Queer Fantasy and Weird Tales for the People
I’ve been reluctant to start a newsletter because my plate is full enough with THREE serial projects and a social media presence (also, I hate emails and didn’t want to inflict more of them on you), but my marketing research is saying that authors need to have a newsletter and people like receiving them. What do you think?
(ETA: Give the poll a second to load. It should appear right below this sentence.)
Feel free to post any other thoughts you have in the comments!
“Where is everyone?” Hamilcar asked the crew, the island itself, or the gods, giving voice to the unspoken question we had in common.
No one answered.
A high tide had carried our ship to the harbor, but the six thatched-roof houses and solitary central structure stood well clear of the water, raised up on wooden beams against the possibility of a flood. Their doors were shut tight, and their windows covered. A wind from the sea moved across the sand, but the village was otherwise still.
I led Bran by his halter to the deck and down the plank to the dock, keeping my hand below his chin so he could not turn his head and see the terrifying expanse of ocean surrounding him on three sides. Once his hooves touched solid ground, his body relaxed, and so did my grip. I, on the other hand, felt a nervous energy like crackling lightning in my bones. There was a threat here in this silent place.
“I don’t like this,” Halvor muttered.
Continue reading “Journey to the Water Chapter XIII: Empty Salmacha”The old monk bleeds from lacerations on his face and arms. One side of his thick lenses shows a crack through the center. “Ondir preserve us,” he wails. “This is holy ground!”
The Book of the New Moon Door
There’s a new chapter available on Patreon! If you’re a blog reader, you’ve probably heard my Patreon spiel, but if you’ve got an extra $3 a month, I’d appreciate your support. Otherwise, keep an eye out for this chapter on this website next week.
Queens of the Stone Age, “I Never Came”
Happy Monday!
I’ll have a new chapter of The Book of the New Moon Door up on Patreon tomorrow, and the latest chapter of Journey to the Water will be up here on the blog on Wednesday. Later this week, I’m going to be having a new Reader Poll, so be sure to check back!
Not much else to share this week, though this weekend I am going to a talk by Neil Gaiman, who is one of my favorite authors. The event was originally in 2020 and was rescheduled at least twice. I’m very excited.
Have an excellent week!
Prodigal Son
Berend takes a sudden, involuntary breath. Pain digs into his ribs. He kicks at the bedclothes, the ache moving down his legs, and tries to sit up.
The nurse’s hands on his shoulders are firm and heavy. “Be still,” she says. “It’s all right.”
It is most assuredly not all right. At best, there’s a member of the illustrious and unscrupulous Belisia family here to threaten his life, limbs, and everyone he cares about—a dwindling number, these days, and one he can count on one hand, but still. At worst, someone is here to kill him.
“My effects,” he says. Talking moves the pain up underneath his lungs. “Where are my things?” His pistol almost certainly isn’t loaded, and there’s no chance he could lift his saber in this state, but his mysterious visitor doesn’t know that.
“They’re locked away on the lower floor,” the nurse says, pushing him into the bed. “What’s wrong?” Her hand moves to his wrist, gentle but strong as a vise.
A shadow darkens the entrance to Berend’s curtained room. He looks up, his pulse pounding in his ears and under the nurse’s fingers. At least she’s here. There will be a witness.
Continue reading “The Book of the New Moon Door: Part Two, Chapter Four”I had learned that even forgotten, nameless gods had power at their disposal, and they guarded that which they saw as theirs with jealousy.
Journey to the Water
Eske is searching for buried treasure with his newfound friends in the latest chapter of Journey to the Water, now available on Patreon. Unseen dangers, however, lurk on the island. You can read this chapter right now if you sign up for Patreon, or you can wait a whole week until it makes its appearance here on the blog.
The Cure, “Burn”
Hello friends! It’s May! Still pretty chilly where I am, but spring is here and soon everything will be green again.
There will be a new chapter of Journey to the Water on Patreon tomorrow, and the latest chapter of The Book of the New Moon Door will be up here on the blog on Wednesday.
In case you missed it, the second episode of The Well Below the Valley is available on Patreon! You can see a free preview here.
I think after this week, my life will calm down enough to start streaming on Twitch again and/or doing something else gaming-related; I should have an update on that later this week or early next week.
As always, thanks for being here. If you like what you read, tell your friends about me! And have an excellent week.
The second episode is called “Flora and Fauna,” and it introduces the last people Professor Ragnarsson contacted: Kurt Cross and Ellie Westmont of Sunset Investigations, and Ernest Wilde, a botanist at the University of London. It also offers the first glimpse into the Cthulhu Mythos and reveals how exactly the professor died.
Once again, this is a script for a ~20-minute episode of an audio drama I hope to one day produce. It is annotated with explanations of references, foreshadowing, and a few illustrations just for fun. It is available only on Patreon, but a free preview is below the cut:
Continue reading “New Patreon Post / The Well Below the Valley, Episode 2”The first night I spent on board the ship, I dreamed.
I floated in the abyss before the gate of bone, with blackness pressing around me and the shape of the goddess Nashurru moving in the depths below. The water was cold, and my body ached with it, my limbs stiff and shivering. I kicked my legs and reached my arms toward the gate, but the chill pierced my bones and filled my belly with ice no matter how much I moved. In the vision, I had felt no need to breathe, but now my chest contracted painfully, sucking against nothing. The bright white of the bones blurred as my vision faded. At last, I could withstand no more, and I inhaled frigid water. It burned my chest and stole away the last of my sight.
I would die here, I thought, and my bones would join the gate as Nashurru looked on, indifferent. I would never see Khalim again.
Continue reading “Journey to the Water Chapter XII: The Lady of Osona”Does it feel worse to be strangled or to have your soul damaged?
The Book of the New Moon Door
There is a new chapter available on Patreon! For less than the price of a medium cup of black coffee a month, you can read spoilers before all your friends AND get access to exclusive projects.
Space Whales Press 