No newsletter this month

I am working on getting the newsletter back on track, but for now, I’m unable to send it. Google and Yahoo have changed their policies, making it more likely that emails sent from free accounts (Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc.) will end up in a spam trap. MailerLite has made the decision to ban free email accounts from sending emails with their service. I thought I had managed a workaround by using the account the university gave me back in the day, but that is no longer viable. I have to 1) purchase a domain, 2) use that domain to get a new email address, and 3) register and verify all this with MailerLite. At this point, I’m reluctant to add another recurring charge to my budget, but it looks like I’m being forced to do so in order to keep the newsletter running. Prevailing wisdom says that authors need to have a newsletter. Who am I to argue?

In any case, I’m not going to be able to get this sorted out before the month ends in…fifteen hours? So I’ll skip this month and hopefully have a newsletter to send at the end of March. Thank you so much for your patience! In the meantime, MailerLite is maintaining the subscriber list, so you won’t need to sign up again.

If you’d like to help out with operational costs, and are able to do so, I have a Patreon and a Ko-fi. You can also buy one or more of my books! In any case, I appreciate you.

Journey to the Water Chapter XLVIII: To the Upper Kingdom

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

A procession of pilgrims, all following the darting, bobbing light of a single lantern suspended from a hooked staff, approached from the direction of the seaside city. Kural swept aside his drawing of the estates above with an open hand, erasing it from view. My eyes lingered in the place it had been, recreating its lines and circles from memory. A few of the shapes escaped me. 

I would take the hidden path, I decided, and avoid the court of the kingdom above. What could I say to the gathered noblemen of the treetops that would convince them of my need for their relic? Here was a land where the living worshiped the dead, and where hidden, shadowy gods dueled for control of honored corpses kept within vaults of stone or living wood. Whatever I said had an equal chance of offending with grievous blasphemy as it did of earning their sympathy.

No, for better or worse, I would take the Sage’s Mirror from their vault, and I hoped to board a ship back to Gallia before anyone noticed it was missing. I could make the treacherous climb, I was sure of it. 

Continue reading “Journey to the Water Chapter XLVIII: To the Upper Kingdom” →

New Patreon Post/ Journey to the Water Chapter XLIX

“You’re not an assassin? You’re a common thief?”

“Hardly common,” I said.

Chapter XLIX: The Treasure-Hall of the Mage-King

Eske faces off with a mysterious monarch in a treasure vault high above the forest floor. You can read this chapter right now on Patreon.

Song of the Week

Tom Morello (the Nightwatchman), “The Road I Must Travel”

Good morning! It’s Monday again, and the sun is shining.

I will be at Witch-o-Rama for the first time on March 10! I’m packing up my boxes of books and taking them to the Blue Island Beer Co. in Chicago. Entry is $3 and doors will be open from noon until 5 PM. Here’s the Facebook event, and here’s Witch-o-Rama’s website for more information. I hope to see you there!

I’ll have a new chapter of Journey to the Water on Patreon tomorrow, and last week’s chapter will be up here on Wednesday.

Some more petitions, because even if our leaders don’t listen to us we need to stand up and be counted anyway:

Via Win Without War: Tell Pres. Biden to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and save lives in Rafah and beyond

Via World Beyond War: Urge governments around the world to invoke the Genocide Convention to stop the war on Gaza

Via Demand Progress: Permanent ceasefire and end to unconditional aid to Israel

I appreciate you. Thanks for being here, and have an excellent week.

Journey to the Water Chapter XLVII: Under the Trees

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

Kural took it upon himself to guide me, leaving the strange, silent folk around their bubbling cauldron. The eyes of the market followed us as we went, me leading Bran and Kural on my other side. At his direction, I purchased a great length of rope, as well as enough grain to fill my saddlebags and feed all three of us for several days. On the forest floor, Kural said, only the fungus grew, and while some of its many varieties were safe to eat, it was wiser not to take the risk. 

“The mushrooms are better used for holy days,” he said, “or times of great need.”

The grain merchant was a woman of about thirty, tall and stately, with her hair covered in a silk wrap the color of the sea. She eyed Kural with suspicion, and caught my eye when his back was turned.

“That man is a heretic,” she said. 

Continue reading “Journey to the Water Chapter XLVII: Under the Trees” →

New Patreon Post/ Journey to the Water Chapter XLVIII

Here was a land where the living worshiped the dead, and where hidden, shadowy gods dueled for control of honored corpses kept within vaults of stone or living wood.

Chapter XLVIII: To the Upper Kingdom

Under the guidance of a man who might be a cult leader, Eske makes the climb from the forest floor to the treetop vault where the artifact he seeks should lie. You can read this chapter right now on Patreon.

Song of the Week

Leon Bridges, “Redemption Song” (Bob Marley cover)

Good morning!

It’s Monday again. Tomorrow, Wisconsin is having its first primary election of the year, and I’ll be working all day. Be sure to vote! If you have any questions about your registration, polling place, or ballot, myvote.wi.gov is the place to go.

Because I’ll be out all day tomorrow, the latest chapter of Journey to the Water will be up on Patreon on Wednesday, and last week’s chapter will be here Thursday. Writing progress has been pretty slow, and I’m not super happy with the latest arc, but I have to get it done before I can make it better. If you’re reading along with me, I appreciate you! I also welcome any feedback.

A couple more petitions for today:

Via the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights: Call Congress: stop arming Israel
and Email Congress: Stop the genocide

Via Jewish Voice for Peace: Tell Meta we need to talk about genocide

Via Just Foreign Policy: No new war in the Middle East

Thanks for being here! I hope you have an excellent week.

Journey to the Water Chapter XLVI: Ksadaja, the City of the Dead

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

I had left one city and come to another, just as grand, upon the shores of the summer sea. The last city was Gallia, Ramla told me, and this one was Ksadaja, which those from the north called the city of the dead. Indeed, its greatest edifices were tombs, built above and below the ground in towering structures and mazes of tunnels, none of which I would ever be permitted to see. Only the people of Ksadaja could walk the halls of the temples, and only their priests could venture below, where the bodies of the esteemed dead awaited the call of their gods, who at the end of an age of calamity, would bring them once again to life and place them as rulers over the transformed world. Towering obelisks, carved with prayers to the same gods in an ancient language, stood like sentries between the temples and greeted us as Ramla’s ship made its way into the harbor. 

Continue reading “Journey to the Water Chapter XLVI: Ksadaja, the City of the Dead” →

New Patreon Post/ Journey to the Water Chapter XLVII

“Mostly, though, we offer hope that the world will be different, when the gods return, than what has been promised.”

Chapter XLVII: Under the Trees

Eske encounters a strange new landscape and an even stranger new traveling companion in the latest chapter of Journey to the Water. You can read this chapter right now on Patreon.

Song of the Week

Robert Johnson, “Cross Road Blues”

Good morning! Here’s a classic for you today.

What the Hex: Vampire was a resounding success! I only have two copies of The Book of the New Moon Door left. I’ll have to order more before my next market, which should be sometime in March. I’ll let you know as soon as I do!

This week, I’ll have a new chapter of Journey to the Water on Patreon tomorrow, and last week’s chapter up here on Wednesday.

Petitions for this week:

Via Just Foreign Policy: Ceasefire in the Middle East

Via CodePink: Send a Valentine to Congress for Gaza

Via Adalah Justice Project: Tell Biden Staff to Quit Genocide

That’s all I’ve got for now. Be well, I love you, thanks for being here.