Journey to the Water Chapter XLV: The Summer Sea

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

Cricket was charged with provisioning me for my journey. She took me to a passage hidden behind a tapestry on the first floor, with a staircase that led us into the rocky bowels of the cliff. At the bottom, a tiny kitchen, no larger than a ship’s galley, sat dark and cavernous with only a clay chimney pipe to relieve the smoke. Why this place was hidden, and why it had to be here under the rock, Cricket did not say. Perhaps this was the only kitchen she had ever known. It certainly was her domain; a selection of copper pots and iron pans hung well within her reach, and I had to duck to avoid another rack of herbs hanging from the ceiling.

“Has Deinaros told you anything of my journey?” I asked her.

She rolled a selection of dried fish in a thin cloth and handed it to me. “No. If you return, you can tell me of it.”

“If I return?” I echoed. I could not help but smile at her utter lack of faith in me. “You think I won’t?”

She shrugged, and the trinkets still around her neck clattered softly. “We’ll see.”

Continue reading “Journey to the Water Chapter XLV: The Summer Sea” →

New Patreon Post/ Journey to the Water Chapter XLVI

“Ah, to be in such a hurry in the city of the dead,” the man said. “Why serve a living master in the short time before you enter the service of the old gods?”

Chapter XLVI: Ksadaja, the City of the Dead

Eske is after a relic hidden in the mysterious kingdom built into the trees of a great forest. First, he has to figure out how to get there. You can read this chapter right now on Patreon.

Song of the Week

Arum Rae, “If I Didn’t Know Better”

Good morning!

First things first: I’ll be at What the Hex: Vampire this Sunday at Dresden Castle on Underwood (Cudahy, WI). Admission is free, and doors open at 11 AM! There will be workshops, a drag performance, and a whole collection of magical artists, makers, and craftspeople. Here’s a link to the Facebook event and one to the event’s Instagram page for more information.

I’ll have a new chapter of Journey to the Water up on Patreon tomorrow, and last week’s chapter will be up here on Wednesday. This month and next month, I’ll be working hard to finish this draft! Also on Instagram, I’m participating in a daily posting challenge that features this book, if you’re interested in that sort of thing.

More petitions today:

Tell Biden to end US complicity in genocide

Tell Biden & Secretary Blinken to restore funding to UNRWA

Thanks for being here, and have an excellent week.

Some questions possibly answered about The Book of the New Moon Door

One reader who preordered a copy asked if I would share my inspiration for The Book of the New Moon Door in the dedication. I did my best, and I’m sharing what I wrote with all of you, as well.

It reads:

For Sam–

You asked me to write about the inspiration for this story, so here goes:

I drew inspiration from Gothic horror, such as Poe and the video game Bloodborne; Lovecraft and other cosmic/eldritch horror writers, Garth Nix’s Old Kingdom series; and Cassandra Khaw’s “Monologue by an unnamed mage, recorded at the brink of the end.” What came out of all that, I think, is something quite different from all of them: a story about what happens when everything you know, from religious belief to scientific knowledge to your daily habits, no longer serves you and cannot be relied upon. It’s a metaphor for depression, or for escaping from a high-control religion; it’s not a metaphor at all, but a case study of two people who are very much products of an older world forced to live in a new one. Genre fictrion, sci-fi/fantasy in particular, is uniquely equipped to examine questions of culture and the human condition.

But above all else, this is a story written to entertain. I hope it delights you, and I appreciate your support.

M. Crane

Journey to the Water Chapter XLIV: Beside the Water

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 spent three days before Deinaros the All-knowing summoned me. The three floors of the tower to which I had been confined soon lost their novelty, and I wandered the city instead, taking in the sights and sounds of the sprawling metropolis. The markets beckoned me with the scents of fresh fish and warm bread, and the taverns promised strong drink—with some effort, I avoided them, to keep my wits about me. Wherever I went, the steepled temple looked down on me from above, its seven carved pillars a constant reminder of Phyreios. What relation the Ascended had to these tall, faceless gods of the West, I could not deduce. These seven stayed confined to their temple and the small carved icons in the windows lining each winding street, and for that I could only be grateful. 

Cricket left each morning to sell her trinkets at the harbor. I went with her, on the first day, curious as to why her teacher sent her alone to the market. At best, I feared she would be robbed, weighed down as she was by such a quantity of silver; at worst, I had just recently learned of the flesh-markets of Nyssodes. A clever kidnapper needed only to coincide with a waiting ship, and Cricket would never have returned to the tower. 

She bade me keep my distance, though, when we reached the docks. She had charms to sell, and my looming presence frightened away her customers. I asked if she was afraid, and if she had the means to defend herself. 

Continue reading “Journey to the Water Chapter XLIV: Beside the Water” →

New Patreon Post/ Journey to the Water Chapter XLV

“If I return?” I echoed. I could not help but smile at her utter lack of faith in me. “You think I won’t?”

Chapter XLV: The Summer Sea

Eske is off again, this time to recover an artifact for the wizard who claims to be able to help with Eske’s quest. You can read this chapter right now on Patreon, or wait until next week for it to be posted here on the blog.

Song of the Week

Juanes, “A Dios le Pido”

This song is brought to you by my AP Spanish class, circa 2008. It contains several different kinds of pronouns, the subjunctive case, and transitive and reflexive verbs! It’s also a banger, as the kids say.

Anyway, hi, I’m back. I’ll have a new chapter of Journey to the Water on Patreon tomorrow, and the previous chapter will be free to read here on the blog on Wednesday. I also have the first of twenty-ish episodes of a new draft of The Well Below the Valley finished. Would that be something you would want to read? I’d be happy to post one episode as a teaser while I work on the rest. It’s something like 45 pages long, which will hopefully translate into 45 minutes or so of audio. Let me know in the comments if you’re interested.

If you’ve finished either of my books, this is your semi-regular reminder to post a review on whatever platform you like best! It really helps get the word out, and even if you didn’t like it, a negative review can help the right reader find what they’re looking for.

Please keep pressure on the Biden administration and your Senators and Representatives to support a ceasefire in Gaza. Here’s another petition. Also, if you’re in Chicago, you can go to City Hall this Wednesday (January 31) starting at 9 AM to support the city’s ceasefire resolution.

I think that’s it for today. Take care, I love you, thank you for being here.

I’m joining the Global Strike for Gaza

Red and white text on a black background: Global strike for Gaza Jan. 21-28 I am joining the Global Strike for Gaza bit.ly/StopGazaGenocide #StrikeforGaza

No song this week! I’m participating in the Global Strike for Gaza in the small way that I can: buying nothing, posting only about ending the genocide, and cutting back on my scrolling (a habit I need to break anyway) to avoid contributing to the ad revenue social media platforms get.

Here’s the URL in the image above in a clickable form for more information.

So, no chapters this week. I’ll put all the petitions I have to share in this post, so as not to bombard your inboxes/notifications. I’ll be back to my regular nonsense next week.

Via Amnesty International: Regarding Palestinian journalists forcibly disappeared
Via the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights: Call on Congress to stop arming Israel
Via Roots Action: Urge your local government to support a ceasefire in Gaza
Via Rep. Rashida Tlaib: No forced displacement
Via Democracy for America: Tell the Biden administration to support a permanent ceasefire and the release of all hostages now
Via Win Without War: Tell President Biden to de-escalate and negotiate a ceasefire NOW
Via Just Foreign Policy: Stop bombing Yemen

Journey to the Water Chapter XLIII: The Book-Collector

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

With the book removed from my care at last, a weight lifted from my shoulders. The relief came with a flare of panic—had I handed my one and only lead to the realms beyond death to a charlatan? Deinaros turned the pages, his brows furrowed in concentration and a pleased smile playing upon his lips. I had already faded from his awareness. 

If nothing else, Deinaros knew this book. On the word of his young attendant, he had expected it, like an old friend returned at last from a journey of decades. He greeted each horrifying diagram with a nod, each twisting line of text with a tap of one long finger. 

“Well done,” he said, more to the book than to me. “This copy is nearly complete. The only things missing are the long, rambling musings of my former master. Everything useful is here.”

“Your master wrote it?” I asked. “He must have traveled nearly as far as I. I retrieved this book many months ago, from an island in the southern sea.”

Deinaros glanced up for the briefest moment before his eyes returned to the page. “No, he only penned the original, centuries ago. He never left the city of his birth. His followers, myself among them, made copies, and those who found those copies made more still.”

My heart sank. How many ambitious rulers became like the king of Salmacha, their souls clinging to their bodies even as their flesh rotted and fell from their bones? A second, selfish question followed the first: how many ill-starred lovers, grieving parents, and lonely widows had taken the book and attempted the same task I had undertaken? Had the gods already taken up arms against a sea of sorrowful humanity, chasing away any chance I had of breaching their ordained defenses? 

“Very few now,” Deinaros said. “It was purged from the kingdoms of the West. So many were burned that the pyres reached the heavens. I have not seen a word or line from this book in many years.”

Continue reading “Journey to the Water Chapter XLIII: The Book-Collector” →

New Patreon Post/ Journey to the Water Chapter XLIV

I lay awake, watching the stars move across my window, and contemplated setting out on my own once more with no guidance from the all-knowing one.

Chapter XLIV: Beside the Water

Eske finally gets some rest before he sets out on the next quest. You can read this chapter right now on Patreon. Right now I have only one tier, which is $3 a month. If you can’t spare $3, this chapter will be available to read here on the blog next week.