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!

Song of the Week

Kate Bush, “Waking the Witch”

Good morning! I hope you’re well, wherever you are.

There will be a new chapter of The Book of the New Moon Door up on Patreon tomorrow! Thank you for being patient as I get back to our regular posting schedule. We’ll be back to normal (one chapter on Patreon and one chapter here) next week.

If you’re a regular reader, you are probably aware that I have three ongoing projects (Journey to the Water, The Book of the New Moon Door, and the script for The Well Below the Valley), and I really don’t have time to take on more, but new ideas keep coming up! I may or may not have a space opera, a cyberpunk mystery, and possibly an urban fantasy in the works. I just want to be writing all the things, but my time management skills are not up to the task.

Please send well wishes to the lettuce in my garden, as the next three days are supposed to be over 90 degrees Fahrenheit, and if you like what you read here, tell your friends about me! When it comes to books, word of mouth is still the best, even in this digital world.

Thanks for being here, and have an excellent week.

Journey to the Water Interlude Two: The Spirit Wilds

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

Khalim was lost.

The sky was dark, and glittering with stars he did not recognize. A forest of huge trees, older than the earth itself, encircled him with darkness and the smell of green things growing. 

He felt neither hunger nor thirst. That was a small mercy. Though he knew it must be an illusion, his feet pressed into the rich soil, and a cold, damp wind tugged at his clothes. He had acquired, in the center of his tunic, a ragged, burnt hole, through which the chill cut at his skin. It was the memory of the conjured lance of Malang, the war god of Phyreios, who had recognized the god inside Khalim and sought to slay him. Khalim remembered how the lance had burned, and the force of it had taken him off his feet. The cold was far preferable. 

Voices filled the wood, chattering in languages he did not understand, mingling with the calls of birds and the low, threatening growls of unseen beasts. The undergrowth shifted and moved, and shadowy shapes darted in and out of sight like small, quick animals. Khalim thought he had heard someone call his name, some time ago, but he had not heard it again. 

Continue reading “Journey to the Water Interlude Two: The Spirit Wilds” →

Song of the Week

Kate Bush, “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)”

Believe it or not, with all the Kate Bush I’ve posted over the lifetime of this blog, I haven’t done this song yet! Also, if you haven’t watched the latest season of Stranger Things, go do that as soon as you get a chance. I’m having a bit of a hipster moment (I liked this song before it was cool!), but I’m excited that the show is creating more Kate Bush fans. She deserves it. (Also, listen to the entire Hounds of Love album. As the kids say, it’s 100% bangers.)

Good morning! Due to last week being an odd one and multiple anniversaries in my life this week (one year in our house as of tomorrow, and five years married at the end of the week), there won’t be a new chapter this week. The latest chapter of Journey to the Water will still be up here on Wednesday, so stop back then!

Have an excellent week!

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

Never

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

Isabel turns to the door. Darkness has fallen over the chapel, and a black abyss stretches between her and where the constable, presumably, is trying to get in. The church is haunted. Maybe the incongruousness of a ghost on holy ground will delay the authorities’ realization of the fact, but the signs are obvious. 

The knock of a heavy fist sounds again. Geray gets up and floats through the black, his form disappearing like a breath on a cold day. A howl of agony shakes the chapel. 

There’s no way they can’t hear this. Isabel shelters her candle, the only light remaining in the church, with both hands. Her fingers ache with cold. 

Geray reappears, accompanied by a chorus of distant screams, both animal and human. “They’re going to knock down your door if you don’t answer,” he says. “They have a battering ram and everything.”

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