That’s going to have to wait, however, because I’m starting Part Three of The Book of the New Moon Door! I’ll post a NaNo update on Friday. The last chapter of Part Two will be up here on Wednesday. There will also be a new chapter of Journey to the Water on Patreon tomorrow.

Responses to the New Moon Door poll were sparse and mixed, so I think I will maintain the chapter-by-chapter posting schedule for now. I’ll reevaluate when Part Three is written (my goal is by the end of May), and maybe again when editing is done (late summer). If all the chapters haven’t been posted by then, I may save the ending for the published book 😉

Also, I’ll make a bigger announcement later, but I’ll be at the What the Hex Witches’ Market on May 6 at Falcon Bowl in Milwaukee! Mostly, I’ll be supporting Brooke and her Figuratively Speaking Tarot, but I’ll have a few copies of Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea to sell and sign and some bookmarks to hand out. Stay tuned for more details.

As always, thanks for being here, and have an excellent week.