Song of the Week

Susanne Sundfør, “White Foxes”

Happy Monday.

I was a child when patriotism began to mean unquestioning obedience, adherence to authoritarian religion, and the organization of the world into the deserving and the undeserving. I tend to let Independence Day pass by unobserved. If you’re celebrating, I hope you are safe and can enjoy some good food.

Nothing out of the ordinary to report this week: Journey to the Water will have a new chapter on Patreon tomorrow, and the latest chapter of The Book of the New Moon Door will be up here on Wednesday. In case you missed, it, Episode 4 of The Well Below the Valley went up on Patron last week.

I’ll be back on social media tomorrow as well. I’m sure everything there has been very normal while I’ve been gone…

As always, thanks for being here, and have an excellent week.

New Patreon Post/ The Well Below the Valley, Episode 4

Space Whales Press presents The Well Below the Valley, an Audio Drama, written by Madeline Crane. Episode 4: Spiritus Abyssi

The latest episode of The Well Below the Valley is now available on Patreon! It has some character backstory, some noir monologues, and some tomes of forbidden knowledge.

Journey to the Water Chapter XV: Under Salmacha

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

The man in the glittering black crown smiled at me, a paternal, placating expression that did not hide the devious hunger in his eyes. Whatever his purpose was for me, I was certain I would not like it. 

“After months of delays, the gods smile upon our city at last,” he said. “Where do you come from, champion? What thread of fate brought you here?”

I stepped back from the bars and crossed my arms over my chest. “If there is a task you wish me to perform in exchange for my freedom, then give it to me. I have no time to waste lingering here.”

“In due time, my friend.” His smile did not fade, and the flickering light of his torch deepened the shadows on his weathered face. He appeared carved of wood, a sinister spirit of the forest. 

Continue reading “Journey to the Water Chapter XV: Under Salmacha” →

New Patreon Post/ The Book of the New Moon Door: Part Two, Chapter Eight

Lady Breckenridge’s good name will protect her from any overt action, but a name isn’t armor. It isn’t a sword. It isn’t even as good as secrecy.

The Book of the New Moon Door

There is a new chapter available on Patreon! Berend is recovering and trying to get his bearings, and he receives some concerning news. If you’re not a subscriber, fear not, you’ll see this chapter here next week. If you’d like to read chapters a week early, consider subscribing! It’s only $3 a month and helps me stay afloat and keep writing.

Song of the Week

Omar Souleyman, “Mawal Jamar”

(He did not bury me, he did not bury me)

The Supreme Court decision came through while I was running errands on Friday. I still haven’t quite processed the fact that when I left the house, I had full rights to decide when and if someone else uses my body, and when I returned, that decision was taken from me and given to men I have never met, some of whom died a hundred years or more before I was born.

I’ll regain some semblance of those rights upon my death, when it will be illegal to take my organs without my prior permission.

In the meantime, there will be a new chapter of The Book of the New Moon Door on Patreon tomorrow, and Journey to the Water will have a chapter up here on Wednesday. I’m working on the latest episode of The Well Below the Valley, and that will be on Patreon later this week.

Take care of yourselves. I’m glad you’re here.

Social media hiatus

I’m taking a break from social media (Facebook and Instagram, mostly) for my mental health, and I plan to return on Tuesday, July 5. I’ll still be posting chapters according to my usual schedule here and on Patreon, so if you’re not subscribed here yet, now’s a good time to do so. The box is in the bottom right corner of the home page (or all the way at the bottom, if you’re on mobile).

Take care, and I’ll see you back here on Monday.

The Book of the New Moon Door: Part Two, Chapter Seven

Repent

The Book of the New Moon Door cover image: A book with yellowing, wrinkled pages lies open on an old wooden desk, with a sprig of lavender lying in the center.

Table of Contents

Once outside, Isabel takes a full breath for the first time in hours. Reder Angrove’s ghost remains, for the moment, inside the chapel, and the grip of his fear and grief releases. The air is cold, and it scrapes against her throat. Autumn has arrived in Mondirra. 

“Did they ritually remove your brain as part of your training, Sentinel?” Geray demands in her ear, voice shaking with suppressed rage. “Take it out and put it back in the wrong way, perhaps?”

Isabel places her hat on her head and pulls the brim down over her eyes. She can still see Geray, trudging half a step behind her with his feet two inches above the ground. “Whatever you have to say, I don’t want to hear it,” she says through her teeth.

“I had an easy solution,” Geray shrieks. “I practically served it to you on a platter!”

“Enough.” Isabel presses herself against the small kitchen’s exterior wall and cranes her neck to see out to the front of the building. Her uniform will hide her in the dark, but only if she’s careful. 

Geray floats out in front of her. “Whatever happens in there is on your hands, then.”

Continue reading “The Book of the New Moon Door: Part Two, Chapter Seven” →

New Patreon Post/ Journey to the Water, Chapter XV

The man in the glittering black crown smiled at me, a paternal, placating expression that did not hide the devious hunger in his eyes.

There is a new chapter of Journey to the Water available on Patreon! Eske finds himself imprisoned, again, but this time there’s an impending disaster he needs to thwart if he wants to get off this island and continue on his quest.

Song of the Week

Opeth, “Soldier of Fortune” (Deep Purple cover)

Happy Monday! Yesterday was Juneteenth! I hope you had a good day.

I am back on my usual nonsense: the newest chapter of Journey to the Water will be up on Patreon tomorrow, and the latest chapter of The Book of the New Moon Door will make its appearance here on the website on Wednesday. I’m also working on The Well Below the Valley, and Episode 5 will be available before the end of the month!

Please pray for my lettuce as we enter another stretch of 90+ degree days here in the midwestern swamp. (This is not a euphemism–I am growing lettuce, and supposedly it prefers cooler weather).

Anyway, climate change is real, and none of us are free until all of us are free, and time creeps inexorably onward (this song was released SIXTEEN YEARS AGO??). Have a good week, and stay safe.

New Patreon Post/ The Book of the New Moon Door: Part Two, Chapter Seven

“If there is a haunting, it is your duty to dispel it. What are you doing here?”

“I can’t,” Isabel says. Her eyes burn, and she swallows the catch in her throat. “Something is wrong.”

The Book of the New Moon Door

You can read this chapter on Patreon if you’re a subscriber. If you’re not, and you don’t want to be one, it will make its appearance here on the blog next week. Either way, I appreciate you!