Song of the Week

Annie Eve, “Bedtime”

Hello again! It’s Monday. Autumn has arrived early here, bringing a full day of rain and some minor flooding. While I wait for my towels to dry so I can sop up more water in my basement, how about an update for the week?

First things first: I have a new chapter of The Book of the New Moon Door that will be up on Patreon tomorrow, and the latest chapter of Journey to the Water will be here on the blog on Wednesday. Both projects will continue until they are done!

However, if you’re looking for something new and exciting, I have good news! My friend Brooke has recently published her first tarot deck, and we’re working on a collaborative book-and-deck project. I am excited to announce that both the (first?) book and the deck will be called The Tarot of the Gates. For more details and some worldbuilding, you can read last week’s post here. The first chapter will release October 1!

Also, in case you missed it, we’re going to be at booth 116 at Bitchcraft Fair Milwaukee! It will be at the Wisconsin Center on Sunday, October 2. I hope to see you there! It’s my first event, and I am both excited and scared, as you can tell by all the exclamation points.

Take care and have an excellent week!

Song of the Week

The Civil Wars, “Sour Times” (Portishead cover)

Hello there. I guess it’s Monday again? Time is a soup.

Let’s see. I’m back on my normal posting schedule, so tomorrow, I’ll have a new chapter of The Book of the New Moon Door up on Patreon, and the latest chapter of Journey to the Water will be up here on Wednesday. Just so you know, dear reader, you are welcome to give me feedback on either of these projects! If you like them, or if you want to yell at me about them, comments are always open. This is your chance to affect the plot or save your favorite character from doom.

In other news, my bookmarks arrived!

Five bookmarks with the title Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea. From left to right: Eske in the boat against the lind-worm, Khalim doing magic, Aysulu doing horse archery, Eske against the salamander, Eske and Khalim. The reverse side is shown below, with the text "Space Whales Press: queer fantasy & weird tales for the people. Words by Madeline Crane, art by Brooke Marie Miller."

If you want one or more of them for your very own, you’ll have to stop by our table at Bitchcraft Fair Milwaukee on October 2! I’ll update as soon as I know our booth number.

As I’m preparing for this and other, future events, streaming has been the proverbial plate that I’ve let drop. I’m hoping to either pick it back up or start a different project for YouTube (video essays?) soon. Also, I haven’t forgotten about the whole newsletter thing. I appreciate your patience.

I’m happy you’re here, and I hope you stop by again soon. Have an excellent week.

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.

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!

Song of the Week

Florence + the Machine, “Cassandra”

Happy Monday!

You may have noticed the new banner above. I’m working on my social media presence. The most work right now is going into Instagram, so if you’re on there, you can find me here.

This week, I’ll have a new chapter of The Book of the New Moon Door up on Patreon, and the latest chapter of Journey to the Water will be up here on Wednesday. The plot is thickening in both, so I’m excited for you to read them! The next episode of The Well Below the Valley will also be on Patreon soon, either late this week or early next week.

If you haven’t voted in the newsletter poll, go do that! Cross it off your to-do list and feel accomplished, and then have a great start to the week. I’ll see you back here later.

Song of the 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!

Song of the Week

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.

Song of the Week

VAST, “Take Me With You”

It’s Monday. It snowed last night where I am, and I don’t think I’ll ever recover emotionally.

It may be hard to believe, but I am finally caught up on writing chapters! That means that the next chapter of Journey to the Water will go up on Patreon tomorrow, and the latest chapter of The Book of the New Moon Door will make its appearance here on Wednesday.

I’ve gotten a couple of reviews for Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea! If you’ve read it, would you mind leaving a review wherever you bought it? You can read more about my stance on reviews here, but the short version is: you’re not obligated, though I would appreciate it, and I won’t come after you for being honest. You can also just tell your friends about it! Even in this digital age, I read more books based on word-of-mouth than anything else.

I think that’s it for this week. Stop by again soon!

Song of the Week

Poe, “Haunted”

It’s Monday again.

This is the week Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea launches! Right now, I’m still waiting for my files to finish processing. Once that happens, I should be able to assemble purchasing links and possibly paperback preorders. Thank you for bearing with me as I figure out this process.

I’m also having a Virtual Launch Party on Friday at 6pm (US Central)! It will be a YouTube livestream, and I’ll have the link for that available once we go live, so keep an eye out on Friday.

I am juggling how much time promotional stuff for the launch is going to take, so I may have the next chapter of Journey to the Water up on Patreon this week. If not, it’ll be up next week and we’ll be back to our regular schedule of chapters.

Once Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea is out into the world, I’ll start Part Two of The Book of the New Moon Door! It will alternate with Journey to the Water, first on Patreon and then here on the blog. I’m also looking to start a Patreon-exclusive project soon, so stay tuned.

I appreciate you! Have an excellent week.

Song of the Week

The Decemberists, “The Crane Wife 3”

Welcome back! It’s Monday again.

This week, I’ll have the next chapter of Journey to the Water up on Patreon. I’m also doing my first Patreon livestream on Saturday, November 13! I’ll be talking about vampire lore from around the real world and the World of Darkness RPG system with a good friend who is a World of Darkness expert. If you want to get in on either of those things, my Patreon is only $3 a month.

I am still committed to keeping blog content free, so Journey to the Water chapter IV will be up here on the website next week.

I’m also participating in National Novel Writing Month this year, and it’s…going. I’m working on a new, improved draft of Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea so that it can become a Real Book that you can hold in your hands or on your e-reader, hopefully before Christmas. I’ll post an update later this week!

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