The latest episode, “The Souls of the Heathens,” is now available on Patreon! Our intrepid investigators continue searching for clues around Oxford, meet the late professor’s next of kin, and solve their first puzzle. There’s a free preview below the cut.
Continue reading “New Patreon Post/ The Well Below the Valley, Episode 6”Journey to the Water Chapter XIX: The Palace, Still Standing
In the throne room, the windows were little more than arrow slits; the last line of defense between the king and an invader from the sea. But as the sun filtered through and cast bright lines on the marble floor, the throne stood empty. Salmacha was now without a ruler. Perhaps, I thought, it had been without for a long time before my harpoon finally slew King Sondassan.
The weapon lay quiet across my legs as I sat at the base of the dais, beside Hamilcar and his crew and a good distance from the twin princesses. Having done its duty, it was content, and projected to me a sense of accomplishment. It was pleased with my actions. There would always be more tyrants, more men willing to spend the blood of others on power for themselves, but for the moment, the work was complete.
I’d held an enchanted weapon only once before: the Sword of Heaven, the tool of the god Torr, who had taken my Khalim from me. It, too, had approved of me. I’d used it to slay the great worm as it laid waste to Phyreios, and I had gladly given it up to the custody of Jin and his temple.
I would call my harpoon Storm, I decided, for the thunderclap I had heard as it destroyed King Sondassan. Having spent the early part of my life upon the roof of the world, I had great respect for storms. They could destroy a ship just as easily as they could fill its sails; lay waste to a village as easily as water its crops.
Continue reading “Journey to the Water Chapter XIX: The Palace, Still Standing”New Patreon Post/ The Book of the New Moon Door: Part Two, Chapter Twelve
It is as though the fabric of the world is unraveling, and soon it will break free from its moorings like a damaged sail on a ship.
Chapter Twelve
So the good news is that there’s a new chapter up on Patreon, and the bad news is that things are not going well for Berend and Isabel. You can read this chapter right now by becoming a patron, or wait until next week when it makes its way over here to the blog!
Song of the Week
Loreena McKennitt, “Ce He Mise le Ulaingt?/The Two Trees” (poem by William Butler Yeats)
Happy Monday! I hope you’re well.
This week, I’ll have a new chapter of The Book of the New Moon Door on Patreon tomorrow, followed by the latest chapter of Journey to the Water here on Wednesday. It looks like Part Two of New Moon Door is going to finish ahead of schedule (to the extent that I even have a schedule), probably before the end of the year. I’ll take a short break after that, and then it will be on to Part Three and the exciting conclusion.
Also, the newest episode of The Well Below the Valley will release on Thursday! If you’ve been thinking of becoming a patron, now’s a good time to do it, since you’ll get access to all five previous episodes as well. Or you could wait until Friday, get all six episodes, and not start getting charged the $3 subscription until October 1 (when you will also receive Episode 7). I won’t tell anyone.
I think that’s it for now. Preparations continue for Bitchcraft Fair on October 2, and I’ll let you know when I have more information about that!
Have an excellent week! I appreciate you.
Goodreads!
I am officially a Goodreads Author! Shoutout to the Goodreads Librarians for being patient with me and adding my book! If you’re on Goodreads, feel free to add me as a friend or follow my profile, and don’t forget to leave a review of Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea.
I love and appreciate you!
ETA: Forgot the link above. Also, this blog is now synced to Goodreads, so you can follow me there and not miss anything!
The Book of the New Moon Door: Part Two, Chapter Eleven
Revelations I
Isabel falls quiet. There’s a long walk ahead of her, and a longer night after that. She has to conserve her strength. There have been more sleepless nights in the last week than she ever had to endure as an apprentice, and even then, young as she was, she had not endured them happily.
The wind blows cold, and it carries a smell of frost as it crosses dry, brown fields on its way to the sea. Isabel can just make out the shapes of cut rows on either side of the road. Harvest time is well under way, and winter will follow, bringing with it a slight relief from the walking dead. Spirits are no less angry in winter, but bodies without the breath of life cannot keep their limbs from freezing solid, and their decay slows along with their chance of spreading pestilence. Winter, as the old sayings go, is when Sentinels retreat to their cloisters to study the same dusty tomes they studied the year before, and the year before that, going all the way back to the first Sentinel Rainier.
With a sudden ache like a knife to her ribs, Isabel misses the library in Vernay. Her superiors will learn of her failings in a few short days, when Father Pereth’s request for her replacement reaches them. They will turn her away, or worse, allow her in and follow her through the halls with looks of pity and distrust, as though she’s a vagabond relying on their charity.
Continue reading “The Book of the New Moon Door: Part Two, Chapter Eleven”New Patreon Post/ Journey to the Water Chapter XIX
“And how is it that both these illustrious men perished, and in the same evening?” came a voice from the crowd.
Chapter XIX: The Palace, Still Standing
Eske has survived a harrowing evening, but new dangers about as the island of Salmacha struggles to decide on succession. Besides, Captain Hamilcar says they can’t leave until they get paid. You can read this chapter right now on Patreon!
Song of the Week
Dessa, “Children’s Work”
Good morning! It’s Monday again.
Not much out of the ordinary happening in my world this week: I’ve got a new chapter of Journey to the Water scheduled to go up on Patreon tomorrow, and the latest chapter of The Book of the New Moon Door will be up on the blog Wednesday. I’m also working on the next episode of The Well Below the Valley, and that should be available September 1st.
I also want to remind you that you can come see me at Bitchcraft Fair Milwaukee on October 2! Tickets are only $12 through the end of the month, and then become $15 through the day of the event. I will have limited-edition bookmarks to hand out and signed books to sell!
Thanks for being here. Have an excellent week.
Journey to the Water Chapter XVIII: In the Hall of the Dead King
Sondassan fixed his gaze upon me, but it was not I who would first face the half-dead king’s wrath. As Hamilcar and his crew entered the room, they descended upon the priests, knocking them down and silencing their chanting. Soon, only the sound of the heaving earth and the clashing of steel remained in the room. I recognized Halvor and Kelebek, both armed with curved swords and small round shields. With them were Issa and Adama, a pair of brothers from the southlands, Issa with his dark pate shaved bald and Adama’s hair twisted into a mane of tiny braids. Their swords came in matched pairs, one in each hand. Halvor also carried my harpoon on his back. Languishing in the dungeon, I had thought I would never see it, nor any of my companions, again.
Continue reading “Journey to the Water Chapter XVIII: In the Hall of the Dead King”New Patreon Post/ The Book of the New Moon Door: Part Two, Chapter Eleven
Nothing will be normal at the Belisia estate, because Warder’s device was used there, and there is nothing normal about Warder’s device.
Chapter Eleven
The world is growing weirder, and there are secrets only the dead know in the latest chapter of The Book of the New Moon Door. Read it right now by becoming a Patreon subscriber!
Space Whales Press 