Queer Fantasy and Weird Tales for the People
You are not the first petty god who has desired my blood, and I’m sure you won’t be the last. What makes you think you’ll be the one to take it?”
Chapter XXVI: The Sacrificial Stone
At last, Eske confronts his foe, the being who has kept the city of Svilsara under thrall for generations. This petty god, however, has a secret weapon that Eske doesn’t expect. You can read this chapter right now by subscribing to Patreon.
Orville Peck, “Big Sky”
Good morning!
Firstly, I am happy to announce that The Book of the New Moon Door is complete! I am the proverbial day late and a dollar short, of course, but it’s done. Final word count for all three parts, including chapter headings, is 170,764. This will probably change significantly as I go through the editing process this summer. New Moon Door has been the least structured of my serial novels (which is a gentle way of saying “I was definitely making this up as I went”), and I’m looking forward to pruning it into shape.
This week, I’ll have a new chapter of Journey to the Water on Patreon tomorrow, and the latest chapter of New Moon Door will be up here on the blog Wednesday.
As of right now, here’s the plan for all my projects going forward: Journey and New Moon Door will continue their biweekly schedule while I’m editing New Moon Door. I’m aiming to publish New Moon Door this year and Journey next year. In between those, I want to revisit The Well Below the Valley and The Tarot of the Gates, possibly rewriting and reformatting the former before writing some new content for it.
I’ll keep you updated as things progress! Thanks for being here, and have an excellent week.
I ducked beneath the window. The bright lights within had seared my eyes, and I could see nothing of the benighted garden without for a long moment. I held out an arm, blinking to clear the colorful spots from my vision as I groped for my harpoon with the other hand.
“Who’s there?” I whispered.
A human shape resolved out of the gloom, tall and slender and dressed all in black. An angular face at last came into view, and along with it, a sharp, too-wide smile reflected the light from the window. The skin of his face was a pale brown, almost like sand, and from his hood emerged a handful of shining black curls.
I had seen this man before. “You!” I cried, remembering at the last second to keep my voice down. “Who are you? What do you want?” Now that I could see, I freed my harpoon from its sling and held it between myself and the stranger.
“They can’t hear you,” he said. Though the voice emanated from him, his mouth did not move, maintaining its viper’s grin. “I thought I’d give us a moment to speak, while the good people of Svilsara are finishing their performance.”
Continue reading “Journey to the Water Chapter XXXV: Outside the Temple”“I came here to find you. I’m alive, and I wanted to make sure you were, too. I’m fine, by the way, thank you for asking.”
The Book of the New Moon Door
In the wake of a zombie apocalypse, Berend makes his way across the empty city to find Isabel and ask her what’s going on. You can read this chapter right now on Patreon.
Also, brief update: I’ll be hitting my word count goal of 30k for the month of May tomorrow, but I’ll have about a chapter and a half left before the end of the book. The draft will definitely be done this week, and then the real work begins.
Daniel Hart, “Blome Swete Lilie Flour” (from The Green Knight)
Happy Monday!
It’s a holiday, so just a quick note. Tomorrow: The Book of the New Moon Door on Patreon; Wednesday: Journey to the Water here on the blog. Also on Wednesday, the May edition of the newsletter will go out around noon Central time, so make sure you’re signed up before then if you haven’t already!
I hope you’re enjoying your day. I appreciate you!
As promised, garden pictures! Here are some things growing in our garden this fine May day.
Marigolds
Roses
Pumpkins
A peach?
And of course, Max the neighbor cat.
Circles
Father Pereth is, in fact, still alive. The novice with the smudged face escorts Isabel through the sanctum, where the priests in prayer don’t look up to acknowledge her, and down the narrow hallway to the high priest’s office. The door is closed, and someone has carved the sigils of the seven gods into the wood with a pocketknife, in an attempt to ward the room against the dead, should they have breached the outer doors. There had only been one body in the morgue, and the rest seem to have been repelled by other means. It’s fortunate that this warding wasn’t put to the test. Isabel doesn’t know what might have happened.
The novice knocks, and the sound of furniture being moved and the lock disengaging follows. The door swings open to reveal Father Pereth, his cassock dusty and his hair disheveled, but otherwise unhurt.
He takes one look at Isabel and says, “You.”
Continue reading “The Book of the New Moon Door: Part Three, Chapter Three”“I’ll warn you once,” I said. “This city may be an illusion, but my harpoon is not, and neither is the arm that wields it.”
Chapter XXXV: Outside the Temple
At last, Eske finds out what’s going on in Svilsara, but he’s still in danger. You can read this chapter by subscribing to Patreon, or by waiting until next week when it will make its appearance here.
Tom Morello, “16 Tons” (American folk song)
Good morning! Here’s a song with a lot of history.
I’m banging out the end of The Book of the New Moon Door this week! I’ll also have a new chapter of Journey to the Water on Patreon tomorrow, and the latest chapter of New Moon Door will appear here on Wednesday.
It’s getting toward the end of the month, so I have to plug my newsletter–don’t forget to sign up if you haven’t already! I send it only once a month, and it has writing and publishing updates as well as pictures of my garden and my cats. Put your email into the box at this link and then check your inbox for a confirmation link.
There won’t be a new episode of The Well Below the Valley out this month/June 1st, as I’m focusing all my writing time on finishing New Moon Door and staying on top of Journey. I’ll be getting back to it soon.
I think that’s all for this week. I think I promised some garden pictures last week and then forgot? So I’ll try to post some this week.
As always, I appreciate you! Stop by again soon.
Alas, my mind was not like water, as the Dragon Temple acolytes had encouraged. Almost as soon as the illusion had been drawn away, it fell over my eyes again, and the filthy, smoke-filled room became clean and bright again, and its occupants were once more dressed in fine white silk and showed no evidence of their long starvation.
I had seen enough in my brief moment of clarity. This place—the whole of Svilsara, as Fenin had acquired health and beauty upon entering the city—was under the sway of a powerful magic-worker, for whom the whole city was a ritual chamber. Such a feat was beyond my experience of magic, but I did not doubt it could be done. It had been done, one way or another, and here were four wizened men ruling Svilsara from their secret throne room underground. I looked around, searching for sigils on the walls, but there were none to be seen.
“Please, wise elders,” Fenin said. “Help me to understand. I saw the serpent, but it vanished. I swear I did only as I was instructed.”
She knelt at the feet of the men, upon the rich rug that I now knew was only a faded, moth-eaten scrap. If the stone beneath it hurt her knees, she made no indication. Her rich hair fell over her shoulder, catching the torchlight like volcanic glass, and it looked perfectly real.
Continue reading “Journey to the Water Chapter XXXIV: The Garden House”
Space Whales Press 