Queer Fantasy and Weird Tales for the People
“You can come with me, if you want. You can leave the temple and find your own way. You can stay here. It’s your choice.”
The Book of the New Moon Door
The original, serial version of The Book of the New Moon Door concludes with these two chapters, now available on Patreon. I hope you’ve enjoyed this version, and that you’ll enjoy the published version even more.
First order of business: I’ve posted the first chapter as a preview! You can read it here.
So, my files have been approved, but there has been some confusion regarding paper type at the printer. Right now, I’m waiting for customer support to get back to me. For that reason, and because I want to make sure that everyone who wants a preorder can get one, I’m leaving preorders open until Friday, December 1.
As always, I appreciate you. Stay warm this weekend!
Time
“Well, hello,” Berend says through his teeth, wincing from the renewed pain in his side as Isabel’s weight falls on his chest. “Fancy meeting you here.”
As far as grateful embraces after harrowing journeys go, he’s had better. Isabel’s sharp elbows dig into his shoulders, and she smells like mold, soot, old paper, and something that reminds him of lightning storms out at sea. He puts his arms around her anyway, despite the strain it puts on the wound in his side, and breathes in the terrible smell and feels like maybe things aren’t so bad, really.
Continue reading “The Book of the New Moon Door: Part Three, Chapter Twenty-Three”“Sixteen hells, woman,” Berend growls through gritted teeth. “Your bedside manner hasn’t gotten any better.”
The Book of the New Moon Door
I’m still putting out chapters of the original, serial version of The Book of the New Moon Door. You can read the latest one on Patreon.
If this book interests you, why not preorder a signed & wrapped copy?
I am delighted and honored to bring you this cover, painted for me by Brooke Marie Miller (of the Figuratively Speaking Tarot).
The full, wrap-around version is below the cut:
Continue reading “The Book of the New Moon Door: Cover Reveal + Preorders!”A quick update on The Book of the New Moon Door:
My Great Rewrite is done, clocking in at 164,315 words and 438 pages. My intrepid beta readers are finishing up the last few chapters, and after I’ve gone through their comments, I will be doing line edits forever (for the next three days).
Tomorrow, I get to draw a map. This will be a Real Fantasy Book with a map in the front. I’m very excited.
That’s it for the moment. Stop back on Monday for a cover reveal and more updates!
Sacrifice
“What have you done?” Isabel gasps.
In an instant, the sky full of eyes turns to her, stretching the loose flesh of each socket. Though the eyes are bright and alert, the skin is gray and soft with advanced decay. Rot has settled in to the wall of books, as well, and the pages swell and blacken as white mold creeps over the covers. Isabel can only guess what happens once they disintegrate entirely. A cold, damp wind whistles between the moldering bookcases and across the office floor, tugging at stacks of wet, sticky paper and the lines of the ritual circle.
She takes one cautious step into the room and weighs a quick escape over the impending panic that will surge through the temple if the people there can see what’s happened. She closes the door and turns the lock.
The diagram on the floor is one she doesn’t recognize. Three concentric circles enclose the office from the line of books to a foot before the door; the outermost circle is solid and thick, while the inner two are thinner, with deliberate gaps of thirty degrees or so that don’t overlap. In each gap is a sigil. Isabel can recognize Ondir’s, Alcos’s, and the symbol for protection. Inside the innermost ring is the sigil for sacrifice. In front of it sits Father Pereth.
Continue reading “The Book of the New Moon Door: Part Three, Chapter Twenty-Two”That’s all we get, isn’t it? Vengeance in life, and nothing afterward but the same pain.
The Book of the New Moon Door
Here at the end of everything, our heroes are finally reunited. You can read this chapter right now on Patreon.
Vengeance
Hybrook Belisia tosses the pistol aside and draws the rapier from his hip. He’s light on his feet, one polished toe pointed, his fingers loose around the hilt. “After all this,” he says with a sneer, “you still don’t have the good sense to lie down and die.”
In contrast, Berend grips his saber like he’s hanging from a cliff. It was a glancing blow, the pistol shot, otherwise his guts would be several feet behind him, but he’s still losing blood at an alarming rate. His shirt is already soaked through, and a thick, red stain spreads down one leg and into the heavy fabric of his borrowed coat. He presses his free hand onto the wound, hoping the pressure will keep him upright a little longer. He’ll worry about infection later, if he lives that long.
Continue reading “The Book of the New Moon Door: Part Three, Chapter Twenty-One”
Space Whales Press 